Chapter 37
So Much for Big Market
For all of the bluster of the 2019 season, the A's went out with a whimper in their first season in San Jose. After handily winning the American League West with 104 regular season victories, the A's got summarily dismissed from the Divisional Series by an upstart Baltimore Oriole squad. Staff ace Stephen Strasburg, who skipped his final start of the regular season to rest up for the postseason, lost both of his playoff starts against the O's with a disappointing 6.55 ERA. His former Washington National teammate, Bryce Harper, was absolutely pitiful in the postseason, going 1-for-17 at the plate.
The 5-game series exposed a glaring weakness on the A's roster. Their pitching rotation feature five bonafide stars, but all were righthanders. Their bullpen, ranked third in the league in ERA, had but one southpaw in Ismael Guillon. General Manager David Forst had envisioned Guillon as San Jose's go-to setup man, but he was nothing better than a long reliever and mop-up duty guy down the stretch.
Despite San Jose's regular season success, new stadium, and record ticket revenue, the A's go into the offseason with even more uncertainty than ever. Owner David Ellison, who raked in a staggering $45 million in profits from the team, has set strict $148 million budget for the upcoming season, the 9th lowest in all of baseball.
"People like to think of us as a big market team all of a sudden, but we're really not," A's minority owner and President Billy Beane explains. "Without a TV deal, we're right up there with the Royals and Rays at the end of the day."
Billy is right. Both Kansas City and Tampa Bay will have budgets of $138 million for the 2020 season, just $10 million below the A's. For all the progress the team has made in the last decade, the game remains the same. This is still Moneyball, but with a couple of high-priced stars weighing the A's down. Making budget next season will prove to be Forsty's biggest challenge yet.