Elephant Rumblings: Post-August Power Rankings roundup

How was your Labour Day, Athletics Nation?

Well, August has come and gone and the A’s 2022 season is beginning to sunset. Going 10-17 last month was not overly inspiring, but about as good as you can expect out of the Athletics this year. With the youth movement in full swing it’s now a matter of seeing who has potential for next year.

A 9-game losing streak early in the month was not phenomenal but from the 15th onward the A’s were nearly neutral, winning a set against the Mariners and dropping two out of three against the Marlins. Every other series in the back-half was a wash (ignoring the third game of the Nats series, that was in September, doesn’t count).

Let’s see where the baseball world slots the Athletics after August:

Site - Rank (End of July rank)

• MLB.com - 29/30 (29/30)
• ESPN - 29/30 (29/30)
• The Athletic - 29/30 (29/30)
• Sports Illustrated - 29/30 (27/30)
• CBS Sports - 27/30 (28/30)
• theScore - 28/30 (27/30)
• FanGraphs - 28/30 (28/30)

Once again, there’s no major surprises here. While they had an alright couple of weeks, the A’s still play like a bottom tier team. As noted by FanGraphs, the A’s record is hovering in the realm where they could or could not get sit in the highest odds for the first pick overall in the draft lottery. The other thing that CBS Sports mentions, is that the Athletics simply need to go 13-14 over the rest of the season to avoid the seemingly inevitable 100-loss season.

A’s Coverage

• Kawahara: What are the biggest questions facing the A’s in the season’s final month? ($)
• Reuters: Matt Olson returns to Oakland as Braves start West Coast trip
• Razo: Stew fights back tears revealing ‘proudest moment’ in Oakland

MLB News & Interest

• Lee: How New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz went from Big Apple bust to the King of Queens
• Rosenthal: Yankees’ collapse would force uncomfortable decision on GM Brian Cashman’s future ($)
• Rivera: New York Yankees’ Andrew Benintendi has broken wrist bone, status uncertain
• Stavenhagen: Meet Tigers rookie Ryan Kreidler’s parents, writers who raised a big leaguer ($)
• Today in Baseball History

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