Athletics, Rays proving that money’s not everything
OAKLAND, Calif. — You’ll have to excuse the disgusted folks inside Major League Baseball’s offices. This is not the American League wildcard game they wanted to see. They’d rather not see the A’s and Tampa Bay at all, anywhere, until the teams get new stadiums.
All of which makes for potentially fine theater Wednesday night at the Oakland Coliseum. For one thing, the A’s will draw a lively, pulsating crowd that reminds nobody of the bleak scenes unfolding through the years. More appealing to the general public, though, is the fact that both teams got here on a paltry budget.
It’s always been a fallacy that it takes big money to win. That generally does apply to the last team standing in any sport, but the A’s and Rays have shown exactly what’s possible when you spend your dollars one at a time. Last year, the A’s made the wild-card game despite having the lowest openingday payroll in the majors. This season, Tampa Bay owns that distinction. And nobody in the AL wants to face either of them right now.
When things look especially bleak in a franchise, there are two primary options. The Astros decided to be terrible for a few years, all the while hatching a grand plan that would pay off handsomely. (Did it ever.) The A’s and Rays simply never gave up, pounding away at the
numbers, acquiring valuable players on the cheap and preserving an upbeat, winning climate.
Sam Fuld, a Phillies coach who played for both teams, sees the similarities.
“Both really embrace the idea that giving players the freedom to be themselves will result in a better player on the field,” he told the Tampa Bay Times. “They also foster a culture of innovation and risktaking. Whether it’s onfield strategy, transactionally or on the development side, both teams tend to — necessarily — take chances.”
Given the Rays’ relative anonymity — how many of them can you name off the top of your head? — it would seem the A’s dodged a bullet when Cleveland faded out of the wild-card picture. No more worrying about a fearsome lineup featuring Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, Carlos Santana, Yasiel Puig and ascending rookie Oscar Mercado.
But something went wrong down the stretch with Cleveland, something manager Terry Francona couldn’t quite pinpoint, and we’re left with one of those “band of misfits” teams that has come together at the perfect time.
How crazy could it get on Wednesday night?
How about ex-Giant Matt Duffy knocking Oakland out of the postseason? As much as the Rays value unconventional pitching strategy, could they get an old-style masterpiece from starter Charlie Morton (16-6, 3.05 ERA) and stifle the A’s before they have time to breathe?
A few things to know about the Rays:
• Duffy isn’t the same player he was for the Giants in 2015, when he hit .295 with 12 homers and built a huge following in the fan base. He’s 28, with a long list of injuries since he joined Tampa Bay, but he’ll start at third base against A’s lefthander Sean Manaea. Duffy hit .252 in 46 games with just one homer, struck against Toronto righthander Sam Gaviglio in the second-tolast game of the season.
• Perhaps it wasn’t Bumgarner-esque, but it came close. In Game 7 of the 2017 World Series, Morton came out of the bullpen to pitch four scoreless innings and close out the Astros’ 5-1 victory over the Dodgers. If you saw his curveball that night, you know his performance was no fluke. It’s one of the nastiest pitches in either league, especially with a down-and-in break that could overwhelm Matt Olson and the A’s other lefty hitters in the confounding twilight of a 7 p.m. start.
• Where’s Blake Snell? He won the Cy Young Award last season with an eye-catching 1.89 ERA, but he only recently returned to the roster after being sidelined by elbow surgery. He hasn’t looked all that sharp, but will probably get an ALDS start with an innings limit if the Rays get that far. The starterturned reliever to watch Wednesday night is righthander Tyler Glasnow, who also had injury troubles but has been virtually unhittable of late with his 100 mph fastballs and wipeout sliders.
• Too bad it’s just one game. The wisdom of Bob Melvin and Kevin Cash makes for one of the best managerial matchups in baseball. (And let’s just say it: The wild-card showdown should be a best-ofthree series. You don’t play 162 games to settle it in one night, and it’s a real drag for fans who don’t get an October game at home.)
• Cash won’t set his final roster until Wednesday, and he has two intriguing options. Brendan McKay, who pitched and hit with equal success during his collegiate days at Louisville, is a hard-throwing lefty out of the bullpen and a possible pinch-hitter if the game really gets wild. Outfielder Johnny Davis, who made his bigleague debut at 29 this season after years in obscurity, has blinding speed and could be a weapon off the bench.
• The Coliseum is paradise, a veritable Taj Mahal, compared to the Rays’ Tropicana Field. Domed, unsightly and hopeless, it’s a place where hitters occasionally watch their fly balls carom off the roof. Attendance has been a constant issue, to the point where principal owner Stu Sternberg proposed a novel idea in June: Give the Rays a second home in Montreal and split the home season down the middle.
The laughter is only now subsiding.