The starting lineup the Athletics deployed Friday against the Colorado Rockies at Las Vegas Ballpark was filled with former Aviators already accustomed to the frills of Sin City. The 10-man oufit — including starting pitcher Gage Jump — accounted collectively for 788 games in navy blue, orange, tangerine, gold, yellow and gray.
“It’s a huge hat tip to the organization and what they’re doing and the scouting department,” A’s star catcher Shea Langeliers told reporters Wednesday before a matchup with the Milwaukee Brewers.
“The player development stuff has been really cool.”
The synergy between the A’s and Aviators has been on display at Las Vegas Ballpark, where homegrown talent has helped the big club ingratiate itself with its local fans. The continuity at the Triple-A level under Aviators manager Fran Riordan, leading the team for a seventh season, is an organizational strength appreciated by A’s fifth-year manager Mark Kotsay.
Said Kotsay before the first of three games against the Rockies in Summerlin, perched on his post inside the dugout nestled along the first baseline: “Stablity, continuity means a lot in an organization. The more turnover you have, the harder is to develop relationships and build trust. This organization has been build on continuity, loyalty.”
Homegrown talent has been a hallmark of the Athletics since way-back-when with “Moneyball” era playoff stalwarts built on the strength of youth and development — along with opportunistic trades. The same can be said for the top A’s teams that made the playoffs in the previous decade.
Retaining and paying homegrown talent is another story altogether. Trade after trade after trade after trade after trade after trade after trade after trade.
Finally, though, with this homegrown bunch, the A’s are turning a competitive corner, pacing for their best winning percentage since 2021. The likes of Langeliers (95 games with the Avivators), shortstop Jacob Thomas (176), outfielder Tyler Soderstrom (119) and second baseman Max Muncy (88) — star first baseman Nick Kurtz was fast-tracked through the minor leagues, playing 20 games for the Aviators — are resucicating a franchise rendered lifeless amid another money-saving teardown.
Key in maintaining the continuity forged throughout the past few years: keeping the A’s emerging standouts in green and gold and not shipping them elsewhere like before.
As for easing the buffer between markets, due to conclude in the next two years, Kotsay can lean on his former Aviators, knowing they’ll know what to expect in Las Vegas. The time they spent here helped them prepare for big-league pitching and big-league defense.
And life in the city.
Added Kotsay, six years a coach for the A’s before he became their skipper: “I think it helps anytime you have experience in life on and off the field. You gain confidence in what you do. Where you’re at. Familiarities of your surroundings are important. But baseball’s not normal. Life isn’t normal in baseball.”
Especially for the A’s, subjected to three years playing in Sacramento after their latest money-saving teardown marred their twilight years in Oakland.
“What’s normal for us isn’t normal for people,” Kotsay explained with perspective burnished by 17 seasons for eight big-league clubs, including the A’s. “People have bases that they lay foundations in. Our foundation is wherever the game takes us. So, careers go everywhere across the country. As far as Vegas goes and having a lifestyle and understanding of this city and town, it’s not the same as what it was five years ago. Guys don’t go out and party. They can’t.
“I think that guys with the Aviators who know the ins and outs of the city … they’ll share those experiences with the guys who maybe haven’t spent time here.”
Not that there are many.
Yet.
Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on X.
