Sunday, August 24, 2008

Something Sinister?

On Thursday, David Pinto suggested that "...something sinister is going on in Oakland." I'm having a tough time seeing that. What does he think is going on? I suppose he's insinuating that the A's are intentionally putting players on the DL to make the team worse - and improve the team's draft position for the 2009 MLB draft. I guess I don't get it.

Maybe the complaint is that A's fans are getting a raw deal? That they're supporting a team that doesn't want to win? That doesn't jive with me. A's fans have already written this year off, so losing a few more games isn't going to be that painful to us. And the upside (better draft position) would be nice. As for attendance, it's been pretty crappy all season. Losing a few more games down the stretch isn't going to make the problem much worse - and the A's ownership isn't going to feel that much more pain in the wallet.

Maybe the complaint is that the A's alleged Operation Shutdown will have some major impact on the playoff races...? The problem with that argument is that the A's have 32 games left, and only four against a team (the Twins) that's still in any kind of a playoff race. Games against the Angels, Tigers, Royals, Orioles, Rangers and Mariners are essentially meaningless at this point, so how incensed can we really be? The A's can't affect the playoff races in any meaningful way.

I don't think there's anything sinister going on in Oakland, and even if the A's were conspiring to lose games, I wouldn't be terribly offended. Tanking one season to make the next year better worked out pretty well for the Celtics, didn't it?

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