By Mauricio Segura August 25, 2025
Photo: GBT Graphics
With a little over a month left in the 2025 season, it’s safe to say the Athletics will not be playing in the Fall Classic. It is the franchise’s first summer away from Oakland after 57 years, now playing in Sacramento as a hop in between to a new life in Las Vegas and a shiny, state-of-the-art stadium that still only exists in renderings. So was the 2025 season a success, a learning curve, or a complete toss out at the plate? Let’s take a deep dive for the answers.
Oakland’s loss still looms like the echo of a foul ball off concrete. The A’s four World Series titles in the East Bay, the Coliseum’s raucous crowds of the 1970s, and the Moneyball era gave Oakland its own brand of gritty baseball identity. That bond was severed, and while lawsuits and bitterness followed, what remains is a sense of abandonment. In Sacramento, fans don’t celebrate Oakland’s past so much as inherit it, and the contrast is sharp: one of Major League Baseball’s most tradition-steeped franchises now squeezed into a minor league park with desert hot temperatures.
If success is defined by wins, the A’s are short. They sat 59-71 entering the final week of August, last in the AL West for more than three months straight. But if you define it as laying groundwork, then the season is closer to a learning curve. This roster is not a finished product, it is a showcase of youth and promise sprinkled with streaky veterans.
Nick Kurtz has been the revelation. At twenty-two, the rookie first baseman has slugged 26 homers with a .312 average and a 1.046 OPS. He leads all rookies in runs, RBI, and walks, and was the American League’s Rookie of the Month twice. His four-homer game in Houston on July 25 already feels like the defining moment of the season. Jacob Wilson, sidelined with a fractured forearm for much of August, still leads rookies in hits and carries a .311 average. Behind the plate, Shea Langeliers has hammered 28 homers, 24 of them as a catcher, the third-most by any catcher in A’s history. Brent Rooker continues to be the steady middle-order bat, with 138 hits, 31 doubles, and 26 homers. On the mound, rookie left-hander Jacob Lopez has emerged with a 7-6 record and 3.28 ERA. Jeffrey Springs, the staff’s innings leader, has shown flashes despite inconsistency. The bullpen, while erratic overall, has been surprisingly effective since July, ranking among the league’s best with a 2.78 ERA.
Sutter Health Park was never meant to host Major League Baseball full-time. Players have privately admitted the dimensions and locker room facilities are limiting, and visiting teams describe it as quaint. For fans, intimacy cuts both ways, close to the action but undeniably minor league. Sacramento has averaged crowds hovering around eleven thousand, better than some predicted, but well short of MLB’s middle tier. The ballpark experience simply lacks the amenities major league fans expect.
The media has been blunt, this is a stopgap, not a home. Players speak carefully, praising the fans who do show up but acknowledging the adjustment from big-league venues. Fans in Sacramento are divided. Some embrace the novelty, others sense they are being used as a waiting room for Vegas. With at least three more seasons expected here, the A’s face pressure to treat Sacramento not as a pit stop but as a proving ground. To improve the experience, MLB and ownership must invest, upgrade, expand seating, and make clear communication about Vegas timelines. Sacramento cannot feel like the back of the line.
Low attendance remains the obvious hurdle. To build a fanbase, the A’s must market aggressively in Northern California, lean on promotions, and connect to the city’s culture rather than Oakland’s ghost. This stint doubles as an audition. If Sacramento sustains interest, it could make the city a viable candidate for MLB expansion down the road. The Kings have proven Sacramento can rally around a major franchise. The question is whether baseball can replicate that loyalty.
And then there is Las Vegas. The $1.5 billion stadium project is clouded by rumors that owner John Fisher does not have the financing lined up. Nevada has committed public funds, but private investment gaps remain. If the Vegas plan stalls or collapses, Sacramento is no longer just a bridge, it becomes the fallback option. To stay long-term, the city would need either a new MLB-sized ballpark or a significant overhaul of Sutter Health Park, and a level of commitment from Fisher that to date has not been his trademark.
Do the A’s have the roster to become winners in Sacramento? Pieces are in place. Kurtz and Wilson look like cornerstones. Langeliers and Rooker add thump. Lopez shows the makings of a rotation leader. But depth is thin, pitching is erratic, and consistency remains elusive. For now, this is a team of promise rather than polish, a club in the works, not yet ready to compete with the Astros or Mariners.
So was 2025 a success, a curve, or a toss out? The safest hypothesis is that it is a transitional year, less about wins than about survival. The A’s did not collapse after leaving Oakland. They showed sparks, rookies flourished, and the team avoided the complete humiliation many predicted. But success in the next three years will depend less on what happens on the field and more on whether ownership, MLB, and Sacramento can decide what this team truly is, a tenant biding time, or a city’s shot at something bigger.
