A’s fans equal parts funny and sad about team’s departures
The team that opens the season for the Oakland Athletics will look a lot different than the one that finished the 2021 campaign.
First baseman Matt Olson was traded to the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday. On Wednesday, third baseman Matt Chapman was dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Olson was an All-Star in 2021 and finished eighth in American League MVP voting. Chapman had something of a down year in 2021, but he was an All-Star in 2019, finished sixth in AL MVP voting that year, and seventh the year before. Both are exemplary defenders, with Chapman having three Gold Gloves and Olson having two. Both are young as well. Olson will turn 28 in March, while Chapman will turn 29 in April.
The Oakland departures were not limited to the two Matts, either. They were merely two of what can only be described as a mass exodus.
