SAN JOSE, CALIF.— Major League Baseball season is a mere week away from its first pitch, and the hype around the Bay Area is more than ever. Both the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants went through substantial changes this offseason, ranging from changes in managerial groups to significant line-up changes compared to the last campaign. 

The season may be an emotional one for both fanbases, as the Athletics may be taking the field for the last time in Oakland, with their relocation to Las Vegas looming above them. This will mark the end of the historic Bay Bridge Series, which included one of the most memorable World Series’ in MLB history, in 1989. August 18 at the Oakland Coliseum may be the last page in the book of the story of enemies turned allies. 

At the end of last season, the Giants let go of most of their coaching staff after a very disappointing season which saw them finish with an 80-82 record.  This included manager Gabe Kapler, who led the Giants to 107 wins only two seasons prior. The Giants brought in Bay Area native Bob Melvin to replace Kapler, who moved on to a front office job with the Miami Marlins.

The Giants had an extremely successful offseason, bringing in four time Gold Glove winner Matt Chapman to play the hot corner for them this year. Along with Chapman, the Giants most significant improvement was signing Blake Snell from the Padres, who won the Cy Young trophy last year for being the best pitcher in the entire league. The Giants also made two more splashes in free agency to go alongside Snell and Chapman this summer. San Francisco signed outfielder Jung-Hoo Lee from the KBO (Korean Baseball Organization), and power threat Jorge Soler, who made the MLB All Star Game last season hitting 36 homers. Giants fan and junior here at Silver Creek, Ryan Tabatabai says that he is “happy with the offseason moves” and he thinks “that the Giants can be real competitors this season.”

Unfortunately the goods always come with the bads, and that was displayed with the departure of Brandon Crawford to the St. Louis Cardinals, who will go down as one of the best shortstops in Giants history. Crawford won two World Series titles with the Giants, and holds the record for most games started at shortstop in the history of the team. Other key departures include Mitch Haniger to the Mariners, Joc Pederson to the Diamondbacks, and JD Davis to the Athletics.

Speaking of the A’s, they made only a few signings this offseason, and they are still projected by FanGraphs to be the worst team in all of baseball this go-around . They signed the aforementioned JD Davis, Scott Alexander, Ross Stripling and Alex Wood, who all happened to be a part of the Giants squad last season. 

Oakland will once again be focusing on the draft this season, since they hold the fourth overall pick in the upcoming draft. The draft will be taking place on July 16, in conjunction with the All Star game at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.