Don’t Blame Collapse on Team Chemistry

September 6, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics right fielder Josh Reddick (16, left) pies shortstop Jed Lowrie (8, right) after the game against the Houston Astros at O.co Coliseum. The Athletics defeated the Astros 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

On August 10, the A’s were four games ahead of the Angels in the AL West race, and were positioned for a deep playoff run.

Now, just over a month later, they are 10.5 games behind the Angels. Even though things are looking slightly better and they are leading the wild card race, that is a significant tumble in the standings.

Many A’s fans have put the collapse on the shoulders of Billy Beane and his wheeling and dealing at the trade deadline. They believe that messing with a team’s chemistry in the middle of a season is a recipe for disaster, and that’s exactly what happened in this scenario.

And I completely agree with the first part of that statement. Team chemistry is something that can’t really be quantified like so many other things in this game are. In years like 2012, those players had a special connection that probably had a major effect on the team’s success that year.

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The thing is, I don’t think that Beane messed with the team’s chemistry. Making trades and messing with chemistry are two different things. I consider “messing with chemistry” to be putting players who don’t get along in the same clubhouse. But I don’t think that’s what happened here.

Let me be clear. I don’t really know what’s going on in that clubhouse. Neither do any other fans. Maybe even members of management don’t even know if players are secretly holding grudges against one another. Therefore it is entirely possible that this group of players hates each other and that’s the cause of their struggles.

But again, I don’t think that’s likely. Think of it like this. The A’s reacquired someone who was apparently well-liked on the team earlier this year (Sam Fuld) and they brought back one of the key leaders from the 2012 season (Jonny Gomes). If anything, I would think that their chemistry improved after these trades.

Again, there may be some serious dirt between members of the clubhouse. But that would be even harder to believe considering in the middle of their struggles, they brought a giant bear into the clubhouse.

So if team chemistry didn’t cause this meltdown, what did?

A lot.

Injuries, slumps, lack of adjustment, bullpen struggles, inconsistent pitching, defensive mistakes, mental errors, baserunning blunders. You name it, the A’s found some way to screw it up.

No matter how easy or convenient it is, there is not one simple reason for this rough patch. The blame needs to fall on everybody. Not just Beane or Bob Melvin or Alberto Callaspo (no matter how tempting it may be) and especially not on team chemistry.