Don’t misread my headline as suggesting the A’s are front-runners for the second wild card or that they will win it. As play begins tonight, Oakland is 7 games back with 80 to play and it’s never a good sign when a spirited debate is whether the rotation on the field or the rotation on the DL is better.
However, in some ways the A’s are better positioned than the way it looked like it would probably go as we surveyed the landscape in March. The wild card appeared as if it was going to be a scramble amongst many flawed teams such as the Mariners, the Angels, the Blue Jays, the Twins, the Rays, and anyone else who could stumble along north of the .