League Championship Games Sad Reminder of What Oakland Athletics Could Have Been
The Oakland Athletics had dreams of making it to the World Series in 2014. After those dreams were shattered, GM Billy Beane had the inevitable fire sale in order to revamp the team for 2015. However, this season was a miserable one for the A’s where the bullpen could not hold a lead, inexperienced rookies made fundamental mistakes, and the chemistry in the Athletics’ clubhouse was negative. Fans now longingly watch former Athletics playing with their new teams this postseason and are reminded of the green and gold could have been.
The first trade that sent the Oakland Athletics on their downward spiral was sending Yoenis Cespedes to the Boston Red Sox for Jon Lester. Unfortunately, Lester could not help the A’s in the 2014 Wild Card Game against the Kansas City Royals and the team went home empty handed. Cespedes has since been a member of two other teams – first the Detroit Tigers and now the New York Mets.
While with the Athletics, Cespedes was the power bat in the lineup and was known for his strong throwing arm in left field. He is certainly showcasing these two skills this postseason with the Mets. During the playoffs, Cespedes has two home runs and four RBI already. Additionally, he made an amazing throw from left field to get Chicago Cubs’ Starlin Castro out at home plate.
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Then there is Addison Russell who is currently with the Chicago Cubs. Russell was the A’s No. 1 prospect in 2014, but was traded to the Cubs near the trade deadline to bring in Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. Unfortunately for the Athletics, Samardzija, who was an ace in Chicago, did not perform his best while in Oakland and Hammel was a complete disaster. However, Russell is now shining with the Cubs in his Major League debut season.
Not only has Russell been pretty good offensively for the Cubs in his first postseason appearance batting .250 with one RBI and a triple, he has been great defensively in the middle infield, which is a sore spot for the Athletics. This season, he split his time between second base and shortstop, and maintained a .977 and .981 fielding percentage respectively in those positions. If Russell was still with the A’s, he would have probably been called up this year to fill the void at shortstop. Instead, Oakland acquired Marcus Semien, who performed poorly in that position and committed the most fielding errors of anyone in the MLB. If Russell had stayed, shortstop and second base may have looked much different this season.
Lastly, and probably the most disappointing of all, was the Josh Donaldson trade. Donaldson was traded in 2014 during the offseason to the Toronto Blue Jays, who are currently playing in the postseason. Since he will not be a free agent until 2019, many were very confused as to why the A’s traded that kind of talent away. Not only has Donaldson been a star on his new team, but he is currently a top contender for MVP.
Donaldson has had one of his best season yet in his baseball career batting .297 during the regular season with 41 homers and 123 RBI. Now in the postseason, he has hit two long balls, collected four RBI and has walked four times. He has been a true asset for the Blue Jays throughout this entire season and could have done the same for the Athletics if they had kept him around.
This postseason has been full of drama, anticipation, and big moments for all of the teams involved. Sadly, this is what if could have been like for the A’s had they kept some of these key players that they ultimately decided to trade. For Oakland, it is time to look toward the future and hope that the front office can make some moves to better the team for 2016.