For whatever it's worth, the A's only once were more than 11 games under .500 in the 2007-2011 span, so unlike the current Cubs, they weren't embarrassing themselves in between playoff appearances or racking up awesome draft picks. The A's were also never in position where they had a previous general manager who didn't give a [expletive] about the minor league system and handed out horrible contracts like candy. The Cubs didn't have the bold either. Kyle is an anus, but there's no need to rewrite history.