Elephant Rumblings: Replies off, talk to the hand

MLB news roundup

Welcome to Thursday, all!

There hasn’t been too much going on with the on-field product of the club. The team signed their first major-league free agent in Trevor Gott, who looks likely to spend a good amount of time in late-game situations. The club lost Devin Sweet to the rival Giants, thinning out the lower half of the bullpen depth chart. And then the bullpen got more bad news today that the top left-hander in the bullpen, Sean Newcomb, would undergo knee surgery. Luckily it isn’t to the same knee that ended his 2023 season and it seems like he’ll be ready for spring, but still, you never want to see your arms go down to injury in the offseason.

A’s fans noticed something after the club announced the Gott signing though. On Twitter, where the team officially announced the deal, the club decided to deactivate any and all replies to their account and tweets. That was quickly noticed by a fan base that feels disrespectful and neglected and, yes, has taken out some of that frustration on the PR department of the Athletics.

But part of MLB’s overarching goal is to grow the game of baseball, from here in the US to across the globe. And now they’re trying to grow the game in Las Vegas with this relocation effort. Apart of social media’s main purpose is to allow fans to welcome the new guys to the team, interact with the players and just enjoy being on social media involving the sport. Straight up blocking the remaining fans that the Athletics have from commenting on the franchise is not only completely stupid and doesn’t help grow the sport, but it is incredibly disrespectful to the people who John Fisher is hoping (no way expecting?) attend games in the final year in Oakland. It’s not like the team was responding to these replies, but now it amplifies those voices that Fisher was trying to silence. There is a lot of hate and disbelief around this move to Vegas and fans deserve to have their voices and frustrations heard.

It seems like the move backfired because it quickly became a widely-noticed move:

It took a while but the club finally realized that they had stepped on a landmine and turn the replies back on. If you’d like to see how that is going, head on over to the Athletics’ official Twitter account. And chime in if you feel up for it!

MLB News & Interest:

• Mets acquire Adrian Houser, Tyrone Taylor from Brewers
• Jack Flaherty, Tigers finale: 1-year deal
• Dodgers considering $250MM+ offer for Yamamoto
• Mets preparing “very serious” offer for Yamamoto
• Padres sign lefty Japanese reliever Yuki Matsui
• Brewers ace Corbin Burnes downplays chances of extension
• Andrew McCutchen, Pirates agree on 1-year deal
• Yankees claim Jeter Downs off waivers from Nationals
• Blue Jays interested in Rhys Hoskins, Justin Turner
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

ICYMI:

Former A’s first baseman heading overseas:

Not….sure…. How to feel about this AI art?

Another great point here: