The Oakland Athletics have been in the news cycle this past week, and for all the wrong reasons.
It is no secret that the city of Oakland is in danger of losing its baseball team. In just the last four years, both the Raiders and Warriors have vacated the city and moved on to greener pastures, and it looks as though the MLB team is going to be following suit.
Oakland Athletics Off To Historically Bad Start
The Oakland Athletics are 4-17, with a -100 run differential.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) April 23, 2023
It has been a long time coming. The team plays in what is regarded as the worst stadium in baseball, a concrete monstrosity that was constructed and treated with football in mind. The team’s deal with the property expires at the end of next MLB season, and they’ve been on the search for their new digs for some time now.
Last week, it was announced that the Athletics had reached a deal with the city of Las Vegas, and that the team would be relocating before their contract with the Coliseum expires.
There are still some 11th hour strings that could possibly be pulled, but it looks as though Oakland is going to be losing its third professional sports team in less than 6 years time.
The Oakland Athletics have signed a binding agreement to purchase land near the Las Vegas Strip.
They intend to construct a $1.5 billion, 35,000-seat major league ballpark, team president Dave Kaval said Wednesday night. https://t.co/xG5rCVxU3w
— ESPN (@espn) April 20, 2023
The team on the field isn’t giving the city much reason to cheer in what will very likely be one of their final seasons in Oakland.
The Oakland Athletics are off to arguably the worst start of any team in MLB history.
Rough Start Coupled With Bad News Of Relocation
After winning their first game on opening day, the A’s have lost 17 of their last 20 games. And while they have just one more win than the Kansas City Royals, they are doubly pathetic when it comes to the run differential.
The A’s have started off the season with a -100 run differential, the worst start of any team through 21 games since the 1988 Baltimore Orioles, who had a mark of -85. We are about three weeks into the season, and the team has already endured losing streaks of 6 games and 7 games.
During a three-game span a couple of weekends ago, they were outscored 27-1, including back-to-back 11–0 drubbings at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays. Just this last week, the A’s were outscored 26-3 in a three-game set against the Cubs, and lost 18-3 on Saturday against the Rangers.
Per CJ Hangen, ESPN researcher: Since 1901, the Athletics' -100 run differential is the worst by any team in their first 21 games of a season. The previous worst was -85 run diff by the 1988 Orioles. The A's are in the discussion for the worst team ever.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) April 23, 2023
Every one of the team’s starting pitchers has an ERA of more than 4.98, including three guys who have started games, all having ERAs of a ridiculous 10+.
Could the Oakland Athletics finish as the worst MLB team to ever step foot on the field? The franchise actually already holds that distinction, as the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics finished with the worst winning percentage in the history of baseball.
The team won 23.5 percent of their games that season, finishing with a record of 36-117 and a stretch of 41 losses in 43 contests. The 2003 Detroit Tigers were the worst team of the modern generation, as they won just 43 games two decades ago.
The Athletics will go up against Shohei Ohtani and the Angels this coming week, followed by a chance to get right against the Cincinnati Reds next weekend.
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