And just like … we’re back.

The Oakland Futility Watch returns this 2024 MLB season, because clearly the Oakland Athletics are going to be bad again. Whether that means historically bad remains to be seen, but if the first 4 games are any indication, the Vegas-bound franchise’s low payroll is not going to yield very good results. The A’s lost 3 of their first 4 games at home to Cleveland, and it wasn’t particularly competitive, despite the lone victory.

We went to 2 games in Oakland last week: a sparsely populated exhibition on March 25 against the San Francisco Giants and the Opening Night matchup against the Guardians. The A’s were pretty lifeless in both, getting held without a hit by the Giants’ fourth starter and then receiving a pounding by Cleveland after starting an S.F. castoff on the mound 3 nights later. Oakland was outscored, 26-7, in its first 3 games.

The fact the A’s won today by a 4-3 score doesn’t mean much. Like Bay Area counterparts in the NHL, this team is going to snatch a lot of defeats from the jaws of victory—and it almost happened today as the Oakland bullpen blew a 3-run lead in the 8th inning before the lineup walked it off in the 9th … literally. It’s going to be that kind of season for the A’s, so we are getting used to it early this time around the block.

Yet with the payroll so low and Oakland going with an Opening Night starter who is a reclamation project—instead of one of their own youthful options— we have to question the organizational strategy, especially with so few fans showing up on Friday and Saturday for those games (a combined 9,262 fans). Optics aside, too many baseball fans still think all this is the current ownership’s fault; they couldn’t be more wrong.

The facts are out there, but the media seems to be getting more play out of the false narratives. We can’t waste our time on ignorant people anymore than we already have, so we won’t: we will examine this season for what it is, whether or not it’s the last one in Oakland or not. However, it will be hard—just like it is with the San Jose Sharks—to watch this trainwreck from up close on a weekly basis. Baseball gods, keep us strong.