Oakland A’s come in at No. 13 on The Athletic’s ‘Wild-Card Era’ franchise rankings

Feb 6, 2023 - 5:00 PM

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The Oakland Athletics came in at No. 13 in The Athletic’s franchise rankings for the “Wild-Card Era” that were released on Monday. Oakland finished behind AL West division rivals the Rangers, the Angels and the Astros. It is an interesting system that assigns points for World Series wins, playoff appearances and division titles. Teams can also lose points for prolonged non-competitiveness and can receive points for sustained success.

The A’s have made 11 trips to the postseason since 1995 and have just one instance of back-to-back 90 loss seasons although they may have a hard time holding onto their current ranking in future seasons.

The A’s are the first team listed to have made double-digit postseason trips across the 28 seasons, but only once did they advance to the ALCS. In 2022, just two years removed from winning the AL West in the shortened season, Oakland turned in its first 100-loss season since 1979. The future is bleak. The Athletics have no long-term home, and even after unloading a handful of veterans last year they still have a bottom-five farm system.

An exercise like this can always be tweaked to change the results, but it does a pretty good job of showing how different franchises stack up since the implementation of the wild card. If you have a subscription to The Athletic, it is well worth your time.