Absolutely no one expected that the Oakland A’s would find their way into the postseason. Now it is official.
The death knell can officially be sounded. At best, they can have 75 wins if they win every game they play from here on out. While they did have that 20 game winning streak 20 years ago, that team also had far more talent than the current roster. And, you know, ownership that at least tried.
Time for Oakland A’s to look ahead to 2023
Why does that 75 win mark matter? Well, the Astros and Mariners have both already passed that by, so the AL West is out of the question. Meanwhile, the Yankees and Rays both have more than 75 wins, eliminating two more paths. And someone has to win the AL Central, keeping the A’s from another one of the six postseason spots.
This leaves the Blue Jays and Orioles. The Blue Jays have 75 wins as of Wednesday afternoon; the Orioles 72. In theory, if the A’s won out, they could force a tiebreaker with the Blue Jays for that final spot. The problem is that the Blue Jays and Orioles still have seven games left against one another. Since this is no longer a universe when baseball is played strictly in daylight hours and electric lights at the diamond were some form of wizardry, ties just are not going to happen.
And so, this leaves the A’s looking ahead at 2023. Chances are, at roughly this time next year, they will again be staring elimination in the face, eyeing the 2024 campaign. Maybe that one will be the year that they can be respectable once again.
The Oakland A’s have officially been eliminated from the postseason. While that was the expected scenario back in April, the 2022 season can be lain to rest.