The Oakland Athletics have operated under a small-market business model for decades, but this season, they won't be making any sort of effort to resemble a playoff contender or put a winning product on the field. As part of the cycle, Oakland gutted its roster this offseason -- parting ways with star players such as Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, and Sean Manaea -- and entering Opening Day, the team payroll ranks second-worst in MLB, at a miniscule $32.5 million.
For context on how remarkably low this dollar figure is, nearly a dozen players across the league will make more in salary this season. And according to data from Baseball Reference, the Athletics' estimated payroll in the 1991 campaign was actually above their current one ($37 million, first in MLB). Elvis Andrus is now Oakland's highest-paid player ($15 million AAV), and at this moment, two-thirds of the active roster is slated to earn the league minimum.
"The 1991 Athletics had a higher payroll than the current A's -- think about that for a second. We're in 2022," former big leaguer Jerry Hairston Jr. explained to the Reiter Than You show on Thursday. "MLB's trending toward a $10-12 billion industry, and a major league team has a lesser payroll than their own team had in 1991. If I'm an Oakland A's fan, I'm furious and upset. It's a shame... No team should have a lesser payroll than they had more than three decades ago."
Oakland, which finished 86-76 overall last season and missed the AL playoffs, is currently projected to have the league's third-worst record in 2022 (69-93), according to FiveThirtyEight's projections. The franchise's 6-percent chance to reach the postseason also ranks third-worst, and its projected lineup hit a combined .202 in 2021. The Athletics will begin the regular season on Friday, in a three-game road series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The entire MLB conversation between Hairston and Reiter can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the Reiter Than You show on Twitter @sportsreiter and @CBSSportsRadio, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin