The End of An Era

It's been a long free-fall for the A's since they lost the series against their division rival, the LA Angels, back on July 13. The A's lost 19 of their last 21 and 10th straight game today. Their offense scored 3 runs or less in 16 games, and when they did manage to score some runs, the pitching staff couldn't hold off the opposing team. During this abysmal stretch, the ERA leader, Justin Duchscherer, has gone 0-2 with a 4.9 ERA and the closer Huston Street 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA and three blown saves. The A's still have the best team ERA in the majors, however. Pitching has been the least of their problems so far.

Many would say that hitting is their biggest problem. The A's have the lowest batting average in the majors this year. But, looking back on the stats, with the possible exception of 2002 and 2004, the A's have been one of the worst, if not the worst, hitting teams in the AL for more than a decade. For example, they had the lowest batting average in 2003 and the second lowest in 2006, but they won both years.

Pitching has always been the A's winning formula. Many credited the A's success in the early 2000's to the Big Three, when they made the playoffs 4 consecutive years. But, pitching alone doesn't make a championship team, as their stats this year can attest to.

The winning teams also have had a nice blend of experienced veteran players, who provide consistency and guidance, and exciting young talents, who provide enthusiasm and energy. Besides the Big Three, the A's of the early 2000's also had Hernandez, Giambi, Tejada, Dye and Chavez.

When many of the core players were traded away or left the team for free agency, the A's lost the division to the LA Angels. The A's have missed the playoffs in 4 of the last 5 years (including this year). In a sense, the 2006 A's were an excellent patchwork by Billy Beane. He brought in a young talent in Haren, veterans Bradley and Thomas, who all played a major role in the A's winning the division.

Perhaps it was not a mere coincidence that the A's had their first losing season since 1998 in 2007, right after the last of the Big Three, Barry Zito, left the team in the offseason, and their gold-glove thirdbaseman Eric Chavez was shut down due to shoulder injuries. Zito and Chavez were the only remaining core players from those championship years. Now that Billy Beane has sent away Milton Bradley, traded away Haren and Harden, and Eric Chavez shoulder injuries have ended his season again (perhaps even effectively his career). I wonder whether this also marks the end of an era for the A's.

When will the A's develop into a winning team again? Who will be the core players on that team?