Since the end of the first half, four separate longtime employees have parted ways with the organization.
Every few weeks, the Athletics seem to be losing another long-term piece of the organization that has helped bring success to the green and gold. It started when pitching coach Scott Emerson was fired during the All-Star break. It then continued when GM David Forst was fired right after the trade deadline.
On Friday, longtime coach Rick Rodriguez, who most recently held the role of bullpen coach for the Arizona League Athletics, announced his retirement.
“I truly want to thank the Athletics organization for everything in my career,” Rodriguez said. “It has been the honor of a lifetime to be able to play and coach for my hometown team.”
"He had an amazing career, both as a player and as a coach," A's manager Mark Kotsay said of Rodriguez. "When you talk about continuity and loyalty in this organization, he's the reflection of that for sure."
Francys Romero is also reporting that Athletics Director of International Scouting Steve Sharpe is expected to leave his position soon. Sharpe has been with the A's for nearly 16 years in a front office role, beginning as a pro scout in 2011 and working his way up the ladder to his current role in November of 2022.
Sharpe was also a minor-league pitcher with the A's, selected by the club in the 11th round of the 2004 MLB Draft. All in all, that's over two decades with the organization, and it brings to a head a larger issue with the franchise right now.
The A's signed Luis Morales as part of the 2023 international signing class just a couple of months after Sharpe took over his role. A year later they brought in shortstop Edgar Montero, the team's No. 12 prospect on MLB Pipeline.
In June of 2024, they brought in Wei-En Lin, who was making a case for himself as a legitimate rotation option, and may have been with the A's by now if not for a midseason injury.
The class in 2025 included two-way player Shotaro Morri and highly-touted outfielder Breyson Guedez, who, at just 18 years old, is already the A's No. 9 prospect this season and is raking in the lower minors.
On the one hand, ownership needs the team to hit the ground running when it arrives in Las Vegas in 2028 and requires the best possible people in key roles to make sure they hit that target.
At the same time, there is a decent chunk of people in those roles who have helped bring the team success and aren't too keen to leave California for Nevada. Moving up to Sacramento is one thing, but Las Vegas is a completely different beast. That involves moving away from family, taking kids out of their schools, and a large life shift overall.
Not everyone wants to go that route.
One of the key factors of the A's success has been the organization's continuity. The loyalty shown to employees was another factor. Former players and coaches knew that when they returned to face the A's or serve in a new role with the organization, those same faces would be there to greet them.
That was one of the team's less talked about selling points: the people.
Now those people are beginning to leave, and this franchise is going to look a lot different. A new GM is expected to be named during the offseason, and how much of the front office and on-field coaching staff survives is unknown. A new GM typically brings some level of upheaval, since they want their own people installed in key positions.
The team has found success with the people who are departing in previous seasons, while the future is filled with a list of unknowns that just keeps growing. That doesn't mean that the organization won't find success in the coming years, but it does compound the challenge of staffing those positions on top of everything else that comes with building a new ballpark and relocating a franchise.
