The Oakland Athletics continue to be a problem for MLB.
Ownership competed until the 2021 season: they tried, in all fairness, to get over the hump and make the playoffs with several high-profile trade acquisitions.
Once they failed to accomplish the goal, they decided to tear things apart, shed payroll, and trade all their stars about to get expensive.
Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Frankie Montas, Sean Manaea, Chris Bassitt, and several other stars have been traded in the past year.
Now, the roster is completely decimated, almost Triple-A-like.
At 46-79, the 2022 A’s have the worst record in the American League and the second-worst in MLB after the Washington Nationals.
The A’s have no stars and aren’t competitive, and their stadium is old and not functional.
Having considered all these things, it’s fair to assume fans just don’t want to go to their games.
And why would they?
It’s hard to blame them when ownership decidedly wants to save every penny.
The fans’ stance towards the Athletics is definitely reflected in attendance numbers.
Average MLB Attendance as Capacity % for 2022
(via u/ImOnTheInstanet) pic.twitter.com/WiATTeAgPd
— Baseball GIFs (@gifs_baseball) August 24, 2022
A Last-Place Team In Attendance, Too
The A’s are not only a last place team in the standings: they are also last in attendance, with 9,456 brave, loyal fans on average.
They are also last in percentage of stadium capacity filled with fans per game, with just 20.2 percent.
Those are some really sad numbers for a once great franchise.
For the sake of MLB and its fans, the league needs to do something about the franchise.
A’s fans don’t deserve that kind of mediocrity.
