We all know that the 2022 season is going to be a rough one for the Oakland A’s. The fire sale is in full swing and is not showing any signs of slowing down. The success of the past few years will quickly fade into the background as the A’s go through some growing pains with the next wave of young talent.
And it will get bad soon. Baseball Prospectus unveiled their PECOTA standings on Tuesday, and it is not pretty for the A’s. They are projected to have the second worst record in the majors, better than only the Orioles.
It’s going to be a rough 2022 for the Oakland A’s
The A’s anticipated struggles should not be a surprise. Sean Murphy (maybe), Elvis Andrus, and Stephen Piscotty could be the only three players returning from the 2022 Opening Day lineup. While Murphy has been relatively solid with the bat, Andrus and Piscotty are a dumpster fire.
The A’s rotation is not going to be much better. At this point, Cole Irvin might be their “ace” when the season starts and he was literally purchased from the Phillies. There is some intriguing talent in the upper minors when it comes to the rotation, but there will be growing pains there as well.
That equals a very long season coming up. To be fair, we had all seen this coming, especially after the statement that the A’s were planning on slashing payroll to approximately $50 million, if not lower. That meant the stars were going away because no one wanted the likes of Andrus or Piscotty on their roster.
Maybe the A’s can surprise. Maybe their younger players and those free agent castoffs that they do sign will be better than expected. Stranger things have happened. But it is far more likely that the 2022 season, and the next couple of years afterwards, will be spent at the bottom of the division.
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The Oakland A’s are projected to have the second worst record in baseball in 2022. Considering the talent that is leaving, that sounds about right.