The Oakland Futility Watch will be a sparingly visited subject this 2024 MLB season, as the Oakland Athletics are now 11-17 through 28 games and clearly not the worst team in the major leagues. Sabermetrically and statistically, those distinctions belong to the Colorado Rockies and the Chicago White Sox, respectively. The A’s rate out at No. 22 by our sabermetric measurement tool this week, which is okay.

Last year at this time, of course, we genuinely were worried that Oakland could set a record for futility—hence, the origins of this column and its title, etc. Alas, the A’s finished well ahead of “worst team ever” status in the end, and that was that. This year, the team has more experience under its belt and some actual talent on the team, although it is still plagued by many of the same issues as last year. We’re bored of that.

Today, we focus on the differences between this season and last season:

  • $1.1M extra in payroll: The A’s finished the season with a $62.2M payroll last year, and this year, they’re up to $63.3M. That may change as the season goes on, of course, for Oakland will shed some higher-priced veterans by the trade deadline if it can, in exchange for more future prospects it feels can be developed. However, the team certainly did waste its money in multiple places (see below).
  • A decent start to the season: Last season, through 28 games, the A’s were just 5-23, having yet to secure a win from its starting rotation. This year, the team is much better, with 4 starters having earned a win already—and one starter (Paul Blackburn) with 2 wins! Also, Oakland has 10 wins this month already, something the team couldn’t manage until June last year. Progress is a good thing.
  • Improved starting pitching: We discussed this last season, but we knew the A’s pitching would be better in 2024—and it is, significantly so. It’s early, but the team’s 4.06 ERA through 28 games is a serious improvement from the 5.48 mark posted across 162 games in 2023. We might expect the team ERA to rise a little bit, but generally, the pitching is solid on this team in spite of some disasters.
  • A real bullpen: Again, last year was a pitching disaster on most levels, but the bullpen was particularly painful for a young team trying to earn victories. Despite a 30-40 record out of relievers, the bullpen posted a 5.20 ERA last year. This year so far, that number is down to a very respectable 2.86 ERA. Yes, closer Mason Miller is getting all the headlines, but the rest of the guys are solid, too.

One of the lingering issues is the terrible offensive output, however: last year, the team hit .223 overall with a .669 OPS. This resulted in a 3.6 runs-per-game average, which looks stellar compared to this season’s numbers (.200 BA, .614 OPS, 2.8 rpg). Injuries have hurt some guys, but overall there are just so many problems with the lineup and the manager/front office decisions that go into determining that lineup.

  • Of the players in the most-used lineup so far, 6 of them are hitting under .200—and only 1 of them is hitting over .207 so far (JJ Bleday at .223). There are a few reserves hitting much better, and perhaps they need to get more playing time if they aren’t already. But you can’t keep guys like Nick Allen in the lineup with a career OPS (.543 in 230 games) that just outdoes the infamous Mario Mendoza (.507).
  • The entire lineup has just 83 walks so far, in contrast to 273 strikeouts. Ironically, the guy with the most walks also has the lowest batting average (Ryan Noda). The whole clubhouse needs a serious adjustment to its approach at the plate, so Darren Bush (Director of Hitting), Chris Cron (Hitting Coach), and Mike Aldrete (Hitting Coach) really need to step up in their roles. Otherwise, fire them!
  • The veterans on this team stink, really (see below): J.D. Davis and Seth Brown are both in their age-31 seasons, and both are hitting under .200 right now. Davis is a career .259 hitter, and yes, he’s been injured, but still. As for Brown, well … he is a career .223 hitter in his sixth season with the A’s, and he has no business being on an MLB roster, in truth. Oakland couldn’t trade him for a bag of balls.
  • It’s not just the hitters, either, however. Veteran starters Ross Stripling (age 34) and Alex Wood (age 33)—a couple of castoffs from the Los Angeles Dodgers and then the San Francisco Giants, amusingly enough—are a combined 1-7 right now with a 5.69 ERA. How much are they making, together? A combined $23.5M, and throw in the $8M for the injured Aledmys Díaz, and that’s just wasted cash.

Díaz hasn’t even played yet this year, as he is on the 60-day injured list. So, that’s $31.5M—basically half the team’s payroll—swallowed up by 3 worthless players. That’s on the front office, who must have thought Stripling and Wood might have trade value midseason, but even that was failing logic for anyone with an ounce of critical-thinking skills. Stripling has had 1 good season since 2019; the same for Wood since 2018.

Of course, Oakland obviously would have many challenges talking any decent free agents into coming on board considering all the off-the-field drama created by bandwagon fans and mediot lies. The team is in “transition” every which way right now, so only the desperate are going to come calling for the handouts the A’s front office seems willing to hand over while it develops the best young talent it can on its way to Vegas.

Next time we check in we will take more of a look at that young talent, because there’s a lot of it—and the future will be here sooner than we think.