Sunday morning began with the A's on a four-game winning streak and team president Marc Badain telling Bob Nightengale of USA Today, "We won’t have trouble recruiting." After a 23-9 drubbing at the hands of the Colorado Rockies, perhaps that pitch will be a little more difficult. 

The 23 runs scored by the Rockies are a franchise record for a team that plays in Coors Field, which has been the most hitter-friendly ballpark in baseball since it opened in 1995. It took them three games in Vegas to set a new record. 

Of course, the A's new ballpark in Las Vegas will be a domed facility, meaning that it will be temperature controlled and will come equipped with a humidor. These are factors that should make the park play closer to neutral than what we saw from Las Vegas Ballpark over the past week. Something closer to Chase Field in Arizona (with an altitude boost) could be where the A's end up. 

The A's were outscored 55-47 in six games, but ended up going 4-2 against the Rockies and Milwaukee Brewers. The record was solid, and the offensive explosion should help some struggling bats find their footing moving forward. This was a great building series for the club on the field. 

But when it comes to selling actually playing in Las Vegas to potential free agents, the main headlines have been the 15-14 loss on Monday night, and the record-setting 23-run outburst by the Rockies on Sunday afternoon. 

It's hard to argue that Badain isn't correct that the A's will be able to recruit plenty of bats to don the green and gold. They could even grab some under-the-radar guys and let their ballpark turn them into All-Stars. 

The issue could be in convincing pitchers to sign on in free agency out of the gate. Right now, the A's showcase of Las Vegas has been very hitter-forward.

The problem is, every extension they've already handed out has been to a bat: Brent Rooker is signed through 2029 with a vesting option for 2030, Lawrence Butler is signed through 2031 with a club option for 2032, and Tyler Soderstrom and Jacob Wilson are signed through 2032 with club options for 2033.

In addition, they have Shea Langeliers at catcher and Nick Kurtz at first — both looking like All-Stars in 2026. That's six spots on the roster that are basically spoken for most days. Adding more bats to the mix isn't really a priority.

Adding pitching, however, will be their path forward to becoming a true postseason contender. 

The question to keep an eye on will be whether the A's will be able to recruit some top-end pitching (not via trade) in the coming two or three years. If not, it may take some selling from the new ballpark in order to show prospective pitchers that this is in fact a place that they can have success (and not be taxed). 

How much a player values a shot at the Hall of Fame against a bag of bills from the A's could be what we see happening in the next couple of seasons.

Nightengale himself mentions Tarik Skubal — who's from Kingman, Arizona, about 100 miles from Vegas — as a name the A's could target this winter, calling him "a grandiose, red-carpet entrance into Vegas." That is the type of player the A's need, and even if they matched the highest offer, how would he weigh that against potentially missing out on the Hall of Fame, given that those park factors are an unknown?

Mike Hampton is a notable pitcher that signed with the Rockies ahead of the 2001 season, holding a 3.44 ERA across parts of eight seasons to that point. Colorado signed him for eight years, $121 million, and he ended up going 21-28 with a 5.75 ERA in his two seasons at Coors before getting traded to the Florida Marlins. 

It would make sense for the A's to go out and make a big trade acquisition (or two) on the pitching market either at this deadline or in the coming year, and use it as a showcase for how pitchers can succeed in Las Vegas. 

The one giant flaw in that plan, however, is that nobody will know for sure how the park will play until games begin. Even if the A's wanted to run a smoke-and-mirrors show befitting Vegas, not having that data would make that nearly impossible. 

One piece that could give the A's a leg-up in this process is the number of talented young arms in the farm system. Jamie Arnold (No. 26 in MLB), Gage Jump (No. 38 in MLB) and Wei-En Lin (No. 90 in MLB) will have had some level of experience pitching in the more difficult outdoor venue that is Las Vegas Ballpark by the time the domed ballpark opens in 2028.

The A's pitching problems may already have some internal solutions.