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Reasons Why The Oakland A's Have Crashed

There are many reasons why this late season collapse for the Oakland A's has happened but it doesn't relieve the pain the fans have had to endure.  The problems are evident, the solutions are apparently hard to come by.  On August 15th the Oakland A's had the best record in baseball but since August 28th they are a Major League worst 5-15.  So how did this happen?

 

We have to point to the Cespedes trade as a factor.  It isn't the only reason but it is a reason. The team was cruising, they traded a popular figure and since then the team has not looked the same.  Cespedes apparently meant more to the team then even Billy Beane could even imagine.  The clubhouse was surprised, the fan base in shock, and the team never quite regained it's form from the first few months of the season.  Afterall, the offense did average 5 runs a game before the Cespedes trade and dropped to 3.4 runs per game since.

 

The All-Stars have disappointed.  Cespedes was one of the 6 all-stars that the Oakland A's were so excited to have at the mid-Summer classic.  If you add in Jeff Samardzija, that makes 7 all-stars for Oakland and most of them haven't looked the same in the 2nd half.  Derek Norris' 2nd half numbers are down by more than 50%, Brandon Moss' production is even worse.  21 first half homers for Moss compared to just 4 in the second half.  Scott Kazmir won 11 games in the first portion of the season and has hit the win column just 3 times since.  Fellow all-star Sean Doolittle spent some time on the DL but his numbers haven't matched up either.  Throw in a guy like Sonny Gray who has big time potential. He was the AL pitcher of the month in July when he went (5-0), but since has just 1 victory in his last 10 starts.

 

The OFFENSE has looked completely different in the 2nd half of the season.  Not only on the eyeball test but also in the statistics.  The Oakland A's are dead last in the American League post all-star break and 28t overall in the majors. T Combine the offensive futility with a drop from #1 in pitching to #8 in the American League, you can see why the losses have added up.

 

The Oakland A's record this season vs. BAD TEAMS.  The last couple of seasons the A's feasted on the non-playoff teams, especially in their own division.  This season the A's went just (11-8) against the Houston Astros.  The Texas Rangers, a long time nemesis, got some redemption against the A's this season with 2 different 3 game sweeps in Oakland against the A's and Oakland is just (7-8) against the team with the worst record in baseball.

 

Finally, the A's luck/mojo/magic appears to have left the building.  What Oakland had is hard to define but it was obvious that they had "it".  No team came from behind more then the Oakland A's.  They always found a way.  It didn't matter who, or how, but they would win those tough games.  Lately the A's can't catch a break, or find that mojo.  Oakland continues to lose close games, heartbreaking games, unexplainable games.  If the A's make the playoffs, they need to find that back quickly.

 

So with all of the reasons as to why it has fallen apart, it isn't all the way gone. It seems fragile right now, it seems like the complete crash could still happen.  This has been a team of character in the past.  This has been a good team in the past.  Can they find all of what made them unique in the final 10 days of the season?  For their sake, for the fans sake, for everyone's sake, let's hope so.

 

J.Ross

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