We all know the words spoken at the end of an individual’s Night’s Watch service: well, it is our turn here on the Oakland Futility Watch. The Oakland Athletics finished their miserable season with the worst record in baseball and the worst record in the East Bay era of the proud franchise: a 50-112 record is nothing to shout about, obvi. Yet the A’s avoided infamy in many ways, and they get the No. 1 draft pick in the 2024 draft.

Oakland won twice in the final week, beating the Minnesota Twins on the road Wednesday and the Los Angeles Angels on the road Saturday. As noted last week, the Athletics beat our conservative estimate of 47 wins already, and getting to the 50-win threshold was a nice round number to land on in the end. Overall, this is the fourth-worst team in organization history, trailing three Philadelphia teams (1916, 1919, 1915).

Some highlights we will point out? Outfielder Esteury Ruiz set a new American League rookie record with 67 stolen bases, despite missing 32 games to injury, etc. His defense was brutal (minus-1.9 dWAR), and his OPS was atrocious (.654), but Ruiz made the most of his first chance to start every day in the majors. That sort of thing will happen on a team this bad, of course. But kudos to him for breaking a record from 1992.

Also, no pitcher came within shouting distance of losing 20 games: J.P. Sears lost 14 times, but his 1.265 WHIP was more than respectable, as were his 161 strikeouts in 172 1/3 innings. He also led the team in wins with 5 victories, even though that doesn’t sound like a lot. It’s not, even on a 50-win team, really. But Sears is one of four young players on the roster who topped 2.0 WAR for the season—impressive on a 50-win team:

  • 2B Zack Gelof: In only 69 games, he posted 14 home runs and 14 SBs, to go with am .840 OPS
  • SP J.P. Sears: Even though he went 6-3 in 2022 with a 3.86 ERA, he lowered his WHIP in 2023
  • 1B Ryan Noda: Posted a 121 OPS+ including 77 walks in his first MLB action/season
  • OF Brent Rooker: The team’s only All Star, hit 30 HRs with an .817 OPS and 130 OPS+

That’s nice strong core to build around in 2024, and throw in these guys, too, as solid contributors:

  • SP Paul Blackburn: 4-7 record in 20 starts, with 104 Ks in 103 2/3 IP
  • C Shea Langeliers: 22 HRs and 0.3 dWAR behind the plate for the 2022 Futures Game MVP
  • CL Trevor May: 3.28 ERA and 21 saves, with a 1.03 ERA specifically in save situations
  • SP Mason Miller: 0.6 WAR in just 33 1/3 IP with 38 Ks and a 1.200 WHIP
  • SP Joe Boyle: 2-0 in 3 starts in September with a 1.69 ERA and 0.813 WHIP

If the A’s can develop and nurture all this talent, including Ruiz and others, the foundation for a playoff team in 2025 or 2026 is there, as the Oakland organization has shown in the past. The Athletics just need a better manager, really, and then this column will never be needed again, of course. Finding the right guy will be important, and personally, we’d like to put forth Don Mattingly for the job. Does he like Sin City?!

We sign off on that note: see you in Vegas, whether it be 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027, or 2028.