Graney: New top hires for Athletics need support from the top to win

Dear John Fisher:

Give them the resources to be successful.

The end.

That’s what this all comes down to. That’s what it always has with the Athletics.

Will a new ballpark in Las Vegas create the sort of revenue streams that causes Fisher the owner to open his wallet and allow for those recently hired to potentially turn the ballclub into a winning product?

He has done so with some recent long-term signings, but there is more work to be done for a team that lost 98 games this past season playing a second year at a Triple-A ballpark in Sacramento.

Taylor Smith as president of baseball operations hopes he will have the support. I’m sure also does new general manager Cam Castro, who was introduced at a news conference on Thursday.

They both know what winning looks like at a high level.

Smith spent seven years in the Tampa Bay organization and the last two in Boston.

Castro, 36, is fresh off an eight-year stay with Milwaukee, having just experienced its run to a World Series title.

So they also know what winning resembles with payrolls not near the apex of the Major League market. But that doesn’t mean they won’t need financial support from the top of the A’s food chain to build a winner.

That has been the stated plan, anyways. That when the team lands in Las Vegas in 2028, it will soon own the ability to spend more. And that’s a good thing for all involved.

Fisher, upon the hiring of Smith, said it was the first time in 70 years the organization has gone outside to fill such a vital role, and it did so by bringing aboard a 31-year-old raised in the world of data and analysis.

Castro seems on the same page with Smith when it comes to the importance of analytics and how best to enhance the productivity of those competing.

Players first

“I think you just want to maximize every player and what they’re capable of,” said Castro, senior vice president of player development in Milwaukee. “I think better players lead to better teams. Every single player has goals. They have dreams. They have things they want to accomplish. It’s the job of player development to help them do all those things. The more times we’re successful with that, the better the team will be.”

The good news: Castro has much experience developing pitchers, and if you saw any parts of the recently concluded post-season, you know how vital and dominating Milwaukee’s staff was to its championship.

I mean, it was ridiculously good and posted the numbers to back it up.

Pitching in many ways has held the A’s back in recent times from being more of a player in the American League West, so Castro’s knowledge can no doubt be invaluable when mapping out a plan to make things better from the mound.

But that’s not the only reason Castro landed this job.

“It was more the experience in creating an awesome development system in general rather than just the specificity of the pitching,” Smith said. “The success the Brewers had in developing pitching in Cam’s time there was definitely a testament to the overall ability to create a system rather than just keying in on the pitching when making this hire.”

But it can’t hurt. By any means.

One thing Smith and Castro can bring, given their previous stops, is how best to build a winning culture. The A’s need such help.

If they can translate much of how the Rays and Brewers have done so, it can only accelerate the franchise in its pursuit of more successful results.

Both men agree it begins with one specific area: People.

No ego

“We all leaned on each other (in Milwaukee),” Castro said. “There was no ego, no one ever seeking credit. It was all about the players. It was always about each other. That’s a priority for me anywhere I go.

“It didn’t happen instantaneously in Milwaukee. It took a lot of hard work and time and effort and the collaboration between everybody. That led to the (winning) culture. People listened. They felt important. They felt valued. They felt seen. All the things that are really important to me personally and something I hope that I can bring to all the people in this organization.”

There is no doubt Smith and Castro are saying the right things.

If they get ample support from up top, who knows how fast this thing can turn around.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at [email protected]. Follow @edgraney on X.