When the A’s gave manager Bob Melvin permission to leave earlier this offseason, it was foreshadowing what was going to come for this franchise. Just this past week alone the A’s have traded arguably their three best players in Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, and Chris Bassitt. As a fan this is very frustrating to see, because this has become a normal thing to do for the A’s. They trade their best players in exchange for prospects. Eventually those prospects turn into good players, and the team has a few good seasons. Then the process repeats itself. However, for the first time in a long time this may be the beginning of something new for the A’s. This may be the beginning of a new cycle, which I’m glad to explain.
Howard Terminal
The A’s are as close as they have ever been to getting a new ballpark in downtown Oakland. This state of the art stadium would be built at Howard Terminal near Jack London Square, and would instantly become a top 5 ballpark. By sometime next year construction could be underway already. The A’s goal is to build this new stadium and then begin to properly invest into the team. However, as close as they are, the A’s are still flirting with Las Vegas as another potential home site for the future of the franchise. Regardless of where they move, the A’s won’t be playing at the Coliseum much longer and that’s good news in regards to the way the actual roster is built.
Future Roster
The A’s farm system coming into the year was not that deep, but with these 3 trades alone they have added lots of young talent. Just last year, according to MLB’s top 100 prospects they had only 1 player on that list. Now they have 3 in Tyler Soderstrom, Shea Langeliers, and Cristian Pache who himself will likely start the season on the big league roster. It can be hard as a fan to be patient with future players because the current roster now isn’t that talented. Especially when you take into consideration that the A’s traded 3 All Star caliber players. However, if everything works out the way it should in the next few years, the A’s roster will be very talented, and the front office may spend money like it never has before.
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