Good morning A’s fans!
Yesterday, the American League Championship Series resumed with Game 3 after both teams had Tuesday off. Playing in front of their passionate fan base, the Cleveland Guardians beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Guardians right-hander Gavin Williams recorded nine strikeouts over five innings of two-run ball, while center fielder Petey Halpin hit the go-ahead home run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Last year, the Los Angeles Dodgers
swept the Milwaukee Brewers en route to a second consecutive World Series title. This year, the Brewers got revenge, sweeping the Dodgers to return to the World Series for the first time since 1982. It seemed like there would be a Game 5 after Shohei Ohtani’s three-run home run put the Dodgers up 4-0. The relentless Brewers responded with six unanswered runs before holding on for the pennant-clinching victory.
A small-market team will win the World Series this year for the first time since the Kansas City Royals did in 2015. That shows a well-coached, low-payroll team can perform just as well as a high-payroll team featuring multiple players with expensive contracts.
The Athletics, who popularized the “Moneyball approach”, have much to learn from these three clubs that have all better adapted to the new era. Off the field, the A’s need to invest more in their baseball operations and analytics department. Those staffers play a major role in Milwaukee, Cleveland, Tampa Bay and Los Angeles’ annual success.
Additionally, the Green and Gold must improve their major league pitching staff and organizational pitching development, especially after they posted the worst ERA in the AL this season.
Homegrown aces Gavin Williams (Guardians), Drew Rasmussen (Rays) and Jacob Misiorowski (Brewers) have all led their teams’ rotations this October. Meanwhile, the A’s have not developed a homegrown ace since Sonny Gray. Can J.T. Ginn, Gage Jump or Jamie Arnold take that mantle next season, or will the team keep relying on a rotation full of middle-and back-end starters?
A’s Coverage:
- The five biggest questions facing the A’s this offseason
- Inside the A’s State-of-the-Art Las Vegas Ballpark
- Pitching prospect Huggins growing his game with the help of this A’s Hall of Famer
- Phillies, Cubs executives reportedly among top Athletics GM candidates
- Fuld Rejection Offers Possible Clues To GM Search
- Matt Kleine, Rob Cerfolio Candidates In Athletics’ GM Search
- ’Be a sponge’: No. 19 prospect leads A’s Fall League group with do-it-all mentality
- A’s LHP prospect Richardson shows off health and resiliency during Fall League homecoming
- Zack Of All Trades Tries To Get One More Win: In Court
- Important Dates For The Athletics This Offseason
- 12 A’s Players Out of Options Heading Into 2027
- How MLB’s Proposed Changes Would Impact the A’s
- A’s part ways with assistant hitting, quality control coaches
- After an outfield collision left him paralyzed, every gain in rehab is a big win for A’s Ryan Lasko
- Why 2027 Athletics Will Be Completely Different Team
- A’s Las Vegas ballpark cost rises to $2.1B, public funding delayed
- 2026: Year Of The “Didn’t See That Coming!”
- A’s Hoping Luis Severino Chooses to Stay
- Where the A’s Plan to Use Zack Gelof in 2027
- Drafting The Top AL Graduated MLB Prospects From 2026
- Devin Taylor: Athletics 2026 Minor League Player Of The Year
- Athletics 2026 MLB Draft Report Card
- Henry Bolte Is the A’s Next Budding Star
- Determining Athletics’ Offensive MVP for the 2026 Season
- Notes From Star-Studded Rockies-A’s Instructional League
- 2027 Infield Landscape Ever Changing
- “Fast Movers” Might Be Key To Contention
- Billy Beane comments on the job Mark Kotsay has done this season.
- What the A’s Hiring Mike Rizzo would Signal and the Questions it Would Raise
- Athletics Considering James Click For GM Vacancy
- Get the best of Athletics Nation on the new SB Nation app
MLB News & Interest:
- Brewers end Dodgers’ three-peat bid with an NLCS sweep of their own
- Bauers takes home NLCS MVP after series filled with signature moments
- Huge go-ahead HR (and bigger bat flip) flips ALCS back in Guardians’ favor
- What this year’s MLB playoffs say about baseball’s future
- Rays, Brewers always outperform expectations. These ‘Moneyball’-like edges are the key
- How bad is this year’s MLB free-agent class? Ranking the last decade
- 2026 Gold Glove Award finalists revealed
- Baseball royalty goes to war over risque Megan Fox and Sydney Sweeney MLB playoff ads
- Astros will not renew contract of manager Joe Espada
- Phillies hire Don Mattingly to 2-year deal as manager
- Rockies Fire Pitching Coach Alon Leichman
- Chourio’s history-making 1st-pitch HR comes 1 year to the day after he did the same thing
- Updated Thursday start times: 1 ET (ALCS Game 3), 8 ET (NLCS Game 4)
- Guardians to start Gavin Williams vs. Rays’ Griffin Jax in Game 3
- White Sox To Pursue Starting Pitching This Offseason
- One stat from each farm system that caught our eye in 2026
- Previewing The Righty Relief Class
- He retired a decade ago, but Brewers wouldn’t be who they are now without him
- Phillies Not Retaining Kevin Long, Bobby Dickerson
- Phillies Re-Sign Tim Mayza, Hire Carlos Mendoza As Third Base Coach
- Today in Baseball History
Best of X
What is your favorite moment in Athletics history?
Should the A’s acquire Andre Pallante from the St. Louis Cardinals to bolster their starting rotation?
The Athletics last made the ALCS 20 years ago. Will the drought end next year, or will it last until the franchise’s Las Vegas era begins?
Brewers: Comeback Kings
