Just How Stupid Are The Oakland A’s For Drafting Kyler Murray

The Oakland Athletics currently have the worst record in the MLB sitting at 21-41. After finishing ten games over .500 last year, Oakland decided to trade away three All-Stars in a five day span - Chris Bassit, Matt Chapman, and Matt Olson. Now their home attendance rate has dropped lower than a Bronny James high school basketball game. 

All of the Athletics moves don’t make any sense. I guess they think that’s like their identity or something. Living on the ghost of Billy Beane. Besides developing players and then trading them the second they start producing, my favorite splash the A’s have made was drafting Kyler Murray. 

Idiots. Kyler Murray had a collegiate career batting average of .261. He had 10 home runs in 51 games his final season which is impressive, I guess. I admittedly don’t follow college ball that closely, but those kind of numbers can’t possibly be worthy of the ninth overall pick, can they? Kyler didn’t finish in the top 250 in batting average or home runs. I’d tell you where he ranked but it doesn’t go that low. 

Ok so he was alright I guess, surely his dedication to playing baseball influenced the powers that be to draft Kyler with a top 10 pick. Whoops. We all know how that ended. Kyler Murray nearly a year later was drafted first overall in the NFL draft to the Arizona Cardinals. 

I’m aware that most people don’t care or pay attention to the MLB draft. They draft two zillion players and college baseball just doesn’t have the same eyes on it as college football or basketball. But boy oh boy did the Athletics miss out on some ballplayers in a sad attempt to maybe sell a couple jerseys. 

Here are some players that went after Kyler Murray at 9. Number 3 overall prospect Grayson Rodriguez, Mariners ace Logan Gilbert (2.41 ERA), number 51 overall prospect Cole Winn, number 35 prospect Matthew Liberatore, number 27 prospect Nolan Gorman, number 14 prospect Triston Casas, number 75 prospect Matt McLain, AL Cy Young favorite Shane McClanahan, number 17 prospect Alek Thomas, breakout Cleveland rookie Steven Kwan, and the +210 AL Rookie Of The Year, Jeremy Peña. 

I’m sure there’s more there’s just too much to comb through and if I keep writing the same thing you’ll just skim over it. Seven top 100 prospects, a strong ROY possibility and the Cy Young favorite. Most of those prospects were taken in the first round, only a couple of picks or so after Kyler Murray. 

MLB is admittedly the hardest draft to predict. Some of those players before and after Kyler haven’t yet shown the promise they did going into the 2018 draft. But you have to at least give yourself the chance. Oakland consistently puts themselves in the position to fail. Kyler Murray had less of a chance of playing baseball than the A’s have winning the pennant this year, and godammit is that low.