3 Biggest Questions About the A's Playing in Sacramento

Jun 1, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A detailed view of an Oakland Athletics hat and glove on the field against the Atlanta Braves in the sixth inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Jun 1, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A detailed view of an Oakland Athletics hat and glove on the field against the Atlanta Braves in the sixth inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images
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With the Athletics leaving their long-time home in Oakland to make a brief pit stop in Sacramento before their ultimate goal of fleeing to Las Vegas, there are questions that follow this franchise from all three cities. The biggest one is how they're going to pay for the proposed ballpark in Vegas, because without an answer to that one, it's tough to see the move ever actually happening.

That question will have to be answered another day.

Today, let's focus on the three biggest questions for the A's as they begin their tenure in West Sacramento. As we know, they'll be playing their home games at Sutter Health Park, the home of the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, who will also be playing out their schedule in the park. While one question will certainly be how the field will hold up over the course of the season, that one didn't quite make the list.

How Will Sutter Health Park Play?

This one has been the biggest question on my mind for months, and I've even asked A's GM David Forst about it on a couple of occasions. He's said that they feel like it will be a middle-of-the-road park in terms of park factors, not necessarily favoring pitchers or hitters, but it will presumably be more hitter-friendly than the Oakland Coliseum.

Forst has also said that they just aren't sure how the park will play with big leaguers in it, compared to minor leaguers. They have the data on how the park currently plays, but when you throw in Brent Rooker, Aaron Judge, and Shohei Ohtani, how much does the offense tick up? There will also be big-league pitching to factor in, so how does that mitigate some of those expected offensive stats?

This question is going to be fascinating to keep an eye on over the course of the season, and it's likely that as the weather warms in the summer months, the ball starts to travel a bit more. Will the first part of the calendar have Sutter Health playing like Oracle Park, then have it turn into Coors Field?

The larger question here is whether the ballpark will be a boon to the A's as they attempt to reach .500 and possibly challenge for a postseason berth, or if they won't have the right group of players to get the most out of playing in his particular park.

There is a chance that other teams will just want to get out there, so that could lead to a few more wins for the A's over the course of the season. There's also a chance that the A's projected No. 29 rotation in baseball doesn't have enough to mitigate other offenses in a higher run-scoring environment.

How Will Sutter Health Impact Roster Construction?

We have seen the A's target a number of pitchers with higher ground ball rates this winter, with the idea, as Forst put it, that ground balls are never home runs in any park. Given that they don't know how Sutter Health will play just yet, this seems like a wise calculation to have those types of pitchers on hand, just in case.

But could that end up impacting how the roster is constructed both at the beginning of the season, and as they get more data? To the latter, the point is almost certainly yes. The former, is an open debate.

One player that comes to mind as a potential victim of the park factors is Joey Estes, who is currently projected as one of the A's five starters, but could find himself on the outside looking in over the course of camp.

Estes is talented, but he's also a fly ball pitcher with one of the lowest ground ball rates on the team at 24.6% last season. He held a 3.26 ERA at the Coliseum and a 6.90 mark on the road, combining for a 5.01 ERA overall. Without the friendly confines of the pitcher-friendly Coliseum, he may have a more difficult time finding his footing.

Plus, you add in that J.T. Ginn's round ball rate sat at 47.1% in 34 innings with the A's, and 54.1% in Triple-A, and you could see him being a safer option. There is also Osvaldo Bido, who we just wrote about as the most underrated rotation hopeful for the Athletics. There won't be room in the rotation for all three with the additions of Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs, and the determining factor could be how the ball flies in Sacramento.

How Much A's History Will Make the Trip to Sacramento?

During this whole relocation process, the A's have refused to even consider leaving the franchise name and history in Oakland. Last week when some of the team were doing promotional work in the Sacramento community, people on social media noticed that the sleeves of the jerseys they were wearing didn't have an elephant logo, which has been on the jerseys since the 1980's.

We're not here to wonder if the elephant logo is coming back, but it does beg the question of how much of the team's history will be honored moving forward. There likely isn't an answer to this question just yet, because a lot of the milestones that the franchise has typically celebrated have been early in the decades, and have already passed for the 2020's.

The World Series championships (1972-74, 1989) are either past us, or too far ahead. The 20-game win streak (2002) is also behind us. There will likely be a celebration of the life of Rickey Henderson on Opening Day in Sacramento, but the A's may not even be the only team to do that. Rickey transcended baseball (and played for a bunch of teams).

So which pieces of history will be honored in Sacramento? It's tough to tell. There could be a Rickey Henderson bobblehead giveaway or something like that, but they'll most likely keep it to the current roster when it comes to giveaways.

The stats that the franchise has accumulated since 1901 will remain. The green and gold aren't going anywhere. But the stories from the past may end up staying in the past as the franchise tries to reinvent itself.


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Jason Burke
JASON BURKE

Jason has been covering the A’s at various sites for over a decade, and was the original host of the Locked on A’s podcast. He also covers the Stanford Cardinal as they attempt to rebuild numerous programs to prominence.