58
THE A’S HAVE made the playoffs each of the
last two seasons and five of the last eight,
but failed to advance each time. In 23 years
under Billy Beane, they have taken just
one postseason series, beating the Twins in
the 2006 ALDS. In fact they haven’t won
a deciding playoff contest since Game 7 of
the 1973 World Series. In baseball, because
short series between comparable teams are
decided on the margins, you can’t build a
team to win in the postseason. (As Beane
famously put it, “My s--- doesn’t work in the
playoffs.”) You can, though, build teams that
get there, over and over.
Oakland had a bottom-five payroll in
seven of the last eight seasons, which makes
those five playoff appearances even morePower pitcher Jesús Luzardo had shoulder
problems that delayed his debut last season;
the lefthander will contend for AL Rookie of
the Year. Highly touted lefty A.J. Puk, a big
help from the pen late in ’19, joins the rotation
as well, along with righty Frankie Montas,
whose breakout season was cut short by a
suspension under the Joint Drug Agreement.
Oakland could get an additional 60 starts and
330 innings from these power arms, innings
that will help fend off the improved Angels
and White Sox in the wild-card race.| ROBERT PUASON| INF |Signed as a 16-year-old out of the
Dominican Republic in 2019, Puason climbed steadily through
the A’s system—which is the only reason he’s still here. If he had
debuted before 2025 he would have already been dealt, given the
team’s failure to replace the Coliseum (such is life in a post-bubble
J`c`ZfeMXcc\p Xe[DC9Êj`eXY`c`kpkfÓe[k_\8ÊjXe\n_fd\%8j`k
is, two years before free agency, Puason could be sent away to a
k\Xd`ee\\[f]XgcljYXkn_fZXejcfk`eXepn_\i\fek_\`eÓ\c[%2030 PREDICTION
82 OPS+ | -0.3 WAR
The metronome
broke. After
four straight
seasons with
a .247 average
and plus power,
Davis, now
32, hit .220
and slugged
a career-
worst .387.ATHLETICS
BOB LEVE Y/GE T T Y IMAGEScrop of young starters.