2020 -  Oakland comes into the new decade on a nice high, having won 97

games each of the previous two seasons and making the wild card

finishing behind the great Houston Astros team both times.

The A's continue their success early in the decade with a first place finish

in '20 and a solid 86 win '21 season.

After that four season run, the Athletics fall off a cliff.

This is nothing new for the franchise which has traditionally had great

management combined with a disdain for spending money. This latest episode

was a mini version of what has been going on for over a century with the A's.

□   Owner John J. Fisher, 60, has money, but doesn't throw it around with the A's.

Oakland's GM has needed to win frugally - and has.

2020 - The Athletics won the Division with a 36-24 mark and beat Chicago before

losing to their nemesis, the Astros, in the ALDS. Oakland's offense was slightly

below average. It was their pitching that was responsible for their success as

the A's gave up almost a run less per game than the league average.

2020 - Starters Chris Bassitt, Mike Fiers and Sean Manaea give the A's a solid

starting rotation. Liam Hendricks had a big year as closer leading a bullpen

that was the strength of the team. Jake Diekman, JB Wendelken, Joakim

Soria and Yusmeiro Petit all had excellent seasons as middle relievers.

2020 - There were a number of good position players on the squad:

C-Sean Murphy; 1B-Matt Olson; 2B-Tony Kemp; SS-Marcus Semien;

3B-Matt Chapman; OF-Robbie Grossman; OF-Mark Canha; OF-Ramon Laureano

2021 - The A's feall from first to third with a respectable 86 wins.

The traditional A's dismantling process has officially begun prior to the season:

A's Owner Fisher selected frugality over continuing to be competitive.

Where have we seen that before with the A's?

□  Closer Liam Hendricks, 31, obtained from Toronto in '16; FA to Chicago in '21

□ SS Marcus Semien, 30, obtained from Chiago in '15; FA to Toronto in '21

□ OF Robbie Grossman, 31, FA to Detroit '21

□  LHP Jesus Luzardo, 22, obtained from Washington in '17; dealt to Miami in '21 for

OF Starling Marte in an odd trade at the deadline. The A's reversed course and decided

It failed and Marte became a free agent

at the end of the season.

□  Bob Melvin has been a solid manager for the A's for ten years.

His departure coincided with the A's precipitous decline in 2022 as he

spared himself going thru the long rebuild that was about to occur.

2022 - Oakland dropped 26 games in the standings to 60 wins and last place.

A wholesale loss of solid players as the A's don't bother to re-sign anyone:

□  RHP Chris Bassitt, 33, obtained from Chicago in '15; dealt to Mets in '22

□  LHP Sean Manaea, 30, obtained from KC in '15; dealt to SD in '22

□  RHP Frankie Montas, 29,  obtained from Dodgers in '16; dealt to Yanks in '22

□  OF Mark Canha, 33, obtained from Colorado in '15; FA to Mets in '22

□  3B Matt Chapman, 29, 1st round pick in '14; dealt to Toronto in '22

□  1B Matt Olson, 28, 1st round pick in '12; dealt to Braves in '22

2023 - Whatever decent is left on the roster, goes before the season:

□  C Sean Murphy, 28, 3rd round pick in '16; dealt to Braves in '23

□  RHP AJ Puk, 28, 1st round pick in '16 draft; dealt to Miami in '23

□ RHP - Cole Irvin, 29, dealt to Baltimore in '23

2023 - The ritual rollercoaster ride that the A's have been on forever has

rarely sunk this low. Oakland management has gotten rid of every veteran

player with any value from the team that finished first in '20 and won 86 in '21.

Unsurprisingly, with zero talent on hand, the A's go 50-112 in '23.

2023 - On offense, there are three decent players: OF Esteury Ruiz steals 67

bases; 1B Ryan Noda has a competitive .770 OPS and rookie 2B Zach

Gelof comes up at mid season and has an .840 OPS. Other than them, it's dire.

2023 - The pitching is flat out putrid. Their top ten pitchers in innings have

ERA's that range from 4.43 to 8.57 with four of them well over six.

None of them are keepers moving forward.

2024 - A's ownership has always been bizarre. Starting with Connie Mack

and the soap opera he provided for over half a century, then on to Arnold

Johnson and his turning the franchise into essentially a Yankee farm team,

then onto Charlie Finley, brilliant but a cheapskate, then on to the Money Ball

era and now on to John J Fisher era.

It seemed clear that Fisher wanted to move the franchise to Las Vegas and was trying to

make the team so unattractive that the city of Oakland would let him out of his lease early.

Pretty crappy wishful thinking kind of strategy really.

All Fisher ended up doing was painting himself into a corner.

He wouldn't stay in Oakland under the old stadium lease and Las Vegas doesn't even

know if they even wanted him and his A's.

He had a case of premature evacuation when he unsuccessfully tried to

move the A's to Las Vegas, who didn't want them at the time.

It didn't help that baseball was getting pretty unpopular as analytics had really

screwed up the sport. Several major rules changes were implemented in 2024 in an

effort to get the sport back on track. Meanwhile Fisher impulsively

moved his team, for the next three years, to Sacramento's tiny 14,000 capacity

minor league stadium with the thought that maybe in three years

Las Vegas would build a stadium for his team to play in. A desperate gamble by Fisher.

Between the Baltimore Orioles paltry (for this sports era) sale price of 1.7 billion and

Las Vegas rejecting the A's, baseball was not looking so rosy in the spring of 2024.

2026 - Things are looking a lot better. The sport has rebounded and has been steadily

regaining popularity due to the rules changes. Suddenly, the A's are looking a lot more

attractive to Las Vegas. And, Fisher is doing his part. Like Mack, Finley and Beane before

him, Fisher knows how to build a winner despite his being an odd duck like those before him.

The A's are becoming an exciting fun team to watch, making them that much more

attractive to the folks in Vegas. An interesting side note, however, is that while all of this has been

going on, Vegas, itself, has been undergoing a massive change. The city is reinventing itself

as a high rollers only destination. That doesn't bode well for bringing in a baseball club

whose fan base is ordinary Joe's for the most part.