<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/new-york-mets/mets-news-luis-severino-was-willing-take-pay-cut-stay-new-york');   ga('set', 'title', 'Luis Severino reveals he was willing to take pay cut to stay with the Mets');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Luis-Severino.jpg"></figure><h1>Luis Severino reveals he was willing to take pay cut to stay with the Mets</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-11T19:09:13-07:00">April 11th, 7:09pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-11T19:17:18-07:00">April 11th, 7:17pm</time><address><a>Mike Gianakos</a>Mike Gianakos is the former editor-in-chief of High Times magazine, where he also spearheaded the video department and event production. He is a longtime podcaster and even longer suffering NY Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Athletics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The New York Mets turned their attention to signing free agent right fielder Juan Soto this offseason. The Mets landed Soto on a long term deal and re-signed first baseman Pete Alonso. But the team allowed starting pitcher Luis Severino to leave in free agency as he agreed to a three-year, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics/athletics-sign-luis-severino-to-67-million-contract">$67 million deal with the Athletics</a>.</p><p>However, it turns out the Mets could have retained the veteran righty at a <a href="https://x.com/NYPost_Mets/status/1910836059191001275" rel="noopener">significant discount</a>.</p><p>Severino claims he told New York he would stick around for far less than the A’s were willing to pay, according to Mets reporter Mike Puma on X. The 31-year-old pitcher says he was willing to sign a two-year, $40 million contract with the team but the Mets “had other plans,” per Puma.</p><h2><b>The Mets moved on from Luis Severino after one season</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Luis-Seveino-2.jpg"><figcaption>Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Severino spent the first eight seasons of his career with the New York Yankees, earning two All-Star Game selections and finishing third in Cy Young voting in 2017. After finding success with the Yankees, Severino bottomed out in 2023, going 4-8 with a 6.65 ERA, 1.646 WHIP and 79 strikeouts in 89.1 innings. He produced -1.5 bWAR and finished with an ERA+ of 65 that season.</p><p>Severino became a free agent and landed with the Mets prior to 2024. He was able to stabilize himself in Queens, finishing with an 11-7 record, 3.91 ERA, 1.242 WHIP and 161 strikeouts in 182 innings of work.</p><p>While the Mets probably could use Severino in the rotation this season, the team failed to re-sign him and he left for the Athletics, who are playing in Sacramento this year.</p><p>A $67 million deal is out of character for the A’s, as the organization has traditionally shied away from expensive free agent signings. But the team made an exception for Severino and the veteran hurler cites a support system and family-like atmosphere from the team as important factors in his <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics/athletics-news-luis-severinos-eye-opening-reason-for-signing-with-as">decision to sign with the Athletics</a>.</p><p>Severino could have stayed with the Mets for another season but he <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/new-york-mets/mets-news-luis-severino-qualifying-offer-decision">rejected New York’s qualifying offer</a>, choosing instead to become a free agent. Had he accepted, he would have earned $21.05 million for the 2025 campaign. That, apparently, was too much of a pay cut to stay in New York. The Mets will receive draft pick compensation for his departure after making the qualifying offer.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Luis Severino reveals he was willing to take pay cut to stay with the Mets

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/betting/mets-vs-athletics-prediction-odds-pick-4-11-2025');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mets vs Athletics prediction, odds, pick – 4/11/2025');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Mets-vs.-Athletics-prediction-odds-pick.jpg"></figure><h1>Mets vs Athletics prediction, odds, pick – 4/11/2025</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-11T06:07:44-07:00">April 11th, 6:07am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-11T06:08:10-07:00">April 11th, 6:08am</time><address><a href="http://patreon.com/zemek">Matthew Zemek</a>Matthew Zemek is part of ClutchPoints' Betting team and has written for various sports websites and publications since 2001. He was the editor of the NBA site Crossover Chronicles in the 2016 NBA season. He was a contributing editor to the now-defunct site FanRag Sports in 2017. He currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Athletics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>It’s time to continue our MLB odds <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/betting" rel="noopener">series</a> with a Mets-Athletics prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Mets-Athletics.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/betting/padres-vs-athletics-prediction-odds-pick-4-7-2025">The New York Mets are</a> in a good position in the National League East. They have watched the Atlanta Braves stumble out of the gate, which instantly gives New York a much better chance of winning its division and making the playoffs.</p><p>One of the big questions entering the 2025 MLB season in the National League was if the NL East or NL West would get three playoff teams. It is widely agreed upon that the NL Central will not have a wild card team. The winner of that division will probably have fewer than 95 wins. The second-place team in that division might not win 90 games. In the NL East and NL West, the second-place team should have more than 90 wins and could have more than 95. Would the East put the Mets, Braves, and Phillies into the playoffs, or would the West put the Dodgers, Padres, and either the Giants or Diamondbacks into the postseason? So far, the indicators point to the West getting three teams, which leaves only two spots for the East, with the Mets having one of them. New York has to feel very confident about its ability to play baseball in October this year. It’s early, but the Mets are off to a good start.</p><h2><b>Mets-Athletics Projected Starters</b></h2><p><b>Griffin Canning vs JP Sears</b></p><p>Griffin Canning (0-1) has been decent for the Mets. He has stayed out of the big inning and has given his team a chance to win in each of the two starts he has made thus far this season. The thing New York will want more of: innings. Canning went only four innings against the Blue Jays. The Mets need him to eat five innings per start and provide just a little more length. That said, it has still been a good beginning for a pitcher who has already been better than he was with the Angels.</p><p>Last Start: April 5 vs Toronto Blue Jays — 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 HR, 3 BB, 6 K</p><p>JP Sears (1-1) survived a Coors Field start and pitched into the seventh inning. Coors Field starts always need to be taken with a grain of salt, given how different the conditions are. What makes Sears’ particular situation even more interesting and mysterious is that the Athletics’ ballpark in Sacramento might be the Coors Field of the American League. The ball has been flying out with regularity, and the weather isn’t even warm yet. Sears might be going out of the frying pan and into the fire. We will have to see if pitching in Sacramento is a pitcher’s second-worst nightmare after Coors Field.</p><p>Last Start: April 5 at Colorado Rockies — 6 1/3 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 HR, 2 BB, 2 K</p><p><i><b>Here are the Mets-Athletics <a href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/mlb" rel="noopener">MLB odds</a>, courtesy of FanDuel. </b></i></p><h2><b>MLB Odds: Mets-Athletics Odds</b></h2><p>New York Mets: -1.5 (+120)</p><p>Moneyline: -132</p><p>Athletics: +1.5 (-144)</p><p>Moneyline: +112</p><p>Over: 9.5 (-120)</p><p>Under: 9.5 (-102)</p><h2><b>How to Watch Mets vs Athletics</b></h2><p>Time: 10:05 p.m. ET/7:05 p.m. PT</p><p>TV: SNY (Mets) | NBC Sports California (Athletics)</p><p><i><b>*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV <a href="https://www.fubo.tv/lp/mlb/?irad=377812&amp;irmp=492408" rel="noopener sponsored">(Get Access | Save $30)</a>*</b></i></p><h2><b>Why The Mets Will Cover The Spread/Win</b></h2><p>The Mets have a lot of mashers, with Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso hitting the ball well at the start of the season. Playing in a hitter-friendly ballpark, the Mets can unleash a barrage of long balls against the Athletics, who have won only one home game in six outings so far this season.</p><h2><b>Why The Athletics Will Cover The Spread/Win</b></h2><p>JP Sears and the A’s have faced Griffin Canning before when Canning was with the Angels. Most baseball people would regard Sears as the better pitcher in a head-to-head matchup, which is the obvious reason to take the A’s against the spread here.</p><h2><b>Final Mets-Athletics Prediction &amp; Pick</b></h2><p>We lean Mets, but the pitching matchup favors the Athletics. Maybe wait for a live play here.</p><p><b>Final Mets-Athletics Prediction &amp; Pick: Mets moneyline</b></p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mets vs Athletics prediction, odds, pick – 4/11/2025

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/betting/padres-vs-athletics-prediction-odds-pick-4-7-2025');   ga('set', 'title', 'Padres vs Athletics prediction, odds, pick – 4/7/2025');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Padres-vs.-Athletics-prediction-odds-pick.jpg"></figure><h1>Padres vs Athletics prediction, odds, pick – 4/7/2025</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-07T09:20:33-07:00">April 7th, 9:20am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-07T09:20:56-07:00">April 7th, 9:20am</time><address><a href="http://patreon.com/zemek">Matthew Zemek</a>Matthew Zemek is part of ClutchPoints' Betting team and has written for various sports websites and publications since 2001. He was the editor of the NBA site Crossover Chronicles in the 2016 NBA season. He was a contributing editor to the now-defunct site FanRag Sports in 2017. He currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Athletics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>It’s time to continue our MLB odds <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/betting" rel="noopener">series</a> with a Padres-Athletics prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Padres-Athletics.</p><p>This is a very simple statement to make, a week and a half into the 2025 season: <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/betting/athletics-vs-mariners-prediction-odds-pick-3-27-2025">The Athletics are in need of some pitching stability.</a> You do not need to think long and hard about this point. Athletics pitching has been shredded. The A’s got bombed by the Cubs last week at home in Sacramento. Then they got pounded by the Rockies on Sunday in Denver at Coors Field. There are distinct worries that the Sacramento ballpark is going to be a play pen for opposing teams and their hitters. The A’s have played only one home series to this point in the season, so that’s a very small sample size. However, the weather is only going to get warmer and the ball is only likely to jump more — not less — as we get into the middle of the season. The A’s have to be able to hold the fort with their pitching staff. If they can’t, they have no chance this season.</p><h2><b>Padres-Athletics Projected Starters</b></h2><p><b>Michael King vs Luis Severino</b></p><p>Michael King (1-0) was dominant against Cleveland last week. The only thing the Padres would want more of from King: innings. His swing-and-miss capability is substantial, and he showed it versus the Guardians. King looks like a keeper for San Diego’s starting rotation.</p><p>Last Start: April 1 vs Cleveland Guardians — 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 HR, 1 BB, 11 K</p><p>Luis Severino (0-1) struggled all the way around against the Cubs last week. He lacked command. This is a very crucial start. Severino needs to re-establish himself and prove to himself (and the A’s) that he is still a top-flight pitcher.</p><p>Last Start: April 1 vs Chicago Cubs — 6 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 2 HR, 3 BB, 6 K</p><p><i><b>Here are the Padres-Athletics <a href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/mlb" rel="noopener">MLB odds</a>, courtesy of FanDuel. </b></i></p><h2><b>MLB Odds: Padres-Athletics Odds</b></h2><p>San Diego Padres: -1.5 (+114)</p><p>Moneyline: -146</p><p>Athletics: +1.5 (-137)</p><p>Moneyline: +124</p><p>Over: 8.5 (+100)</p><p>Under: 8.5 (-122)</p><h2><b>How to Watch Padres vs Athletics</b></h2><p>Time: 10:05 p.m. ET/7:05 p.m. PT</p><p>TV: MLB (Padres) | NBC Sports California (Athletics)</p><p><i><b>*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV <a href="https://www.fubo.tv/lp/mlb/?irad=377812&amp;irmp=492408" rel="noopener sponsored">(Get Access | Save $30)</a>*</b></i></p><h2><b>Why The Padres Will Cover The Spread/Win</b></h2><p>The Athletics are not good. The Padres are really good. We can leave it at that, but just to flesh out the point a little more, the A’s have a pitching problem. Luis Severino landed with the Athletics, perhaps not knowing how bad a pitcher’s park Sacramento would present for him. The ball has been flying out of the yard in the early games of the season. Maybe it was just a case of A’s pitchers being bad, but if the yard really is a minor-league-level bandbox, that’s huge trouble for the Athletics. The Padres can mash and have the loaded batting order in which to do serious damage. You might also consider the over on the total in this game for that reason.</p><h2><b>Why The Athletics Will Cover The Spread/Win</b></h2><p>Luis Severino can pitch. He had a bad outing last week. It happens. He can bounce back here. The Padres played an exhausting 8-7 game against the Cubs on Sunday in Chicago and had to fly two time zones to Sacramento for this game. They might be a little tired. The Padres are a better team, but this could be a sluggish travel game for San Diego which enables the Athletics to cover the spread. The A’s have a competitive pitcher who can stand up to Michael King and keep this game close late.</p><h2><b>Final Padres-Athletics Prediction &amp; Pick</b></h2><p>The Padres are a dramatically better team than the A’s, and they are coming off a weekend series they lost (to the Cubs). San Diego should be able to outclass the Athletics in this game, with Michael King delivering a quality start and setting the tone for the Friars. Take San Diego.</p><p><b>Final Padres-Athletics Prediction &amp; Pick: Padres moneyline</b></p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Padres vs Athletics prediction, odds, pick – 4/7/2025

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/athletics/athletics-news-player-revenge-rockies-first-triple-play-2015');   ga('set', 'title', 'How Athletics player got revenge after Rockies’ first triple play since 2015');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Athletics-infielder-Jacob-Wilson-hits-the-baseball.jpg"><figcaption>© Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>How Athletics player got revenge after Rockies’ first triple play since 2015</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-06T13:04:55-07:00">April 6th, 1:04pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-06T13:05:16-07:00">April 6th, 1:05pm</time><address><a>Benjamin Adducchio</a>Benjamin Adducchio is a journalist and writer with more than a decade of experience in covering sports news. Ben is a passionate sports fan who loves college football, basketball, and the New York Yankees.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Athletics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Athletics had some bad offense going in a game against the Colorado Rockies Saturday night. Athletics infielder Jacob Wilson hit into a triple play in the second-inning of their game. It was the first time since 2015 the Rockies posted a triple play.</p><p>That sluggish play was avenged by Wilson later on. The Athletics slugger hit an RBI double in the sixth, giving the A’s the lead in a game <a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/44551552/rockies-turn-triple-play-team-first-15" rel="noopener">they would go on to win</a>.</p><p>“It felt, obviously, really good to be able to bounce back,” Wilson said, per the Associated Press. “That was kind of big for me.”</p><p>Wilson said the triple play he hit into was inspiration for that double. He was frustrated by his early performance in the game.</p><p>“Once I saw that I hit it pretty much almost right over third base, I was like, ‘All right, this is gonna to be bad,'” Wilson added. “But it’s something you’ve just got to let go. We ended up winning the game. Either way, I’m happy.”</p><p>Colorado would lose to the A’s, 7-4. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/zack-wheeler-dominates-rockies-sets-phillies-franchise-record">The Rockies are out to a rocky start to the season</a>, no pun intended. Colorado is just 1-7 so far this year.</p><h2><b>Jacob Wilson is relied on to give the Athletics offense this year</b></h2><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics-news-pay-perfect-homage-rickey-henderson-sacramento-opener">The Athletics are no longer in Oakland, but Sacramento</a>. The club is awaiting their move to Las Vegas, in what is expected to take a few years. Wilson is one of the A’s players looking to help lead the club.</p><p>This season, Wilson is hitting .353 with two home runs. The A’s are 4-5 on the season, and looking to avenge a dismal 2024 campaign. In the club’s final season in Oakland, they won just 69 games.</p><p>Last year, Wilson had a promising campaign for the A’s. He played in 28 games for the team, and posted a .250 batting average. While the infielder didn’t see a lot of at-bats, he certainly showed promise.</p><p>The Athletics are playing the Rockies again on Sunday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

How Athletics player got revenge after Rockies’ first triple play since 2015

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/chicago-cubs/cubs-news-cubs-seiya-suzuki-accomplishment-vs-athletics');   ga('set', 'title', 'Cubs’ Seiya Suzuki hits major accomplishment vs. Athletics');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Seiya-Suzuki-hits-major-accomplishment-vs.-Athletics.jpg"></figure><h1>Cubs’ Seiya Suzuki hits major accomplishment vs. Athletics</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-02T20:27:59-07:00">April 2nd, 8:27pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-02T20:27:59-07:00">April 2nd, 8:27pm</time><address><a>Brayden Haena</a>Brayden Haena is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He's a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan and a football fanatic. In addition to sports writing, he works for Arizona Football in the Player Personnel and Recruiting department and formerly served as the Defensive Coordinator for Heritage High School.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Athletics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Seiya Suzuki is heating up — even if Chicago isn’t just yet. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cubs-news-carson-kelly-feat-triple-athletics">Following the Cubs’ 10-2 win over the (Oakland) Athletics</a> in West Sacramento on Wednesday, Suzuki asked, via interpreter Edwin Stanberry, “Is Chicago warm yet?” The answer might be no, but Suzuki’s <a href="https://x.com/BNightengale/status/1907536743664136601" rel="noopener">bat is scorching hot</a>, regardless.</p><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cubs-offensive-explosion-makes-unwanted-athletics-history">Cubs’ outfielder launched two home runs in the series finale</a>, including a three-run shot in the second inning and an opposite-field solo blast in the fourth, powering the Cubs to a series sweep and giving him four homers in the past four games.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Seiya Suzuki hits homeruns both ways in one game 🙌<a href="https://t.co/ikKt3ChtWH">pic.twitter.com/ikKt3ChtWH</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1907536518383808808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>As Bob Nightengale noted on X, “The Chicago Cubs hit 6 home runs in the first six games of the season. They have 8 home runs in 22 innings in Sacramento, two HRs today by Seiya Suzuki.”</p><p>Suzuki’s second-inning blast left the bat at 112.9 mph and traveled 401 feet over the left-center field wall, coming on the first pitch from A’s lefty Jeffrey Springs. It was exactly the kind of aggressive approach the Cubs have been waiting to see from the slugger.</p><h2><b>Cubs dominate A’s in win on Wednesday</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Seiya-Suzuki-1.jpg"><figcaption>Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>“I love it when he’s aggressive,” Cubs starter Jameson Taillon said. “He’s got some crazy pop. I love it when he gets a swing off because he can do what he’s doing. He’s an impact bat for us.”</p><p>After starting the season 1-for-14, Suzuki has recorded multiple hits in each of his last four games, boosting his average to .275 with a .958 OPS. He also added a walk and an RBI single in Wednesday’s rout, a sign that he’s settling into a rhythm just as the Cubs return home.</p><p>“He’s a big part of our offense, so getting him off to a good start and getting him confident just bodes well for the rest of the season, for sure,” manager Craig Counsell said.</p><p>Part of Suzuki’s turnaround may be attributed to his mindset shift. After Tuesday’s game, he admitted that when he’s struggling, he tends to be too selective at the plate. “I think one of my characteristics is when I’m not going well, I’m too selective, so just keeping that approach of staying aggressive,” Suzuki said.</p><p>Another factor? Watching teammate Kyle Tucker — who had a four-game home run streak entering Wednesday — go about his at-bats has helped Suzuki gain clarity in his own.</p><p>“Him and Tucker going at the same time lets everyone else relax at their spots in the lineup,” Taillon said. “They can carry a lineup by themselves.”</p><p>The Cubs’ offense exploded for 35 runs over three games in Sacramento, tying the ninth-most runs scored in a three-game set in franchise history. And they weren’t just beating up on bullpen arms, either — they tagged A’s starters Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs for a combined 11 runs over nine innings.</p><p>With Suzuki locked in, the Cubs return to Wrigley Field for Friday’s home opener against the Padres, carrying momentum — and power — into the Friendly Confines.</p><p>“It’s going to be the coolest [Opening Day],” Taillon said. “I’m really excited to get back to Wrigley.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Cubs’ Seiya Suzuki hits major accomplishment vs. Athletics

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/chicago-cubs/cubs-offensive-explosion-makes-unwanted-athletics-history');   ga('set', 'title', 'Cubs’ offensive explosion makes unwanted Athletics history');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/unnamed-1_5325f2.jpg"></figure><h1>Cubs’ offensive explosion makes unwanted Athletics history</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-02T18:55:34-07:00">April 2nd, 6:55pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-02T18:55:34-07:00">April 2nd, 6:55pm</time><address><a>Daniel Locke</a>Daniel Locke covers the New Orleans Pelicans and is an Associate Editor for ClutchPoints. He will graduate from Auburn University with a degree in Journalism in May. Daniel has covered Auburn Athletics for the entirety of his time as a student, focusing on football, men's basketball, and baseball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Athletics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Chicago Cubs handled business on the road against the Athletics, sweeping them in a three-game series. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/editorials/cubs-vs-athletics-prediction-odds-pick-4-2-2025">Cubs put 35 runs on the board</a> throughout the set, marking the most the Athletics have <a href="https://x.com/BNightengale/status/1907565039369990152" rel="noopener">given up in their first three home games</a> since allowing 31 in 1922.</p><p>Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki played an important part in Chicago’s offensive explosion on Wednesday, hitting two home runs and finishing the game with five RBI.</p><p>The Cubs’ 5-4 record places them second in the NL Central behind the St. Louis Cardinals.</p><p>The Cubs return to action on Friday as they begin a three-game series against the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field. First pitch is set for 1:20 p.m. CT.</p><h2><b>Cubs’ Carson Kelly makes history </b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/unnamed-2_27294a.jpg"><figcaption>Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>For <a href="https://apnews.com/article/cubs-carson-kelly-cycle-e185124981232578b0ed171d096b6c45" rel="noopener">the first time in 32 years</a>, a member of the Chicago Cubs has hit for the cycle. In the Cubs’ 18-3 win over the Athletics on Tuesday, Carson Kelly ended the drought.</p><p>“I’ve been in this same position before where I needed a triple for the cycle. If anybody’s ever looked up my numbers, I have two triples, so odds are not in my favor, right?” the 30-year-old Kelly said via AP. “I didn’t get it done the first time.</p><p>“This time I’m like, oh, I’m just going to put a good at-bat together. Hit it, like, ‘Oh yeah, pretty good.’ Then I hit first and saw it ricochet and I was like, ‘Oh boy, this is it right here, I gotta go.’ That’s probably the fastest you’ll ever see me run.”</p><p>Cubs manager Craig Counsell did not realize Kelly had a chance at one, but was glad he managed to capitalize.</p><p>“I didn’t realize he had a chance at a cycle, but when that ball kicked off the wall the dugout started going crazy so I figured something was going on,” Counsell said. “They’re fun days, they’re rare days and they’re once-in-a-lifetime-type days for players.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Cubs’ offensive explosion makes unwanted Athletics history

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/athletics/athletics-news-top-prospect-history-one-swing-cubs');   ga('set', 'title', 'Top Athletics prospect makes history with one swing vs. Cubs');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Top-prospect-makes-history-with-one-swing-vs.-Cubs.jpg"></figure><h1>Top Athletics prospect makes history with one swing vs. Cubs</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-01T09:03:29-07:00">April 1st, 9:03am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-01T09:03:47-07:00">April 1st, 9:03am</time><address><a>Benjamin Adducchio</a>Benjamin Adducchio is a journalist and writer with more than a decade of experience in covering sports news. Ben is a passionate sports fan who loves college football, basketball, and the New York Yankees.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Athletics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>A promising young player for the Athletics has a major milestone. Jacob Wilson became <a href="https://x.com/BNightengale/status/1906903094337872304" rel="noopener">the first franchise player</a> to hit a home run in the team’s Sacramento ballpark, per USA Today.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics-news-pay-perfect-homage-rickey-henderson-sacramento-opener">The Athletics are playing their first season</a> in California’s capital city. The club left Oakland at the end of the 2024 season and is eventually headed to Las Vegas. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics-news-rob-manfred-timeline-relocation-las-vegas">Las Vegas isn’t yet ready to host the team</a>.</p><p>Wilson’s home run was one of the few high marks for the team on Monday, as the A’s lost a bad game to the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs whipped the Athletics, 18-3.</p><p>Wilson is hitting well for the A’s this season. He has a .294 batting average with five hits in 17 total at-bats. Wilson’s first home run of the season was against the Cubs.</p><p>The Athletics’ young prospect also played some last season for the team. In 2024, Wilson hit .250 with 23 hits for the club.</p><h2><b>The Athletics are a team looking for some victories this year</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Brent-Rooker-Athletics-.jpg"><figcaption>Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics-news-luis-severino-truth-bomb-playoff-expectations">Things haven’t gone well for the Athletics recently</a>. Oakland and the franchise had a bitter divorce, with Athletics fans protesting the team’s departure from the city. The team also has a murky timeline with Las Vegas for when the franchise can start playing there in a new ball park.</p><p>On the diamond, things aren’t going much better. The A’s finished the 2024 season with a 69-93 record. That was good for last in the American League West.</p><p>This season, there seems to be some promise. The A’s started out the gate with a 2-2 mark, heading into a game Monday with the Cubs. That contest was a nightmare for the team. The A’s allowed a whopping 21 hits to Chicago in the game, along with 18 runs.</p><p>It was definitely tough to swallow that loss for A’s fans. The team was honoring the late franchise star Rickey Henderson during the game. A’s players all wore the no. 24 jersey to honor Henderson. He died at the age of 66 in December 2024.</p><p>Fans of the franchise want something to cheer about. The last time the A’s made the playoffs was in 2020. The club won their division that year. It’s been since 1989 that the A’s won a World Series.</p><p>Athletics fans hope things go better for the team when they play the Cubs again on Tuesday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Top Athletics prospect makes history with one swing vs. Cubs

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/athletics/athletics-news-pay-perfect-homage-rickey-henderson-sacramento-opener');   ga('set', 'title', 'Athletics pay perfect homage to Rickey Henderson in Sacramento opener');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Athletics-news-As-pay-perfect-homage-to-Rickey-Henderson-in-Sacramento-opener.jpg"></figure><h1>Athletics pay perfect homage to Rickey Henderson in Sacramento opener</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-01T07:59:08-07:00">April 1st, 7:59am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-01T07:59:08-07:00">April 1st, 7:59am</time><address><a>Rexwell Villas</a>Rexwell Villas is an experienced sports writer covering a variety of sports, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and college football. He's a Communications Arts graduate from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines, and he claims to have JR Smith's conscience with his shot selection. He has won a basketball, a baseball, and a football championship in fantasy all within a year.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Athletics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics/mlb-news-athletics-median-ticket-prices-higher-dodgers">Athletics, as the club is known for now,  made their home opener</a> at the Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, California on Monday against the visiting Chicago Cubs. But before the game started, the A’s paid tribute to one of the best ever to do it in baseball — Rickey Henderson.</p><p>Athletics players were introduced before the contest, each one wearing the No. 24 in honor of Henderson, the A’s legend, who <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/mlb-stories/mlb-legend-rickey-henderson-dies-65">passed away last December at the age of 65 years old</a>. Henderson spent 14 of his 25-year career in the big leagues with the Oakland A’s.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">The <a href="https://twitter.com/Athletics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Athletics</a> honor Rickey Henderson with every player wearing No. 24 in their home opener 💚💛 <a href="https://t.co/OGdGnowyTB">pic.twitter.com/OGdGnowyTB</a></p><p>— MLB (@MLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1906891408780230768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>During Henderson’s time with the A’s, he slashed .288/.409/.430 with 167 home runs and 648 RBIs. But he was, of course, best known for his prowess in base stealing. No one stole bases better than Henderson before, during and even up to this day.  He stole a record total of 1,406 bases during his MLB career. Second on the all-time list is Lou Brock, who had 938 stolen bases — a lot, but still way behind Henderson’s s total.</p><p>As an additional perspective of the magnitude of that accomplishment by Henderson, the leader in stolen bases among active players is Starling Marte, who <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/SB_active.shtml" rel="noopener"><i>only</i> has 354 </a>per Baseball Reference.</p><p>Apart from the players, Athletics coaches also donned the No. 24 in the Cubs game.</p><p>A’s star outfielder Lawrence Butler also honored Henderson by <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/lawrence-butler-honors-rickey-henderson-with-custom-cleats" rel="noopener">wearing customized Nike cleats</a> that had the A’s legend’s images on them along with a text that read: “MAN OF STEAL.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Lawrence Butler pulled out all the stops to honor Rickey Henderson for the A's home opener 🥹 <a href="https://t.co/c12DGX0ZB7">pic.twitter.com/c12DGX0ZB7</a></p><p>— MLB (@MLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1906916995817189442?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“I got ‘Man of Steal’ on the back of them,” Butler said (h/t Martín Gallegos of MLB.com). “Hopefully, I steal two or three bases today with them. You know ‘Angels in the Outfield,’ well, this is Rickey in the outfield with me.”</p><p>Unfortunately for the Athletics, they were not able to win one for Henderson on Monday, as they got absolutely rocked by the Cubs in an 18-3 loss. A’s starter Joey Estes was shelled for six earned runs on nine hits in four innings of work on the mound. The team’s bullpen didn’t do any better either, as 12 more runs were scored by Chicago after Estes left. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/chicago-cubs/cubs-news-carson-kelly-feat-triple-athletics">Cubs catcher Carson Kelly even hit for a cycle</a> in the contest</p><p>The 2-3 A’s will look to bounce back and prevent a three-game skid when they <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/betting/cubs-athletics-prediction-odds-pick-4-1-2025">take on the Cubs again for the second leg of the series</a> this Tuesday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Athletics pay perfect homage to Rickey Henderson in Sacramento opener

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/chicago-cubs/cubs-news-carson-kelly-feat-triple-athletics');   ga('set', 'title', 'Carson Kelly achieves major feat with triple vs. Athletics');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Cubs-news-Carson-Kelly-achieves-major-feat-with-triple-vs.-Athletics.jpg"></figure><h1>Carson Kelly achieves major feat with triple vs. Athletics</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-01T04:08:29-07:00">April 1st, 4:08am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-01T07:27:51-07:00">April 1st, 7:27am</time><address><a>Nathan Yasis</a>Nathan Yasis is an Associate Editor for ClutchPoints, specializing in the NBA.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Athletics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Carson Kelly had come close to hitting for the cycle before, but the elusive triple always slipped through his grasp. With just two triples in his decade-long big league career, Kelly finally made history on Monday night. He became the first Chicago Cubs player in 32 years to hit for the cycle, completing the feat with a triple in the eighth inning during <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/betting/cubs-athletics-prediction-odds-pick-4-1-2025">an 18-3 demolition of the Athletics</a>. This marked the end of the longest cycle drought in the National League.</p><p>Late in the Cubs’ victory over the Athletics on Monday at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, the outcome was all but decided. Yet, Chicago’s catcher still had one final task to accomplish.</p><p>When Kelly’s line drive to right-center field <a href="https://www.twitter.com/JomboyMedia/status/1906935300653269285" rel="noopener">hit the fence and bounced past</a> A’s center fielder JJ Bleday, he rounded first base and quickly realized he had an opportunity to achieve something remarkable. He wasn’t about to let it slip away.</p><p>Kelly hustled around second base and, despite his 12th-percentile sprint speed, powered into third base standing up. Out of breath and smiling, he pumped his arms in celebration, directing the excitement toward a fired-up Chicago dugout.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Carson Kelly legs out a triple in the eighth to complete the cycle! <a href="https://t.co/VGFZV5LoHT">pic.twitter.com/VGFZV5LoHT</a></p><p>— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) <a href="https://twitter.com/JomboyMedia/status/1906935300653269285?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Cubs catcher Carson Kelly also drew two walks in the first major league game at Sutter Health Park, the new home for the A’s this season, after they moved their operations to the minor league ballpark.</p><h2><b>Carson Kelly hitting all kinds of history against the Athletics</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Carson-Kelly-hitting-for-the-Cubs.jpg"><figcaption>Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The 30-year-old homered in the fourth inning, delivered a two-run single in the fifth, doubled and walked in the sixth, and tripled in the eighth. Mark Grace was the last Cubs player to hit for the cycle, doing so on May 9, 1993, against San Diego — a year before Kelly was even born. Since Grace’s achievement, the team had come close 342 times, with a player falling just one hit short on each occasion.</p><p>No Cubs catcher had reached the milestone since Randy Hundley on August 11, 1966, against Houston. Kelly also became just the third major leaguer to hit for the cycle and walk twice in the same game. Joe Gordon achieved it for the Yankees in 1940, while Mickey Cochrane did so for the Philadelphia A’s in 1937.</p><p>The Kansas City Royals have the longest drought without a cycle in the majors, with George Brett being the last to achieve the feat for Kansas City on July 25, 1990, against Toronto. Kelly’s run-scoring triple put the Cubs ahead 17-3, and he couldn’t have been more excited to notch his third career triple.</p><p>The Cubs batted around in both the fifth and sixth innings, driving in 11 combined runs. Along with 21 hits, they drew 10 walks, consistently putting runners on base throughout the night.</p><p>Kelly took two of those walks, becoming only the third player in AL/NL history to both walk twice and hit for the cycle in the same game. The last player to achieve this? Joe Gordon of the Yankees in 1940.</p><p>Kelly made even more history: he became the first No. 9 hitter to hit for the cycle since Chone Figgins in 2006 and the first Cubs catcher to do so since Randy Hundley in 1966.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Carson Kelly achieves major feat with triple vs. Athletics

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/athletics/mlb-news-athletics-median-ticket-prices-higher-dodgers');   ga('set', 'title', 'Why Athletics median ticket prices are higher than Dodgers');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/MLB-news-Why-Athletics-median-ticket-prices-are-higher-than-Dodgers.jpg"></figure><h1>Why Athletics median ticket prices are higher than Dodgers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-17T16:53:55-07:00">March 17th, 4:53pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-17T16:53:55-07:00">March 17th, 4:53pm</time><address><a>Russell Steinberg</a>Russell Steinberg covers Major League Baseball and the New York Liberty for ClutchPoints. A baseball and basketball lifer, he has written for Boardroom, SLAM, SB Nation, The Next, and more. He graduated from NYU in 2012 and still returns to serve as PA announcer and occasional broadcaster for the school’s basketball and volleyball teams.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Athletics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Dodgers are reigning World Series champions, signed young phenom Roki Sasaki in the offseason and have the most talented team in baseball. But the Athletics, a team that won 69 games last year and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics/athletics-formally-drop-oakland-from-name">doesn’t even have a home city attached to their name</a>, are a tougher ticket in 2025.</p><p>On its face, the thought is absurd. Then you remember that the Athletics are playing 2025 at the 14,000-seat Suter Health Park in Sacramento, which will be their home until their <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics/athletics-news-rob-manfred-timeline-relocation-las-vegas">stadium in Las Vegas is ready</a>. The minuscule capacity compared to other MLB ballparks and novelty of having an MLB team in town for the first time have made Athletics tickets the priciest in baseball.</p><p>USA Today’s Bob Nightengale <a href="https://x.com/BNightengale/status/1901695480733794649" rel="noopener">posted a breakdown</a> via X of every team’s median ticket prices and the Athletics come in first at $181 each. The Dodgers were second ($177) and the Tampa Bay Rays placed third ($146).</p><p>Similar to the Athletics, Tampa will play its home games in a Minor League park, the 11,026-seat George M. Steinbrenner Field, home of Yankees affiliate Tampa Tarpons and the Yankees’ spring training home. Their regular stadium, Tropicana Field, is being repaired after sustaining damage during Hurricane Milton.</p><h2><b>The Athletics bring some intriguing pieces to Sacramento in 2025</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Brent-Rooker-Athletics-.jpg"><figcaption>Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Remarkably, the Athletics’ 69 wins last year represented a 19-game improvement from their 2023 record. Part of the reason was the career year that Brent Rooker had.</p><p>The 29-year-old hit .293 last year with 39 home runs and 112 RBI. A Silver Slugger winner, Rooker also posted a 165 OPS+ and a 5.1 fWAR. The Athletics signed him to a five-year, $60 million extension with an option for a sixth year in January.</p><p>Last year, Rooker was a full-time designated hitter, but he’s been playing the outfield in spring training, now that a forearm injury is no longer slowing him down.</p><p>The A’s further bolstered their roster over the winter by signing former New York Yankees and Mets pitcher Luis Severino. The team announced he will be their <a href="https://www.mlb.com/athletics/news/luis-severino-named-a-s-opening-day-2025-starter" rel="noopener">Opening Day starter</a>.</p><p>“This was the perfect guy for us to come in and lead the staff,” general manager David Forst said, via Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. “Use what he learned pitching in very big markets to take the mound Opening Day in Sacramento.”</p><p>The Athletics will open the regular season on March 27 in Seattle against the Mariners. They’ll play their Sacramento home opener on March 31 against the Chicago Cubs.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Why Athletics median ticket prices are higher than Dodgers

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/athletics/athletics-news-mason-millers-brutally-honest-response-107-mph-question');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mason Miller’s brutally honest response to 107 MPH question');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Athletics-news-Mason-Millers-brutally-honest-response-to-107-MPH-question.jpg"></figure><h1>Mason Miller’s brutally honest response to 107 MPH question</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-15T10:31:43-07:00">March 15th, 10:31am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-15T10:31:43-07:00">March 15th, 10:31am</time><address><a>Owen Crisafulli</a>Owen Crisafulli is a Senior Editor and NFL Lead at ClutchPoints. He recently received his Masters in Business Administration from Nichols College. Previously, he obtained his Bachelor's degree in Sport Management and for a while ran his own sports website. Sports are his passion, and he thoroughly enjoys writing about thoughts and opinions that are related to the game. He has been a lifelong fan of the major professional teams in Boston and loves discussing all topics surrounding those teams.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Athletics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics-news-lawrence-butler-agrees-to-massive-65-5-million-contract-extension">Athletics appear to have some momentum going for them</a> as they enter the 2025 campaign after putting together a strong body of work over the offseason. One area the A’s did not have to worry about during the past few months, though, was their closer spot, which was held down by one of the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics-news-mason-miller-eye-opening-admission-contract-talks">most electrifying pitchers in the game, Mason Miller</a>.</p><p>From seemingly out of nowhere, Miller emerged as one of the top closers in the game, with his deadly array of pitches, highlighted by his fastball that regularly sat over 103 miles per hour, making him nearly unhittable. Miller knows that the speed of his pitches is his big draw, and while he has a goal for his pitch speed in 2025, he <a href="https://twitter.com/FoulTerritoryTV/status/1900605567212626099" rel="noopener">doesn’t have his sights set on the 107 MPH benchmark</a>.</p><p>“The 107 thing, I don’t know why that’s the number everybody is settling on, but you don’t put any limitations on yourself,” Miller said on “Foul Territory.” “I put myself at 103.8 last year, that was the high … but I’d like to impress 104 for real when you look at the analytics side of it. That’s the goal for me, and then you just kind of keep moving from there. But the most important thing is getting outs.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Will <a href="https://twitter.com/Athletics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Athletics</a> pitcher Mason Miller be the first to reach 107 MPH in 2025? <a href="https://t.co/PgsxzOiGdg">pic.twitter.com/PgsxzOiGdg</a></p><p>— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/FoulTerritoryTV/status/1900605567212626099?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Mason Miller not focusing too much on pitch speed ahead of 2025 campaign</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Athletics-pitcher-Mason-Miller.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Miller earned the first All-Star selection of his career in 2024, posting a 2-2 record with a 2.49 earned run average. He racked up 104 strikeouts over 65 innings of work, while also earning 28 saves. Miller is one of the Athletics top players, and he figures to be set to play a big role in how they fare in the 2025 campaign.</p><p>While speed isn’t Miller’s main goal, the harder he can throw the ball, the more difficult it will be for opposing hitters to get on base against him. Ultimately, the goal is get outs, which then leads to wins, so if Miller can build off of his breakout 2024 campaign, the Athletics bullpen could end up being a sneaky good unit this season.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mason Miller’s brutally honest response to 107 MPH question

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/athletics/athletics-news-mason-miller-eye-opening-admission-contract-talks');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mason Miller’s eye-opening admission on Athletics contract talks');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Mason-Millers-eye-opening-admission-on-Athletics-contract-talks.jpg"></figure><h1>Mason Miller’s eye-opening admission on Athletics contract talks</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-14T15:30:56-07:00">March 14th, 3:30pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-14T15:30:56-07:00">March 14th, 3:30pm</time><address><a>Quinn Allen</a>Quinn Allen is a Senior Associate Editor with ClutchPoints. He specializes mainly in soccer, basketball, and baseball. When Quinn isn't producing content for CP,  he's writing sports betting predictions for numerous sites across North America.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Athletics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics-news-closer-mason-miller-on-pace-mariano-riveras-career-total-in-1-season">Athletics closer Mason Miller burst onto the scene in 2024</a>, making the All-Star Game and consistently hitting triple digits on the radar gun. He’s already proven to be a valuable piece for this organization as they transition into a move to Las Vegas, but the front office has yet to approach Miller <a href="https://x.com/FoulTerritoryTV/status/1900645610497220833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1900645610497220833%7Ctwgr%5E1c8a37edeb649e4f2c1ff326120d05ceed041036%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwp.clutchpoints.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D3293761action%3Dedit" rel="noopener">about a contract extension</a>.</p><p>Speaking to Foul Territory TV at spring training on Friday, Miller opened up on the matter:</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Mason Miller said the A's have not yet approached him about a contract extension.</p><p>"I'm just going to keep doing what I do." <a href="https://t.co/I5yI70urP2">pic.twitter.com/I5yI70urP2</a></p><p>— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/FoulTerritoryTV/status/1900645610497220833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Miller will make just $800,000 in 2025. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/mlb-rumors-athletics-blown-away-trade-mason-miller">His name was involved in trade rumors last season</a> as the Athletics cleaned house at the deadline, but he ultimately stayed put. The youngster was brilliant in ’24, going 2-2 with a 2.49 ERA and 28 saves. He struck out 104 hitters in just 65 innings of work.</p><p>There’s no question the Athletics will want to keep him for the foreseeable future, but locking him down on a new deal should certainly be a priority. Miller is only heading into his second full big league campaign and he’s already dominating everyone he faces. The righty averaged 100.9 mph on his fastball last year but insists his velocity isn’t a focus — it’s getting people out every time he steps on the hill:</p><p>“I don’t pay attention as much to the radar gun. I’m worried about getting three outs,” Miller said, via Mirror US.</p><p>“I’m fortunate that I don’t have to be sitting there saying, ‘I’m going to throw this ball as hard as I can.’ Just when everything syncs up and my mechanics are good and the weather’s right, the day’s good, the moment’s big, it kind of just comes to fruition. So the harder I try to throw, usually the slower it ends up going.”</p><p>With Brent Rooker and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics-news-lawrence-butler-agrees-to-massive-65-5-million-contract-extension">Lawrence Butler now signed to long-term extensions</a>, Miller should be next. The Athletics need to get it done because he’s a clear building block as this ball club looks to turn around their fortunes and become a playoff team again in the coming years.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mason Miller’s eye-opening admission on Athletics contract talks

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/athletics/athletics-news-luis-severinos-eye-opening-reason-for-signing-with-as');   ga('set', 'title', 'Luis Severino’s eye-opening reason for signing with Atheltics');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Luis-Severinos-eye-opening-reason-for-signing-with-As.jpg"></figure><h1>Luis Severino’s eye-opening reason for signing with Atheltics</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-08T10:38:14-08:00">March 8th, 10:38am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-08T10:38:14-08:00">March 8th, 10:38am</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Athletics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>As <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics-sign-luis-severino-to-67-million-contract">Luis Severino signed with the Athletics on a $67 million contract</a>, which is the highest deal for a free agent in the team’s history, the pitcher looks to prove he’s worth every penny. While <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics/athletics-news-luis-severino-truth-bomb-playoff-expectations">Severino has addressed the Athletics playoff expectations</a>, he would give insight into why he signed with the team in the first place.</p><p>Severino joins the A’s in a transitional period in the team’s history as they are currently without an official city in their name, though they will play in Sacramento. He would speak to the MLB Network about signing the contract and would admit he was <a href="https://x.com/MLBNetwork/status/1898199743547031691" rel="noopener">“surprised”</a> that the ballclub contacted him about a potential deal.</p><p>“Yeah, I mean, at the beginning, I was surprised, you know, when the A’s contacted me and wanted to talk to me and make an offer,” Severino said. “But, you know, we were talking, and I was asking about everybody else, about the clubhouse, the chemistry here. Everybody told me about, you know, this one was like a family.”</p><p>“So for me, when I was going to, you know, choose a team to compete again with, that was the main thing for me,” Severino continued. “Playing for a team, that they’re going to support me, you know, they’re gonna go, we’re gonna go out there and fight as a family.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“We’re going to go out there and fight as a family.”<a href="https://twitter.com/Athletics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Athletics</a> ace Luis Severino talks about why he signed with the A’s, working with Pedro Martinez and more.</p><p>MLB Network + <a href="https://twitter.com/TMobile?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TMobile</a> <a href="https://t.co/W22ifTry9E">pic.twitter.com/W22ifTry9E</a></p><p>— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLBNetwork/status/1898199743547031691?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Luis Severino on the unusual situation the Athletics are in</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Luis-Severino-on-Oct.-16-2024.jpg"><figcaption>Brad Penner-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>With the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics-news-lawrence-butler-agrees-to-massive-65-5-million-contract-extension">Athletics making other moves besides Severino,</a> the team could potentially believe that they have a chance to surprise many people this season, as most might already have written them off. Severino himself would have a huge bounce back year with the New York Mets last season as he threw a 3.91 ERA and 161 strikeouts with an 11-7 record.</p><p>“I think just knowing my body, you know, having a routine, sticking to that routine all year,” Severino said about his season with the Mets.</p><p>The 31-year-old had been with the New York Yankees from 2015 to 2023 before the one year with the Mets as he looks to come back to his former self with the A’s. While the team is in an unusual place as mentioned before, Severino would speak about himself and the rest of the group embracing the situation they’re in.</p><p>“For me, it’s gonna be different, you know, it’s gonna be a challenge for everybody,” Severino said. “But when we go out there, we all have to just go out there and embrace what we have to do. The reality is that we play in Sacramento, you know, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a big league field or minor league field, we have to go out there and compete.”</p><p>At any rate, the Athletics look to improve after finishing with a 69-93 record which put them fourth in the AL West.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Luis Severino’s eye-opening reason for signing with Atheltics

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/athletics/new-rendering-athletics-las-vegas-stadium-surfaces');   ga('set', 'title', 'New rendering of Athletics’ Las Vegas stadium surfaces');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/New-rendering-of-Athletics-Las-Vegas-stadium-surfaces.jpg"></figure><h1>New rendering of Athletics’ Las Vegas stadium surfaces</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-07T03:26:20-08:00">March 7th, 3:26am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-07T03:26:20-08:00">March 7th, 3:26am</time><address><a>Nathan Yasis</a>Nathan Yasis is an Associate Editor for ClutchPoints, specializing in the NBA.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Athletics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Athletics released new renderings on Thursday, offering an updated look at their proposed $1.75 billion ballpark in Las Vegas.</p><p>The latest <a href="https://www.twitter.com/BillShaikin/status/1897793482850550068" rel="noopener">renderings highlight new features</a>, including tiered bullpens and a lounge with views of the outfield. Frankie Sharpe, director of sports at architecture and design firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), emphasized that the design team factored in Southern Nevada’s summer heat, incorporating elements to ensure a climate-controlled environment while preserving an open-air atmosphere.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Latest rendering for grand entrance of planned A’s ballpark in Las Vegas. <a href="https://t.co/q1aR5tXWIm">pic.twitter.com/q1aR5tXWIm</a></p><p>— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) <a href="https://twitter.com/BillShaikin/status/1897793482850550068?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Glass sections of the armadillo-shaped exterior, along with a massive 36,000-square-foot glass curtain wall in the outfield, will offer a view of the Strip and bring ample natural light into the stadium, he said.</p><p>During a Las Vegas Stadium Authority meeting at the Las Vegas Convention Center, updated renderings were revealed showcasing new design elements. These include stacked home and visitor bullpens beyond the left-field wall and reduced foul territory, allowing for the closest seating to the field of any Major League stadium.</p><p>After finalizing agreements with the Las Vegas Stadium Authority in December on lease terms, non-relocation commitments, development plans, and community benefits, the A’s anticipate breaking ground on their $1.75 billion, 33,000-seat stadium in the second quarter of 2025, likely in June.</p><h2><b>The Athletics moving to Las Vegas</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Athletics-fans.jpg"><figcaption>Steven Bisig-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group and HNTB, the project is expected to be completed in time for the A’s to take the field on Opening Day in 2028 after spending the next three seasons at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento.</p><p>The A’s submitted a request for a commercial grading permit with Clark County this week. Once approved, it will permit site preparation, including excavation, along with initial utility and foundation work before major vertical construction begins. Dean noted that this groundwork could commence before the Athletics and Clark County finalize a development agreement to keep the project on schedule.</p><p>The A’s concluded their 57-season tenure in Oakland last year. From 2025 to 2027, the team will temporarily play at a minor-league ballpark in Sacramento before <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics/athletics-news-rob-manfred-timeline-relocation-las-vegas" rel="noopener">officially relocating to Las Vegas</a> for the 2028 season.</p><p>The Athletics are making their presence felt in their future home by organizing multiple events across Southern Nevada leading up to their two-game exhibition series against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Las Vegas Ballpark on Saturday and Sunday during Big League Weekend.</p><p>Nevada fans will now have access to live broadcasts of all A’s Spring Training, regular season, and potential playoff games through iHeartMedia’s 95.5 KWNR FM The Bull HD2, the team’s new official network affiliate in Las Vegas. Starting this season, the station will also air A’s Cast programming, including pre- and postgame shows.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

New rendering of Athletics’ Las Vegas stadium surfaces

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/athletics-news-lawrence-butler-agrees-to-massive-65-5-million-contract-extension');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lawrence Butler agrees to massive $65.5 million contract extension with Athletics');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Athletics-news-Lawrence-Butler-agrees-to-massive-65.jpg?w=1024"></figure><h1>Lawrence Butler agrees to massive $65.5 million contract extension with Athletics</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-06T20:35:29-08:00">March 6th, 8:35pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-06T21:08:02-08:00">March 6th, 9:08pm</time><address><a href="https://linktr.ee/jordan.llanes">Jordan Llanes</a>Jordan Llanes is a sports writer and reporter based in Florida. In addition to ClutchPoints, he writes for a few other publications covering the NFL, college sports and Tottenham Hotspur. When he's not writing, Jordan enjoys spending time with his fiancée, cats, family and friends, as well as catching the latest TV shows and movies, and traveling.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Athletics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>As <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics-news-luis-severino-truth-bomb-playoff-expectations">the Athletics look to</a> kick off their first season away from Oakland with a bang, the club continued to lock in pieces for the future. Following a strong rookie campaign in which he solidified a spot in their starting lineup, outfielder Lawrence Butler will look to stay awhile with the team. News broke Thursday night that Butler had inked a <a href="https://x.com/JeffPassan/status/1897866114777891304?t=YJMfz2Y137kpNGe_Vk8KfA&amp;s=19" rel="noopener">seven-year, $65.5 million extension</a> with the team, courtesy of ESPN’s Jeff Passan on X, formerly Twitter.</p><p>“BREAKING: Outfielder Lawrence Butler and the A’s are in agreement on a seven-year, $66.5 million contract extension with one club option, sources tell ESPN,” posted Passan on Thursday evening. “Butler, 24, broke out as a rookie last year and is seen as a foundational player for the A’s moving forward.”</p><p>Shortly afterward, Passan posted that Butler would be making $65.5 million, not 66.5. Still, not the biggest of differences when it comes to this deal. It seems as if the A’s are finally investing in a team that they should have invested in while they resided in Oakland. For the next three years, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics-news-lawrence-butler-contract-talks-breakout-season">Butler and his teammates</a> will call Sutter Health Park in Sacramento home. Then, before the 2028 regular season, they should move into their new long-term home in Las Vegas. Investing in Butler here is a smart idea, especially if he blows up before the team makes their way to their new home. Can the Athletics finally compete for a postseason berth once again?4</p><h2><b>Athletics, Lawrence Butler look to make strong impression in Sacramento</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Athletics-OF-Lawrence-Butler.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The resigning of Butler is just the latest move that the A’s front office, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/editorials/perfect-trade-athletics-must-make-during-2025-spring-training">led by GM David Forst,</a> has made this offseason. The bigger resigning was designated hitter Brent Rooker, who has blossomed into the Athletics’ best hitter. He inked a five-year deal earlier in the winter and has become one of the team leaders over his tenure in green and gold. Butler is just the latest piece to commit to the future that the A’s are selling. As long as everything goes as planned, the team could enter their first season on the Strip as playoff contenders.</p><p>With new additions Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs settling into the rotation, the A’s starting pitching has become respectable. The team surely hopes to keep fire balling closer Mason Miller, but he could fetch a high return that helps them continue the rebuild. Nevertheless, it feels as if some of the long-term cogs are locked in. Will <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics-news-luis-severino-decision-sign-with-athletics">future A’s follow the path</a> set before them by Rooker and Butler. If the two outfielders have their way, then this will be just the beginning of something special in Sacramento, then Las Vegas.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lawrence Butler agrees to massive $65.5 million contract extension with Athletics

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/athletics/athletics-news-luis-severino-truth-bomb-playoff-expectations');   ga('set', 'title', 'Athletics’ Luis Severino drops truth bomb on lack of playoff expectations');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Luis-Severino-drops-truth-bomb-on-lack-of-playoff-expectations.jpg"></figure><h1>Athletics’ Luis Severino drops truth bomb on lack of playoff expectations</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-02-28T11:09:04-08:00">February 28th, 11:09am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-02-28T11:09:04-08:00">February 28th, 11:09am</time><address><a>Christopher Hennessy</a>Christopher Hennessy graduated with a journalism degree from Fordham University in 2022. He has also worked at Spectrum News One in Albany, New York and with The Hockey Writers as a New York Islanders writer. Chris is originally from Connecticut and is a lifelong New York Yankees, Islanders, and Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Athletics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Athletics are out of Oakland and playing their first season in Sacramento. They celebrated by making a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics-sign-luis-severino-to-67-million-contract">big offseason splash with new ace pitcher Luis Severino</a>. After playing an important role in the New York Mets’ run to the NLCS, Severino is joining an Athletics team looking to make the playoffs for the first time since 2020. He told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale that the playoffs <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2025/02/28/sacramento-athletics-stadium-2025-oakland/80767478007/" rel="noopener">are not far away</a> in Sacramento.</p><p>“Nobody’s expecting us to come out and make the playoffs,” Severino said. ”I think a lot [of] people think that we are far away from making the playoffs. That’s not true. We have a good team here. We’re here to win. We have a lot of young guys, a lot of talent.”</p><p>Last year, the Athletics won 69 games and finished 17 games behind the Detroit Tigers for the final Wild Card spot. Even with some great seasons from Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler, they fell woefully short of the playoffs. Severino fills their biggest need, a bona fide ace pitcher.</p><p>If they do make the playoffs, the Athletics should get great pitching from Severino. He posted a 3.24 ERA in three starts last year, the best playoff run of his career.</p><h2><b>The Athletics need to improve drastically to make the playoffs</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Luis-Severino-with-NY-Mets.jpg"><figcaption>Brad Penner-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Last year, the American League was significantly weaker than the National League. That remains true at the top end, with the Dodgers getting better and the Mets adding Juan Soto, but many mid-level AL teams did improve. The Red Sox, Rangers, and Tigers should all be better than they were last year. That is bad news for the Athletics, who still have to slay the Astros’ beast in their division.</p><p>The biggest need for the Athletics this year is a better pitching staff, which they have the foundation of with Severino. But they also could use another solid hitter, which they did not add. Third baseman Gio Urshela is not the piece that will put them over the edge. Hoping for more than a 111 OPS+ from catcher Shea Langeliers is risky and the rest of their infield is shaky.</p><p>The Athletics will have electric closer Mason Miller ready to go for Opening Day. He took the league by storm in the first half of the season and should continue to grow.<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics-news-brent-rooker-agree-60-million-contract-extension"> Rooker signed an extension as well</a>, giving the team a core to build around. If they make the playoffs, you can say Luis Severino had it first.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Athletics’ Luis Severino drops truth bomb on lack of playoff expectations

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/athletics/athletics-news-lawrence-butler-contract-talks-breakout-season');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lawrence Butler in contract talks with Athletics after breakout season');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Lawrence-Butler-in-contract-talks-with-Oakland-after-breakout-season.jpg"></figure><h1>Lawrence Butler in contract talks with Athletics after breakout season</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-02-20T06:30:52-08:00">February 20th, 6:30am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-02-20T06:31:25-08:00">February 20th, 6:31am</time><address><a>Christopher Hennessy</a>Christopher Hennessy graduated with a journalism degree from Fordham University in 2022. He has also worked at Spectrum News One in Albany, New York and with The Hockey Writers as a New York Islanders writer. Chris is originally from Connecticut and is a lifelong New York Yankees, Islanders, and Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Athletics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Athletics are preparing to start their short run in Sacramento this season. While they fell woefully short of the playoffs last season, they have some players giving the fans hope. One is<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics-news-brent-rooker-agree-60-million-contract-extension"> Brent Rooker, who inked a $60 million extension</a> this offseason. The Athletics <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6147434/2025/02/19/lawrence-butler-as-extension/?source=emp_shared_article" rel="noopener">are also working</a> on a contract extension with outfielder Lawrence Butler, Evan Drellich of The Athletic reported.</p><p>“Hey, whatever the organization chooses to do, I’m happy with it,” Butler said, per Drellich. “I love being here. I’m excited to be here. I’m excited to play here. So, yeah, no comment on that.”</p><p>Butler was sent down to the minors last May after a rough spring with the Athletics. When he came back in mid-June, he hit the ground running. In the final 84 games of the season, he hit 20 homers, drove in 50 runs, and stole 15 bases without getting caught. That is a small sample size to pay someone off but the Athletics need to build a core.</p><p>Since 2020, the Athletics have not made the playoffs as they disassembled the core that had them in the playoffs in the late 2010s. With Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Marcus Semien, and other stars gone, they need to build that core back up. Butler and Rooker can be the building blocks for the future.</p><h2><b>The Athletics must keep Lawrence Butler around long term</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Lawrence-Butler-with-Athletics.jpg"><figcaption>Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Athletics don’t have to sign Butler this offseason. He becomes arbitration-eligible in 2027 and a free agent in 2030, which gives them plenty of time to get the deal done. But teams like the Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves have locked up young stars long before arbitration hits the table. So getting Butler a long-term deal would not be unheard of and would set up their team for the future.</p><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/athletics-news-luis-severino-67-million-contract-eric-chavez">Athletics also signed Luis Severino to a monster contract</a> this offseason to be their ace. But their mini-spending spree only started because the MLB Player’s Association threatened to take away their revenue sharing. Since tearing down that 2010s core, they have not spent money in free agency. Now, they are finally part of the MLB offseason again.</p><p>If the Athletics can continue to develop prospects like Butler and find diamonds in the rough like Rooker, they could be in playoff contention soon. The AL West is weakening and the team has to get into contention to keep fans interested before their move to Vegas. Lawrence Butler’s extension is the next step in that journey.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lawrence Butler in contract talks with Athletics after breakout season

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/athletics-news-rob-manfred-timeline-relocation-las-vegas');   ga('set', 'title', 'Rob Manfred gives timeline for Athletics relocation to Las Vegas');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Athletics-2025-Over-Under-Win-Total-Prediction-Odds-Pick.jpg"></figure><h1>Rob Manfred gives timeline for Athletics relocation to Las Vegas</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-02-18T14:49:07-08:00">February 18th, 2:49pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-02-18T14:49:33-08:00">February 18th, 2:49pm</time><address><a>Benjamin Adducchio</a>Benjamin Adducchio is a journalist and writer with more than a decade of experience in covering sports news. Ben is a passionate sports fan who loves college football, basketball, and the New York Yankees.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Athletics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Athletics are still waiting to reach the city of Las Vegas. Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says<a href="https://x.com/BNightengale/status/1891961051811344478" rel="noopener"> the team should be in Sin City</a> in 2028, per USA Today. The team is playing the next three seasons in Sacramento, California.</p><p>Manfred says the franchise’s temporary home in Sacramento is charming. That may not be music to the ears of Athletics fans, who are still bitter about the team leaving Oakland.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/athletics-news-president-resigns-with-las-vegas-move-in-motion">The Athletics had a really disappointing end in the Bay Area</a>. The franchise’s final season saw the team lose 93 games. Team owner John Fisher didn’t receive a heartwarming goodbye from Oakland residents, who criticized the owner for not doing more to keep the team in that city.</p><p>There are also a lot of details that need to be worked out before Las Vegas can welcome the club.</p><h2><b>How will Athletics fans react to the team in Sacramento?</b></h2><p>The team is going to be playing in a smaller ball park in Sacramento, the capital city of California. Athletics fans are going to have to make a significant trek to get to games from Oakland. When the team officially moves to Las Vegas, it will be an even longer trip.</p><p>There’s still a lot of anger about the team’s move. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/athletics-news-make-plans-potential-fan-violence-final-coliseum-game">Athletics ownership added additional security to the team’s stadium</a> for the club’s final games in Oakland. That was more of a precaution than anything, but fans still weren’t afraid to yell at management. Athletics owner Fisher is widely known for not doing interviews and keeping a low profile.</p><p>Reporters and Athletics fans have a lot of questions about the details of the deal that will allow the team to play in Las Vegas. The new stadium in the city is expected to be built where the Tropicana Las Vegas Hotel was once located.</p><p>Las Vegas is becoming a hotbed for professional sports. The city has an NFL franchise in the Raiders, a NHL franchise in the Golden Knights, a WNBA team in the Aces and soon a baseball franchise.</p><p>The Athletics start Spring Training games on February 22 against the San Diego Padres.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Rob Manfred gives timeline for Athletics relocation to Las Vegas

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/athletics-news-mark-kotsay-contract-extension-first-season-sacramento');   ga('set', 'title', 'Athletics’ Mark Kotsay gets contract extension ahead of first season in Sacramento');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Athletics-news-Mark-Kotsay-gets-contract-extension-ahead-of-first-season-in-Sacramento.jpg"></figure><h1>Athletics’ Mark Kotsay gets contract extension ahead of first season in Sacramento</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-02-17T09:02:22-08:00">February 17th, 9:02am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-02-17T09:02:22-08:00">February 17th, 9:02am</time><address><a>Christopher Hennessy</a>Christopher Hennessy graduated with a journalism degree from Fordham University in 2022. He has also worked at Spectrum News One in Albany, New York and with The Hockey Writers as a New York Islanders writer. Chris is originally from Connecticut and is a lifelong New York Yankees, Islanders, and Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Athletics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Athletics are preparing for their first season in West Sacramento. After a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/athletics-news-oakland-headed-sacramento-las-vegas-move">five-decade run in Oakland, the team left the Bay for a temporary stay in Sacramento</a> before their permanent home opens in Las Vegas. Through all of that turmoil, Mark Kotsay has been the Athletics manager, steadying the ship through uncertain times. Kotsay <a href="https://twitter.com/Athletics/status/1891515804878844166" rel="noopener">was rewarded with a</a> long-term extension on Monday.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">That’s our Skipper! </p><p>We have signed Mark Kotsay to a contract extension through the 2028 season with a club option for 2029. <a href="https://t.co/XSit06GIYt">pic.twitter.com/XSit06GIYt</a></p><p>— Athletics (@Athletics) <a href="https://twitter.com/Athletics/status/1891515804878844166?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The Athletics will have Mark Kotsay on the bench through at least 2028, so long as he does not get fired. But owner John Fisher won’t be looking to pay multiple managers at the same time while building a new stadium. His first three seasons as a manager have not ended in a playoff appearance but things are trending up.</p><p>After <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/report-bob-melvin-leaves-the-as-to-become-the-padres-new-manager">Bob Melvin left the Athletics for the Padres in 2021</a> the team needed a new voice. Meanwhile, the front office was offloading their best players for a significant rebuild. Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Sean Murphy, Starling Marte, and Sean Manaea are just a few of the players on the last Melvin team no longer with the organization.</p><p>The Athletics have finally brought in a significant piece and signed a good player to an extension. Luis Severino and Brent Rooker will be there long-term and are the start of a core to build around.</p><h2><b>The Athletics need to build around their high-priced players</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Mark-Kotsay-with-Athletics.jpg"><figcaption>Troy Taormina-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>With Vegas around the corner, the Athletics need to give fans a reason to stick around through their Sacramento era. Rooker and Severino are a good start but they need great performance from burgeoning prospects. Infielders Jacob Wilson and Max Muncy and outfielder Colby Thomas are the MLB-ready <a href="https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/2024/athletics/" rel="noopener">prospects in their</a> MLB.com top ten.</p><p>That is how the Athletics competed in the late 2010s. The 2019 squad won 97 games and made the playoffs with only one player making over $10 million, designated hitter Khris Davis. The 2025 team has three players above that threshold, Severino, Rooker, and relief pitcher Jose Leclerc. Prospects are as important to this Athletics team as any in recent history.</p><p>While Kotsay’s club added some pieces this offseason, the Houston Astros subtracted from their championship core. If the American League West is up for grabs, Kotsay could bring the Athletics on an unlikely playoff run. But he will need to cultivate a great environment for young players who could make the team coming out of spring training.</p><p>The Athletics are set to open their new stadium in 2028 and Mark Kotsay will likely be running the team when that happens.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Athletics’ Mark Kotsay gets contract extension ahead of first season in Sacramento

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/perfect-trade-athletics-must-make-during-2025-spring-training');   ga('set', 'title', 'Perfect trade Athletics must make during 2025 Spring Training');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Perfect-trade-Athletics-must-make-before-2025-Spring-Training.jpg?w=1024"></figure><h1>Perfect trade Athletics must make during 2025 Spring Training</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-02-10T20:25:07-08:00">February 10th, 8:25pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-02-10T20:25:07-08:00">February 10th, 8:25pm</time><address><a href="https://linktr.ee/jordan.llanes">Jordan Llanes</a>Jordan Llanes is a sports writer and reporter based in Florida. In addition to ClutchPoints, he writes for a few other publications covering the NFL, college sports and Tottenham Hotspur. When he's not writing, Jordan enjoys spending time with his fiancée, cats, family and friends, as well as catching the latest TV shows and movies, and traveling.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Athletics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>It will be three years until <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/athletics-news-president-resigns-with-las-vegas-move-in-motion">the Athletics’ stadium in Las Vegas</a> will be ready for them to move in. Until then, they will play their home games not in Oakland, but in Sacramento. They will share their home stadium with the Sacramento River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. As they prepare to enter their first season in California’s state capital, ownership has allowed GM David Forst to spend. He’s signed starting pitcher Luis Severino to the biggest contract in franchise history and also traded for another starting pitcher in Jeffrey Springs.</p><p>The team must continue to spend in order to hit the salary floor. If they don’t hit that mark, then they could open themselves up to grievances from the MLBPA, plus more potential trouble. So, finding a way to bring in more salary before the season starts would be a good idea. However, spending it in an unnecessary manner would be unwise.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/athletics-news-gm-shuts-down-untrue-max-fried-pursuit-rumors-yankees-deal">Forst has already added</a> to the starting rotation with Severino and Springs. He’s addressed the bullpen with Jose Leclerc and Rule 5 draft pick Noah Murdock. He’s also added Gio Urshela to play third base. Yet, it’s clear that more talent is needed. The best way to add talent and salary? The trade market, of course.</p><p>Picking up the phone to call his counterpart with the San Diego Padres, A.J Preller, might be a good idea. The Padres possess <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/padres-news-dylan-cease-honest-admission-ongoing-trade-rumors">an ace in Dylan Cease</a> that is about to get a lot more expensive. Even though they only acquired him from the Chicago White Sox last offseason, the team is locked in an escalating ownership battle and is stuck in salary purgatory. After a successful 2024 in which they got back to the playoffs, San Diego might have to sell to appease ownership. Would a trade of Cease to the Athletics help both teams? At this point, what else do they have to lose?</p><h2><b>Athletics need to start making next steps to contention</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Padres-SP-Dylan-Cease-1.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>As it stands, Cease is scheduled to make $13.75 million this season. This is <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/mlb-arbitration-tracker-which-top-names-have-agreed-to-terms/" rel="noopener">after an arbitration settlement</a> with the Padres. Next offseason, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent. Entering the market at age 30 isn’t bad at all, especially since many pitchers have shown an ability to perform into their late 30s and early 40s. It’s more uncommon nowadays, but it’s possible that Cease will be in the majors for another eight to ten years. If that’s the case, then wouldn’t it be wise for the Athletics to try and make a move for him now?</p><p>There are a few reasons why it would make sense. First is obviously the salary. It would let the A’s get closer to the salary floor and give them an ace level arm for below market price. That’s good business right there. Furthermore, it would give them a deeper rotation by forcing Severino and Springs into lower spots, causing competition for the last two slots. That, in turn, should give the former Oakland Athletics a better group of starters heading into 2025.</p><p>Next, if they <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-padres-potential-dylan-cease-trade-comes-with-free-agency-contingency-plan">can convince Cease to commit</a> to the franchise long-term, it would be a big win. Severino’s $67 million is the most they’ve ever spent on a free agent. Cease, if healthy, will likely make at least three times as much. Would owner John Fisher break years of non-spending to further augment the club before they enter a new stadium in Sin City? It would be good for business, especially if the A’s continue to improve this season and throughout their upcoming sojourn in Sacramento.</p><p>Lastly, snagging an arm to help in the late innings wouldn’t be a bad idea, either. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/rays-news-tampa-injury-woes-go-from-bad-to-worse-with-randy-arozarena-jason-adam-updates">Jason Adam is set to</a> make over four million, a number much too high for a team potentially wanting to cut payroll. By trading him along with Cease, the Padres would increase their return for sure. So, what would such a return look like?</p><h2><b>What should Athletics give up for Dylan Cease?</b></h2><p>A three to four player package centered around players who can contribute either right way or soon at the major league level would be preferred. After all, the Padres still have the talent to make it back to October, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-xander-bogaerts-joins-dylan-cease-padres-trade-candidate">even without Cease.</a> If they trade their ace, it needs to be worth their while, even as they try to reportedly shed salary.</p><p>Outfielder JJ Bleday has been mentioned before as a potential trade piece, and he’d be a great fit in the Padres’ outfield. Left field is looking particularly worrisome, as the budget veteran duo of Jason Heyward and Connor Joe is currently slated to play there. If Bleday can build on last season, he’d be a great pickup for the Padres and would slide right into the starting lineup.</p><p>Starting pitcher J.T Ginn has a had a rocky tenure in the minors but has re-emerged as a viable big-league option. He could potentially fill the hole left in the rotation by Cease if he has a good spring. Corner infielder Tommy White could stay at third, but profiles better as a first baseman long term. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/perfect-trade-padres-must-make-before-2025-spring-training">The Padres could use that,</a> and White does have a big bat that could earn him a quick trip to the majors. Lastly, Ryan Lasko is an outfield prospect that made a good rise through the Athletics’ system last year and has a profile that fits what San Diego likes in its developmental prospects.</p><p>So, a big step forward for the A’s as they move out of Oakland. A reconfiguration for the Padres as they look to get back to October. This is a deal that can work handsomely for both sides, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/athletics-news-franchise-still-searching-for-2025-27-home-while-las-vegas-ballpark-is-built">particularly the Athletics.</a> Pulling the trigger on it to see what will happen might give both teams a path back to fall glory.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

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