Olson, Laureano still processing A's early playoff exit

A’s infielder Matt Olson and outfielder Ramón Laureano, like us, are watching the World Series from home. However, they are viewing it through a different lens knowing they could be there -- facing the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The A’s were sent packing by the Houston Astros in the AL Division Series in Los Angeles. This was a disappointing end to a season filled with roadblocks. The A"s won the AL West, but their postseason started with a grind as they had to claw their way through a tough AL Wild Card Series against the Chicago White Sox.

Then, their season was cut short by the Astros, and they’re still not over it.

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“It’s still a process,” Olson said on Thursday. “It’s tough to turn the game on and know that we can compete with both of the teams. We’re at home watching it and it’s always going to sting when you’re at home watching other teams play where you thought you were going to be the whole year so -- no, not completely over it.”

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Olson and Laureano both made the AL Gold Glove finalist list at their respective positions and were made available to the media. 

The two were honored and humbled by the nominations, but it was apparent they wish they were still playing. 

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“Yeah, it’s just tough, it’s just tough you know? We weren’t expecting to obviously be at home at this time of the year,” Laureano said. “It’s still kind of hard, on me at least, but hey -- you got to continue to move on, continue to move forward, keep working hard and we know the front office will put a great team out there and we’re going to do our part and make Oakland proud.”

The offseason should be interesting for the A’s. Oakland has a number of free agents heading into the pool, with shortstop Marcus Semien and closer Liam Hendriks headlining the list of players looking for prospective new homes.

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Semien, a Bay Area native, wants to stay with the team and while the team mirrored those sentiments, it’ll be interesting to see what happens in the offseason.

If all goes smoothly, the A’s once again could snag the AL West crown, and they'll be motivated to make sure they aren't watching the Fall Classic from home in 2021.
 

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