The Athletics got a quality start from Jack Perkins on a night that still ended in disappointment, falling 2-1 on a walk-off to the Tampa Bay Rays to open their final road trip of the season. With 11 games left, the bigger concern for the A’s is no longer just the scoreboard. It’s whether they use these final chances to learn anything useful before the offseason arrives.
That’s where the conversation around Denzel Clarke gets tricky. Clarke is already elite in the field, and his glove could make him a real threat to Henry Bolte in center field if the bat ever starts to catch up.
But that evaluation only matters if manager Mark Kotsay actually gives him the runway to show progress. If Clarke keeps sitting, the A’s won’t get the answer they need.
Carlos Cortes has had no such problem getting opportunities, even after Clarke returned. The issue is that Cortes has not produced enough offense to make up for his lack of speed and defensive value.
Rookie infielder Tommy White is in a similar spot. He has not hit enough to overcome his defensive limitations, and the “Tommy Tanks” nickname hasn’t translated into much power so far.
In his first 162 major league at-bats, White has only two home runs and five doubles.
That puts the A’s in a familiar bind. They remain near the bottom of the league in advanced metrics that track defensive efficiency and runs saved, which means the new general manager will have to work with Kotsay to shape a defense that supports the pitching staff instead of dragging it down.
If the Athletics want a model, the source points to the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers. Those are small-market clubs that have managed to stay competitive by leaning on pitching and defense rather than trying to outspend everyone around them.
Their success also underscores a broader point: the first two teams to clinch playoff spots this season were the Rays and Brewers, a reminder that parity can exist without a salary cap. The A’s were in a similar place a few years ago, but now they’ve got a long climb ahead to get back into contention. The looming offseason lockout could make that climb even messier by tightening player movement and free agency.
The big question now is how the A’s attack the offseason, and what to make of MLB’s latest salary-cap and salary-floor proposal.
In Other News...
As Young Core Showed Real Fight In Another Tight Loss
A young A's lineup kept pushing again, even after the Rays jumped out early with a pair of doubles and carried a slim lead into the later innings. Oakland never did fold, and the response came from the middle of the order, where Tommy White and Henry Bolte both went deep to turn a lopsided-looking game into something tense and watchable down the stretch.
The Rays still escaped with a 4-3 win, but the final innings had the kind of edge Oakland has been searching for as its younger pieces keep learning on the job. Tampa Bay's bullpen finished the job, and the A's had one last chance to flip the result before the night ended. [Read more 🡒]
Athletics Face One Early Problem That Could Cost Them This Series
The Athletics head into Game 2 trying to steady a series that already slipped away on a walk-off home run in the opener, and the focus is on giving their offense a cleaner path while keeping the pitching plan from getting exposed early. After a rough start to the set, there is at least some help back in the lineup, and the club will need that extra presence to matter quickly if it wants to avoid chasing the series from behind.
Brady Basso is a central part of that equation, because the A's need him to work deep enough to keep the bullpen from getting stretched too soon. If he can hold the line through the middle innings, Oakland can preserve its relief options and give the offense a better chance to make the opener feel like an outlier instead of the tone-setter for the rest of the series. [Read more 🡒]
A's Bullpen Suddenly Gives The Front Office A Real Foundation
The bullpen has become one of the more encouraging parts of the Athletics season, which is not where this conversation seemed headed after Mason Miller was shipped out last summer. Instead of a late-inning group that fell apart without its closer, Oakland has gotten useful innings from Elvis Alvarado, Hogan Harris, Brady Basso and Scott Blewett, giving the front office something tangible to point to as it weighs the next round of pitching decisions.
There is still plenty of work ahead, especially with a new general manager expected to hunt for pitching help before the season ends. But a relief corps that can hold its own changes the calculus for a club in transition, and it gives Oakland at least one area where the talent base looks sturdier than it did a few months ago. [Read more 🡒]