A’s Need To Finish With Winning Record

At 77-81, the A’s must sweep the Seattle Mariners in order to finish the season at .500. With four games left, the team needs to make the most of the remainder of the year and head into next season on a high-note. The A’s are currently on a six-game losing streak, and that to me, is unacceptable. This is a team that has a quality pitching staff, and while the offense is nothing special, the team should not have many problems in Seattle.

Prior to the start of this season, I put together a pre-season MLB Power Rankings list, and while it garnered many reads, I must say I wasn’t particularly accurate with my projections. At least not with Seattle, who I ranked among the top-5 teams in baseball. The Mariners, who added so many pieces prior to the start of this season, just looked so good on paper. Compared to the A’s, who signed Ben Sheets and Coco Crisp, the Mariners looked golden. But if you fast-forward to tonight’s game, you’ll notice that the A’s are a much better team than Seattle. The A’s young pitching staff kept the team in contention until earlier this month, and for the most part they’re a better squad than they were last season.

The A’s have the potential to be great next season, but they need to finish this season on a strong note if they are to carry any momentum into next year. The A’s are a young team built around strong pitching and defense, and nothing’s better for team moral than finishing the season with a winning record—something that the A’s have not done since 2006. The A’s should be able to have their way with the Mariners, who currently sit 36 games under .500.