CHASING YESTERDAY: The A's Obsession with Aging Players

The A’s have never pretended to shop in the luxury aisle, but they have developed one of the strangest habits in modern baseball: signing fading stars who used to be great and hoping that greatness magically reappears. It began with Frank Thomas turning back the clock in 2006, a season so miraculous it convinced the front office they’d found a cheat code. But that one spark lit a decade-plus of misfires—Piazza’s broken shoulder, the 40-year-old Thomas encore nobody needed, Giambi’s return that ended with a release, and Nomar’s bittersweet farewell tour. Even Hideki Matsui’s brief stop carried more sentiment than substance.

Then there was Bartolo Colón—the outlier so absurd it almost justified the experiment, until the reality of 2024 crashed in with Ross Stripling and Alex Wood battling ERAs like boss fights they couldn’t win. This episode breaks down the entire timeline, exposes the trend for what it was, and explains why leaning on aging veterans never built anything lasting. It’s a funny, honest, unfiltered trip through the A’s greatest hits from the senior playlist—and a clear-eyed look at why it’s time to stop chasing yesterday’s stars.

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A's, Athletics, Moneyball, MLB, Frank Thomas, Mike Piazza, Jason Giambi, Nomar Garciaparra, Hideki Matsui, Bartolo Colon, Ross Stripling, Alex Wood, baseball analysis, MLB history, veteran players, aging stars, A's roster, A's podcast, Booney, Locked On A's, MLB podcast, baseball breakdown

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