The A's didn't make the playoffs and because the commissioner hates the A's, baseball has decided to continue with postseason festivities even without Oakland's presence. Here are your rooting options.
American League
Baltimore Orioles (Wild Card)
Manny Machado once threw a bat in the general direction of future Oakland Hall of Fame inductee, Alberto Callaspo. That seems like a not cool thing to do, as does attempting to concuss Derek Norris for no good reason. The Orioles have no pitchers and no former A's, and aside from Machado, they're a pretty bland team from an A's fan's point of view.
Former A's: None!
Rootability: 2/10
Toronto Blue Jays (Wild Card)
In spite of being located north of the border, the Jays lack that traditional Canadian politeness and charm. The now home of Josh Donaldson has loads of offensive firepower (Bautista, Encarnacion, Donaldson, Martin) and some fun pieces to go along with some guys that are just a touch unsavory. In addition to having Donaldson, the Jays have arguably the top Bat Flip potential in the playoffs, some exciting pitchers, and an attitude that will be sure to make for some entertaining baseball.
Former A's: Josh Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion (?)
Rootability: 7/10
Boston Red Sox
Christopher McCandless, inspiration for the book and movie Into the Wild, passed away in August 1992. Recently, researchers found new documents from his time in the Alaskan wilderness, including a diary that detailed why he went off the grid, away from civilization, Twitter, radio, TV, and everything else. His reasoning? "I'm so sick of hearing about David Ortiz".
Agreed Christopher. Agreed.
Former A's: Drew Pomeranz, Fernando Abad, Brad Ziegler, Chris Young
Rootability: 1/10
Cleveland Indians
A team with a limited fan base and fun young talent? Sounds like a winner. The Indians are one of the rare teams out there that haven't been good for long enough or done anything annoying enough to automatically discount them from rooting possibility. Plus, I think we can all root for Coco Crisp.
Former A's: Dan Otero, Coco Crisp
Rootability: 9/10
Texas Rangers
With the crazy injury problems of recent Rangers teams combined with the A's being just terrible, the once fervent AL West rivalry has died down a bit in recent years. Adrian Beltre is about as fun as baseball can be and there are certainly some likable aspects of this Texas team, though their chances aren't great, as Ryan Madson pitches for exactly opposing playoff teams.
Former A's: A.J. Griffin
Rootability: 4/10
National League
San Francisco Giants (Wild Card)
It's an even year and if you're like most A's fans, you've already started digging your bunker to avoid the inevitability of late October. The Giants have some fun players (Pence, Panik, etc.) but I'm not dumb enough to think anyone on this site is going to root for the Giants.
Former A's: Santiago Casilla/Jairo Garcia, Jeff Samardzija
Rootability: lol/10
New York Mets (Wild Card)
Aside from having three of the more enjoyable A's of all time starring on their roster, the Mets are loaded with other fun players. Noah Syndergaard throws triple digits with ease as a starter, and in spite of losing two of the better starters in the game and facing a major uphill climb, the Mets made their way back into the playoffs. They're a funderdog, if you will.
Former A's: Bartolo Colon, Yoenis Cespedes, Jerry Blevins
Rootability: 9/10
Washington Nationals
The Nationals are the meh-est team on this list, as they're just about as far removed from the A's as could possibly be. The two squads have faced off just six times since the Nats move from Montreal prior to the 2005 season, and there's little connection between the ballclubs. How much you like the Nats is typically directly correlated with how you like Bryce Harper, and that's a whole other can of worms.
Former A's: Gio Gonzalez, Scrabble
Rootability: 4/10
Chicago Cubs
There's a certain comfort to the Cubs World Series drought. It keeps you leveled as a fan, knowing that while sometimes things seem awful for us A's fans, we do have color video of our most recent championship win. That said, this version of the baby bears is not only extremely dominant, they're pretty likable too. The former A's section on the club is a little brutal but they're still an enjoyable bunch overall, and boy can they play some solid baseball.
Former A's: Addison Russell, Ben Zobrist, Jason Hammel, Chris Coghlan, Trevor Cahill, Jon Lester
Rootability: 6/10
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers winning means more chances to watch Rich Hill, and that's an obvious reason to cheer them on.. Josh Reddick is also a member of the team down south, and a Dodgers title would be sure to annoy some of our rival fans.
Former A's: Josh Reddick, Rich Hill, Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy, Brett Anderson, Joe Blanton, Jesse Chavez
Rootability: 7/10
