Five MLB Teams Whose Season Is Already Over Before It Begins

CJ GUNTHER. Shutterstock Images.

Spring is here. Opening Day for almost every team is on Thursday. For baseball fans, the start of a new season is one of the best feelings in the world. You know summer is on the way and soon will have entertainment nearly each and every day for the next six months. The standings are all reset and if you squint hard enough, you can find a path to the playoffs for every team.

Well...nearly every team. There are five teams that are so shitty and hopeless that they have zero chance of being competitive for the 2024 season. For these five teams, it's already on to 2025 or beyond.

Terry Schmitt. Shutterstock Images.

Oakland A's

There have been few franchises in all of sports history that have cared less about winning than the A's right now. The new stadium in Las Vegas won't be ready until 2028. What are they going to do for the next four seasons? They can't keep putting this awful product on the field...can they?

The craziest thing is the organization is so poorly run that even the recent failures haven't helped the farm system very much. According to mlb.com, the A's have the 25th best farm system in all of baseball with only one top-100 prospect (#68 Jacob Wilson).

The A's lost 112 games last year and 102 the year before that. Here's the current rotation:

Paul Blackburn (4-7, 4.43 in 20 GS)

JP Sears (5-14, 4.54 in 32 GS)

Alex Wood (5-5, 4.33 in 12 GS)

Ross Stripling (0-5, 5.36 in 11 GS)

Luis Medina (3-10, 5.42 in 17 GS)

The depth beyond that makes these guys look like the 1995 Atlanta Braves. The A's are going to lose 100 games again. No one will support the team for another year (and who can blame anyone in Oakland). Finally, the ownership won't spend money for yet another season yet reap the rewards of a local tv deal, national TV deal, revenue sharing from other teams and all the streaming income that MLB teams share equally. 

That's the reason the Oakland A's exist. How the team performs on the field doesn't matter at all. The fans matter even less. It's simply an empty vessel for John Fisher to make money. The only thing that can fix this is if either they sell the team or if Fisher suddenly gives a fuck once they get to Vegas.

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Colorado Rockies

The Rockies had the worst ERA in all of baseball last year at 5.67. You want to blame playing in Coors Field for that? Totally understandable. They also had the worst OBP in the NL (.310) and 3rd worst in home runs (163). You can't blame the high altitude on that. Here's who they added in the off-season to help this team with so many pitching and hitting holes.

Cal Quantrill (4-7, 5.24 in 19 GS)

Jake Cave (.212/.272/.348 with 5 HR in 184 AB's)

Jalen Beeks (5.95 ERA in 42 IP)

Puff Daddy has had a better last six months than the Rockies. This team was a dreadful nightmare last year and did less than nothing to make the team better. Imagine looking at this team go 59-103 last year and have the attitude of "let's just run it back!"

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Boston Red Sox

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying the Red Sox are as bad as the other teams on the list. But that doesn't mean they have any more of a chance of making the playoffs. If they were in the AL Central or NL Central, I wouldn't have them on this list but there is no chance they win the AL East. The Wild Card in the AL is also very competitive with the Yankees or Orioles, Blue Jays, Rays, Astros or Rangers and Mariners all quite a bit better than Boston. Only three of those teams are going to get Wild Card spots.

This really has been a shitshow of an off-season for the Red Sox. The rotation was already shitty last year and now they no longer have Chris Sale or James Paxton. The one guy they signed in Lucas Giolito is already out for the year. The offense will likely be worse without Justin Turner and Alex Verdugo. Even Alex Cora doesn't seem committed to this team.

SOURCE - Unfortunately for Red Sox fans, there is a possibility that Cora will become a “free agent” after the season as it seems unlikely Boston’s front office would pay his expected asking price. The contract Cora signed in 2021 included option years for 2023 and 2024.

Could Trevor Story be better next year? Could Vaughn Grissom become a helpful MLB player? Maybe Brayan Bello and Tanner Houck can take the leap? But even if all of those things happen, I still don't see the Red Sox making the playoffs.

But you know what? All of those things won't happen and the Red Sox are heading towards a 90 loss season.

Giphy Images.

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Washington Nationals

I need to be fully transparent here. I said last year that the Nationals were absolutely going to lose 100 games. They only lost 91. I'm not going to predict they will lose 100 games again this year. Guys like Lane Thomas, Mackenzie Gore, Josiah Gray and CJ Abrams had solid seasons last year and Davey Martinez always has the Nats ready to play. 

Having said all of that, the Nats suck. They have sucked since they won the World Series in 2019. This is a pretty boring team with zero chance of winning the division and the same chance of winning the Wild Card when teams like the Phillies/Braves loser, Diamondbacks, Giants, Padres Cubs/Reds loser, Cardinals and even the Mets are the NL. All of those teams are better than the Nationals.

However unlike other teams on this list, the Nats have the clearest path and a farm system that does keep getting better. They will suck in 2025 but they'll be better faster than every team on this list.

Los Angeles Angels

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The only thing worse than the present for the Angels is the future. They have their worst farm system in baseball. It was already horrid before they traded away prospects at the deadline to get superstars like Lucas Giolito, CJ Cron and Eduardo Escobar.

Now they enter a season with no Shohei Ohtani and no chance. The barren minor league cupboard looks inspiring compared to a major league lineup with guys like Anthony Rendon who barely hides not wanting to be there at all. They play in a very competitive division with the Astros, Rangers and Mariners all very possible playoff teams. Arte Moreno continues to hold onto this team which he has driven into the ground due to panic and poor decisions. The responsible thing to do would be to sell the Angels so they can work towards a brighter future where success isn't a mirage. Mike Trout deserves better than this shoddy team that makes it to the World Series every 60 years. The Angel fans deserve better too.