Franchise Timeline

2020 - It was a year of drought-breaking for the A's. Going 36-24 over a 60-game regular season, Oakland captured its first American League West title since 2013. After achieving the goal they set in Spring Training with that division crown, the A's immediately turned their focus on making a deep postseason run after quick exits in the playoffs over the previous two seasons. Knocking out the White Sox in the American League Wild Card Series, the A's put some playoff demons to rest with their first postseason series victory since 2006. But though the A's wrestled away the division title from the Astros, another year went by with Houston advancing further as Oakland was eliminated by its division rival in the ALDS over six games.

One has to wonder how far the A's could have gotten had they not lost their heart and soul in Matt Chapman, who underwent season-ending hip surgery in September. The A's had to piece together a placeholder for their star third baseman, and while Chad Pinder and Jake Lamb performed admirably, there really is no replacing the all-around game of Chapman, who brings a powerful bat and a Gold Glove-caliber defense that makes everybody around the infield better.

While it wasn't the ending to the season the A's wanted, 2020 did provide hope with the emergence of top prospects Jes¨²s Luzardo and Sean Murphy, who after years of anticipation over their arrivals by fans finally graduated to the big leagues and shined in full-time roles. These two, along with No. 1 prospect A.J. Puk, bring optimism for the future as potential stars alongside current franchise pillars in Chapman and Matt Olson.

2021 - Though the A's finished above .500 for a fourth consecutive season, their 86-76 record was not enough to defend their American League West division crown as they missed out on the postseason completely for the first time since 2017. Their stars shined, with All-Star first baseman finishing eighth in AL MVP Voting while Frankie Montas finished sixth in AL Cy Young voting. But perhaps most surprising from this 2021 campaign was their uncharacteristic struggles over the second half.

Second-half runs have long been a trademark of the A's. From their three-year stretch of seasons with a playoff appearance from 2018-20, their combined record in the second half was 104-61. In ¡®21, however, Oakland went 34-46 after the All-Star break. It was a second half that saw A's general manager David Forst and vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane try hard to upgrade the roster with midseason acquisitions of Starling Marte, Andrew Chafin, Josh Harrison and Yan Gomes. But the A's were also dealt critical blows around that time when team spark plug Ram¨®n Laureano was lost for the season due to a suspension for after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug and ace pitcher Chris Bassitt missed a large chunk after being hit in the face with a hard comebacker that required facial surgery.

2022 - It was a trying season for the A's as they snapped a streak of four consecutive seasons with a record above .500 by going 60-102 under first-year manager Mark Kotsay, marking just the second 100-loss season in Oakland history and first since 1979. Entering a rebuild that began during Spring Training with the trades of Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Sean Manaea and Chris Bassitt, all core players from previous successful seasons, the A's slowly shifted towards a youth movement throughout the season with the arrivals of top prospects such as Shea Langeliers, Nick Allen, Jordan Diaz and Ken Waldichuk. Overall, the team set club records for most players (64) and rookies (34) to appear in a game over a single season. Their 12 different first basemen used were also a franchise record.

Seth Brown received the most playing time of his career and emerged as a middle-of-the-order threat by reaching career highs in home runs (25), doubles (26) and RBIs (73).

Following the end of the season, longtime A's general manager and executive vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane left the A's baseball operations department after three decades, to take on a new position within the organization as senior advisor to owner John Fisher, working together closely on strategic decisions and broader organizational matters in addition to supporting A's general manager David Forst, who took over as head of the club's baseball operations.

2023 - The A's slipped further down the win/loss column in what was the second year of a rebuild, but while the record was disappointing, encouraging signs were present through the emergence of several promising prospects such as Zack Gelof, Tyler Soderstrom, Lawrence Butler and Mason Miller at the Major League level, all of whom are expected to be key contributors in 2024.

The discovery of Brent Rooker and Esteury Ruiz was one of the more positive developments of the season. Rooker earned the first All-Star selection of his career in a strong campaign that saw him become the first A's player to reach 30 home runs in a season since 2021, while Ruiz set the American League rookie record for stolen bases with 67, eclipsing Kenny Lofton's previous mark of 66 from 1992.

Following the end of the season, Major League Baseball's 30 owners unanimously approved the A's relocation to Las Vegas during a vote at the Owners Meetings in November. The approval paves the way for a proposed new, 30,000-seat ballpark that will sit on the south end of the Las Vegas strip, which is expected to be ready for the start of the 2028 season.