The Athletics are in a spot nobody around the club wanted to see: after being swept by the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday afternoon, they now sit at the very bottom of MLB with a 47-74 record. The Los Angeles Angels are right there with them at 47-74, so the immediate target over these final weeks is simple enough - finish ahead of the Angels.
That’s where the calendar starts to matter. The A’s have an off day today, then the homestand picks back up tomorrow against the Texas Rangers.
It’s a useful opportunity, because the Rangers are under .500 and still in the mix in the AL West. After that comes a four-game set in Kansas City against the Royals, a stretch that looks very winnable on paper.
The trip continues through Houston, where the Astros will be waiting, and then the Athletics finish that road swing with three games against the Twins in Sacramento. The A’s just saw Minnesota last month and took two of three, a result that may have nudged the Twins toward buying at the trade deadline. The month closes with three games against the Baltimore Orioles, another series that looks very manageable.
September is set up to be friendlier still. After three more against the Rangers, the A’s go through a run of the Mariners, Blue Jays, and Mariners again over nearly the first two weeks of the month.
Toronto has been one of the sport’s biggest disappointments after nearly winning the World Series last season, and the Blue Jays are also fighting to stay out of the basement in their division. Seattle, meanwhile, has also fallen short of expectations after last year’s improbable run to the AL West crown.
The final road trip brings three games in Tampa and three in Cleveland, both of which figure to be difficult if the Rays and Guardians are still battling for division leads. Then the season ends with a long homestand against the Angels and Astros. That Angels series could decide who spends the winter in the AL West cellar, while Houston might already be in playoff mode and resting regulars.
For a club that opened the year so well, the fall has been sharp. The A’s were in first place in mid-May, but the wheels have come off since then.
Pitching was the backbone early, and it needs to be the focus this offseason. Injuries didn’t help, and playing in a minor league ballpark is part of the picture too, though that’s just the reality right now.
There’s no way to know exactly how the Las Vegas ballpark will play until the team gets there, so the A’s will need to be ready for whatever comes next.
No games today. The wait for baseball ends tomorrow.
In Other News...
Athletics Saw Hope For The Future And The Same Old Collapse
The Athletics finally found a small lift in Boston, taking two of three from the Red Sox and giving themselves a reminder that there is still some life in this season. Even with the overall record sitting 27 games under .500, the series offered a glimpse of the club they hope to become, with younger pieces starting to matter more as the year winds down and injuries continue to reshape the roster.
Zack Gelof has been one of the more encouraging developments, and his emergence matters even more now with Nick Kurtz and Shea Langeliers out for the season. But the bigger picture still looks familiar for Oakland: the pitching has been uneven, the bullpen in particular has too often turned competitive games into losses, and one good series has not been enough to change the tone of a long, frustrating year. [Read more 🡒]
As Infield Picture Just Got Murkier After Latest Roster Shuffle
The infield depth chart took another turn this week when the Athletics outrighted Jonathan Ornelas to Triple-A Las Vegas, a move that followed Zack Gelofs return from injury and pushed one more name off the big-league roster. Ornelas had spent only a brief time in Oakland this season, appearing in six major league games, but his path through the organization has been a familiar one for a player bouncing between opportunities and roster pressure.
For Ornelas, the transaction also carried an important procedural wrinkle: it was his second career outright, which gives him the ability to elect free agency. He has hit .200 in the majors overall and has been productive at Triple-A this year, so the Athletics still have a useful depth option in the system either way. What happens next will say plenty about how the club wants to sort out the infield mix behind Gelof. [Read more 🡒]
A's Bullpen Desperation Could Turn Two Overlooked Arms Into Key Pieces
The Athletics have spent much of this season trying to patch together a roster that has taken hit after hit, with Brent Rooker and Shea Langeliers both lost for the rest of 2026. In that kind of year, the margins matter, and the bullpen has become one of the places where Oakland has had to keep searching for help wherever it can find it.
Scott Blewett and Drew Rom are the latest arms to get that chance. Blewett, a right-hander, and Rom, a left-hander, have each posted promising numbers in limited innings this season, and the As are hoping those flashes can translate into more meaningful work in Oakland. For a club this short on stability, even overlooked relievers can quickly turn into important pieces if they can handle the next step. [Read more 🡒]