I think you have to have some limit or you could just keep guys down there forever and they never get a shot. From my brief research the overall roster has been at 40 since 1919. Maybe that's the number that needs to be reviewed. Can't say that baseball is played the same now as it was over a hundred years ago. Expand that to 42 I think is reasonable.
I am curious why Alex Bregman already bought a House in Arizona. Who is his Agent (Boras), His Agent already talking with Arizona? If this is the case Alex Bregman might as well get Traded and Callup Brice Matthews play 3B. The Free Agent Player Distraction really makes players lose Focus on the Game.
Also, if you are a player your team isn't giving a chance after several years in the minors, it is great.
Him buying a house in AZ means nothing. And his agent is not allowed to be talking with teams a full year before he even hits free agency. And Brice Matthews is still likely 2-3+ years away from being ready. Even if you're pretty sure Bregman is going to leave after 2024, ride him out for all of 2024 and then let him walk. Only way you trade him is if you get to the trade deadline and you're clearly out of the playoff picture, which is very unlikely to happen. I can't imagine there's more than like a .5-1% chance he gets traded. And even that feels a little high.
One thing that means is that it is almost certain Houston will be playing in what amounts to a 4 team division for the next 4 seasons. The Vegas strip stadium won’t be done until 2028, and there’s no way the owner is going to put any money into the team while they are playing in the Coliseum or the Vegas AAA stadium or wherever other makeshift solution comes up between now and then. The A’s are going to be epically awful. I think it would be cool if the A’s were a traveling team from 2025-2027, playing a handful of homes games in 7-8 non-MLB cities. Would be good for the game and a good way to gauge expansion viability. But there’s no way the players’ union would allow it.
Or sometimes young players with talent grow together and possibly start winning some games. Sure, they'll still have a low payroll... as has every other Oakland team that ever existed. But unless they're firing all their scouts, talent evaluators, minor league coordinators, and draft guys... there's still a possibility that they create a young core of everyday players that wins games based on talent. They're unlikely to ever have enough talent to win 90+ over 162... but then again, recent history has shown us that you don't need that to even make the playoffs or make noise in the playoffs. ugh.
