The Athletics were well-represented at the MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday at T-Mobile Park. However, not in a good way.
Current Oakland outfielder/designated hitter Brent Rooker joined not one, not two, not three, not four, but five former A's players -- Atlanta's Sean Murphy and Matt Olson, Texas' Jonah Heim and Marcus Semien and Minnesota's Sonny Gray -- at the Midsummer Classic.
The San Francisco Chronicle's John Shea spoke with four of the five former A's players on Monday in Seattle where the current All-Stars reminisced about their former club and discussed the team's potential if it had kept the homegrown core together.
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SIGN UP HERE “Those are all great people, and I would’ve loved to keep playing with them,” Murphy told the Chronicle.
Heim and Semien briefly played together on an A's team that made the playoffs during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and since have reunited on a first-place Rangers team.
“Marcus and I always reminisce about how good our team was," Heim said. "We had a great team. It’s unfortunate we all got separated, but I’m happy where I’m at right now. Unfortunately, we all had to go our separate ways.”
Of all the former-A's-turned-All-Stars on hand in Seattle, none are having as much success this season as Olson, who leads the National League in home runs (29) and RBI (72) in the heart of a loaded Braves lineup.
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Olson's remarks about his former team perhaps sent the loudest message.
“When you don’t bring the hometown shortstop back, who’s coming off such a good year, and who wanted to return, it became pretty evident to us,” Olson said, referring to the A's letting Semien walk in free agency after the 2020 season. “If ownership doesn’t want to go that way, you continue on your journey elsewhere.
“It’s easy to play the what-if game with what the team could have done. It’s pretty clear that wasn’t the route they were going to take. Mentally, you move on from it. Every guy that’s somewhere else is in a great situation and enjoying it.”
In addition to the handful of position players the organization has traded away in recent years, the A's also have traded away a handful of homegrown starting pitchers, including Gray, Sean Manaea, Chris Bassitt, Jesús Luzardo and Frankie Montas. Had the A's retained their homegrown stars over the years, which also includes Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Matt Chapman, there's no telling what the team's potential could have been year in and year out.
“You just hoped they’d give us one more shot at it. I still wish they would have. It didn’t happen that way,” Gray said. “You hear the A’s aren’t going to be there for much longer, but there’s something to be said about playing in Oakland.
“Having the small locker room -- I know it’s bigger now because the Raiders left -- you’re in a tight spot with your teammates and forced to get to know everybody and get comfortable with them."
Not much has changed for the A's from a big-picture standpoint, who have been in a constant cycle of building up and tearing down for the last decade-plus. However, there is one thing that appears to be changing, much to the disappointment of the passionate and loyal Oakland fanbase.
“I remember there were talks in ’13, ‘We’re going to get a new stadium,’ ” Gray recalled. “Here we are, 10 years later, I guess it’s finally happening-ish.”
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The A's have begun the relocation application process after the passage of Senate Bill 1 (SB1) in the Nevada Legislature last month, which would provide $380 million in public funding for a new ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip.
The team's relocation from Oakland to Las Vegas, which appears likely, would be the final nail in the coffin to what has been a tumultuous 10-plus years for fans and players -- current and former -- alike.