OAKLAND - The A's set off for Chicago on Thursday evening to begin their next road trip, and how their dynamic has changed over the course of one week.
They began their most recent homestand by cutting ties with veteran third baseman Trevor Plouffe to make room for hotshot prospect Matt Chapman. On Thursday, catcher Stephen Vogt suffered the same fate as Plouffe, getting designated for assignment to make room for another young player in Bruce Maxwell.
The calendar may still read June, with more than half of the season remaining, but the A's are cleaning house, undergoing a reboot and playing the rest of 2017 with an emphasis on what lies ahead.
Five of the nine position players in their starting lineup for Thursday's 12-9 loss to the Houston Astros are what you would consider "future" guys - center fielder Jaycob Brugman, third baseman Ryon Healy, second baseman Chad Pinder, Maxwell and right fielder Matt Olson.
They will shuffle around the diamond a bit, and Olson may only stay with the big club until Chapman comes off the disabled list (though Olson's full-time status in the bigs doesn't seem far off). Regardless, the plan is crystal clear - the A's are hitching their wagon to their young core and are prepared to let them develop at the major league level, with whatever successes and failures may come with the growth process.
"We do get excited about giving these guys playing time," A's general manager David Forst said before Thursday's game.
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The Astros finished off a four-game sweep of Oakland with their 12-9 victory, jumping out to a 10-0 lead and then holding on after the A's mounted a late charge. Glance up and down the box score, and those key young players were instrumental in so much that went right for the A's.
Maxwell went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Olson drove in two runs. Pinder had two hits and an RBI. Brugman chipped in an RBI single and walked twice. That was the silver lining on a day that starting pitcher Jesse Hahn struggled mightily, allowing nine earned runs in just two innings.
"These guys are gonna be important," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "The last thing you want to see when you're down 10-0 is guys just cash it in, and that wasn't the case. These guys all have something to play for. They're playing for jobs. And in the future, starting jobs."
Sometime in the not-too-distant future, middle infielder Franklin Barreto will join the mix from Triple-A Nashville. For now, an immediate storyline is the health of Chapman, who joined the 10-day disabled list with a case of cellulitis (bacterial infection) in his left knee. The A's checked him into a hospital Wednesday night to get an intravenous antibiotic, after his condition "plateaued" with oral antibiotics, according to Forst.
He said Chapman is likely to leave the hospital Friday, and the A's are hopeful the rookie third baseman will be able to return when he's eligible to come off the D.L. His stint can be backdated to Monday, meaning Chapman is eligible to return next Thursday at Houston.
He's part of the youth movement that resulted in Vogt getting shown the exit. Maxwell sent Vogt a text message wishing him the best Thursday morning, and Vogt quickly responded, wishing him the best. That meant a lot to Maxwell, who didn't learn until Thursday morning that his roster spot was coming at Vogt's expense.
But Maxwell said he's excited to be surrounded by so many players that he's advanced through the minors with.
"Once we get everybody acclimated to each other and the game up here," he said, "I feel like we could potentially set up a turning point for this organization for years to come."
