This was supposed to be the Oakland A’s year

2020 was perfectly set up for the Oakland A’s. Instead, they will be one of the biggest losers in baseball if the season is canceled.

Out of every team in Major League Baseball, the cards had fallen perfectly for the Oakland A’s. The Astros pitching staff had been weakened, with the loss of Gerrit Cole and an injury to Justin Verlander. The Angels still did not have any pitching of their own, while the Rangers and Mariners were rebuilding.

Meanwhile, the A’s were seemingly targeting 2020 as their year. Top prospects A.J. Puk and Jesus Luzardo were set to join the rotation, which was healthy and ready to go. Marcus Semien may be an impending free agent, but with his presence atop the lineup, and the likes of Matt Olson and Matt Chapman, the offense could be dangerous. It was the A’s year.

Instead, it is shaping up to be a season of missed opportunity. The longer that Major League Baseball and the Player’s Union remain in a stalemate, the shorter the season. While the A’s are certainly talented, anything can happen over a shorter season. Houston is healthy once more. The Angels may find just enough pitching to surprise. The Rangers or Mariners could catch fire and be surprisingly competitive.

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The future certainly bodes well for Oakland. Not only do they have two of the top pitching prospects in the game, but they also have one of the top catching prospects in Sean Murphy. The Matts are just about to enter their arbitration years, and Ramon Laureano appears to be a budding star.

But there is no question that 2020 is a missed opportunity. With the likely departures of Semien, Liam Hendriks, Mike Fiers, and several other free agents, they will be faced with the fifth largest departure of fWAR of any team. The A’s have an excellent farm system, but even that loss of talent will hurt.

That departure will hurt even more considering the circumstances of the 2020 season. At best, it is likely that the season will be halved, with perhaps 80 or so games being played. It also seems far more likely that a 50 game schedule ends up being forced through if the season is even played at all.

This was supposed to be the year that the Oakland A’s took home the AL West crown. Instead, it is a missed opportunity.