MESA, Ariz. — They no longer are the pawns in a war involving Oakland government officials, failed stadium developments, Major League Baseball and Athletics owner John Fisher.
The players don’t have to walk past fan boycotts in the Oakland Coliseum, listen to fans chanting “Sell the Team,’’ while playing in front of a sea of empty seats night after night and a tarp covering the upper deck.
They don’t have to answer questions about raw sewage in the clubhouse, rats in the broadcast booth, dead mice in the soda machine or their paltry payroll.
“I think there’s a lot more focus on baseball now,’ A’s pitcher J.P. Sears told USA TODAY Sports, “and less than the optics around us. We’re just like any other team now.
“Our goal is obviously changing year by year, but this year, it’s definitely about making the playoffs and making a name for ourselves.’
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The Athletics still will be unique. They will spending the next several seasons in West Sacramento. But please don’t call them the Sacramento A’s. They want to be known only as the Athletics.
They will play the next three years at Sutter Health Park, a renovated Triple-A ballpark used by the Sacramento River Cats, a San Francisco Giants affiliate. Their permanent new home will be in Las Vegas beginning in 2028, although a shovel still has not been put into the ground.
No matter, for the first time since these players have joined the A’s organization, there will finally be a semblance of normalcy. They’ll be playing in front of sold-out crowds, albeit in a stadium that seats just 13,800 fans, which is still larger than the average A’s crowd of 11,386 last season.
“The distractions are still there, it’s not like they’ve gone away,’ A’s reliever T.J. McFarland said. “We’re going to Sacramento, and it’s going to be kind of like a big deal. But at the end of the day, the transition kind of brought us closer together.
“Within the clubhouse, we’ve all kind of turned into a family and been able to turn the outside noise off.’
The A’s finally are acting like a real big-league team, signing free-agent starter Luis Severino to a three-year, $67 million contract this winter, the largest in franchise history.
Severino made his spring-training debut Thursday, showing signs why he was a two-time All-Star and won 19 games in 2018 for the Yankees. He pitched two dominant innings against the San Diego Padres, with manager Mark Kotsay raving about how easy the ball comes out of his hand.
“Every time he steps on the mound,’ starter J.P. Sears said, “he brings that passion, a lot of energy. He almost has that Dave Stewart look, that fierce, mean, I’m coming at you. And then there’s that Sevvy roar, yelling so loud.’
Severino, 31, promises to bring that energy when real games begin, and already is letting everyone know that simply competing isn’t good enough. He came here to win. He has already been to the postseason six times in his career, and didn’t sign with the Athletics as a retirement package.
“Nobody’s expecting us to come out and make the playoffs,’ Severino said. ”I think a lot people think that we are far away from making the playoffs. That’s not true.
“We have a good team here. We’re here to win. We have a lot of young guys, a lot of talent.’
In it to win it?
The A’s didn’t just stop with Severino. They signed All-Star outfielder Brent Rooker to a five-year, $60 million extension. They signed veteran infielder Gio Urshela and relievers Jose Leclerc and McFarland. They traded for Tampa Bay Rays starter Jeffrey Springs, taking on his $10.5 million annual salary the next two seasons.
Sure, they jacked up their payroll only after the players union threatened them with a grievance, but at least they spent, going from a major-league low $61.3 million up to $90 million. They actually out-spent 18 teams in free agency this winter.
“This reminds me a lot of Tampa,’ Springs said. “Great people, great coaching staff. Everything has been first class. That’s all you can ask for. We have great potential here to win a lot of ballgames.’
The Athletics may not have a city on their uniform or next to their name in the standings, but the capital of California is ready to embrace them.
“Oakland stepped up,’ McFarland said. “Oops, I keep saying Oakland. The Athletics have stepped up. It forecasts what we’re going to do the next three years, which is to compete and win.’
The good folks of Sacramento, located 86 miles northeast of Oakland, are ready to have a real baseball team too. They would love for the Las Vegas deal to fall apart and have the team stay in the region, or at the very least make such a strong impression that MLB’s will consider them as a potential expansion franchise.
The Athletics, for the first time, have a waiting list to buy season tickets. There were more than 75,000 requests for home opener tickets against the Chicago Cubs on March 31. They’ve got A’s fever in Sacramento.
“They’re going to love us there, and I think we’re going to love them, too,’ McFarland said. “It’s going to be hyped. It’s going to be fun. Guys are excited to get out there and just see a new city has to offer, and it’s not that far away from where our original fans were.’
Don’t get the A’s wrong. They’re going to miss Oakland. They loved their small, but loyal fanbase. They enjoyed living in the East Bay Area. The Coliseum may have been a dump, but they found it charming.
“Obviously, there’s that sadness of leaving Oakland, and feeling for those fans,’ A’s catcher Shea Langeliers said. “But at the same time, there is an excitement in Sacramento. The fans are excited to have us there.
“It’s going to be different playing in a Triple-A park, but at the end of the day, it’s our park. Our mindset is it is what it is. It’s going to be good energy, and it’s going to make other teams uncomfortable.’
The A’s, who visited Sacramento in January, were treated like Hollywood celebrities, provided courtside seats to see the Sacramento Kings play the Miami Heat in January. They were given a thunderous ovation when introduced during the game, and warmly greeted at restaurants and coffee shops around town.
“Everyone we met,’’ Sears said, “they were just super, super grateful to have a team come in there.’’
Said Rooker: “They made it very evident that the city of Sacramento is passionate about their sports. We’re looking forward to feeling that energy.’
Rooker, who hit .293 with 39 homers and 112 RBI, became the first player to officially commit to the A’s when they’ll be playing in Las Vegas. He brings automatic stability to a franchise in constant transition, keeping him with manager Mark Kotsay, who signed an extension through 2029.
And it all started with the signing of Severino, who stunned the baseball industry by believing in the A’s future.
“That was awesome,’ Rooker said. “Obviously that was the big splash, one of the big signings of the winter. It kind of signified the moving in a new direction, going out and getting some talent, spending some money to help improve out team.
“It brought a lot of optimism, a bunch of excitement to our clubhouse.’’
In the words of outfielder Lawrence Butler, who’s negotiating a potential contract extension: ‘It lets us know that we’re here to win. We’re not just here to play baseball.”
The A’s still have a few questions to solve before their season opener. They’re trying to figure out who’ll be their fifth starter, who wins the last bullpen spot, and identify their backup catcher. Otherwise, they are pretty much set.
They have the young talent, only lacking experience. They went from 50 victories in 2023 to 69 last season. If they’re going to make the playoffs, they’re going to need at least another 15-game improvement.
“Last year I don’t think there was a level of expectation to go out and really have the realistic opportunity to complete for the division,’’ said Kotsay, a former outfielder with the A’s. “I think this group is confident. They have that expectation for themselves, which is great.
“We know what we have to do in front of us is not going to be easy.’
The A’s, the league’s doormat for the past three seasons with 307 losses, say the days are over acting like a farm club for big markets.
Now they insist they will keep their best players and are convinced they’ll be back in the playoffs – and perhaps become an AL West power – by the time they move to Las Vegas. They finished with a 69-93 record last season, but went 39-37 after July 1, tied for the third-best record in the AL, giving them hope.
“We’re going to use that momentum we built to improve and see where that takes us,’ Rooker said, “but we definitely feel like we’re really, really close to being very competitive.
“And we think that could happen this year.’
(Temporary) home-field advantage
The Athletics believe they could have one of the finest home-field advantages in baseball in Sacramento. When teams come in, they’re going to moan and groan about playing in a minor-league ballpark, in rotten mood from when they land at Sacramento International Airport right until until departure.
“When they come to play us,’ McFarland said. “It will be like, ‘Oh, why are we here in Sacramento?’ They’re going to get caught up in the distractions where we won’t be.’
Said reliever J.T. Ginn, laughing: “I’m sure it’s not going to be team’s most looked-forward trip by any means. But with the way we are, being gritty, it kind of fits our style.’
And just wait until opponents see the visiting clubhouse. It’s going to make the visiting clubhouses at Wrigley Field and Fenway Park look like the Taj Mahal. It’s the smallest in baseball, and it’s not even close.
‘Every team that comes in is going to complain about it being a Triple A ballpark, ‘’ Athletics GM David Forst said. ‘And if we sort of make it our own, and don’t worry about what we can’t control, I think there’s a huge advantage there.’
It’s not as if the A’s won’t have their own inconveniences. Their renovated two-story clubhouse will have a new gym, full kitchen and plenty of the amenities found in other clubhouses, but it also happens to be in left-center field.
The only way to access is walking through the outfield, which means that if there’s a sudden urge to use the bathroom, you’ve got no choice but to wait until between innings.
The A’s will also be curious to see how their ballpark plays. It could be a wake-up call for pitchers. Those foul pop-ups that were routinely caught in the Coliseum with their vast foul territory, now may fall helplessly in the stands. And when the temperature hits triple-figures in the summer, the ball could fly.
It may also be a little rough for the infielders. There will be 153 games played on the Sutter Health Park field between the A’s and Sacramento River Cats. Originally, they were going to play artificial turf, but with the summer heat, the players association intervened and requested they play on natural grass. The new sod was placed on Saturday, with plans to change it only once during the season, which could lead to a whole lot of bad-hop singles.
“There’s definitely a long history of challenging environment in Oakland for hitters,’ Kotsay said. “It’s just a fact. You hit .300 in Oakland, you had an unbelievable season.’’
The last time the A’s had a .300 hitter in a full season was Josh Donaldson in 2013. No A’s player has had consecutive .300 seasons since Jason Giambi in 2000-2001.
Still, the Athletics will miss their former home. The club is heartbroken about the way it ended, but now has a new temporary home and a bright future.
“We loved Oakland,’ A’s outfielder J.J. Bleday said. “I think a lot of us have tremendous respect for that place and all of the staff who have been a part of it. I know I’m going to miss it. The Coliseum was a big part of our lives, and a big part of my career. I’m definitely going to miss all of the fans and how friendly they were.
“But this just a new step in that direction of Vegas and a new chapter that we’ve just go to deal with and work with. I think it’s going to a good experience. I think we’ve got a chance to do some really special things.’’
And yet, despite the A’s finally knowing their future, one lingering question still hovers.
If the A’s make the playoffs in the next three years, would they actually play their home games in a ballpark that seats only 13,800 fans?
The A’s would love to find out, but for now, MLB has given them no answer.
Stay tuned, there may still be some juicy drama that awaits.
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