Oakland Athletics majority owner John Fisher needs to sell the team if they ever want to be taken as serious World Series title contenders.

The A’s have maintained one of the lowest payrolls in baseball for the past 10 seasons despite Fisher’ estimated net worth of $2.2 billion.

With fan favorite Marcus Semien signing a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays last week, it’s pretty clear that the A’s are presenting themselves as a “broke” franchise.

The team’s former and current general managers, Billy Beane and David Forst, are constantly held back by the team’s “budget.” If they were given more room to work with, Oakland would have already seen its fifth championship.

I’m not the only one who feels this way about Fisher: other A’s fans have started a petition for the MLB to force Fisher to sell the team that has over 2,400 signatures, as well as a GoFundMe to buy the team.

Fisher clearly cares more about profit than putting a winning product on the field, and it shows in his actions this off-season and in his initial refusal to pay Oakland’s minor league players during the pandemic.

Some argue that Fisher is in the right for not putting out money because of the poor attendance at games. But why would fans want to watch a team in a 50-year-old stadium where players are constantly leaving to play for other organizations?

The A’s are still looking at a postseason berth this season as they maintain star talent like Gold Glove award-winners Matt Chapman and Matt Olson, but a rebuild has to be on the horizon.

Even though players leaving the ball club isn’t abnormal to A’s fans, it never gets easier to lose fan favorites. After 20+ seasons of “Moneyball,” it feels like Oakland is just a farm system for the rest of the league.

Oakland’s last major professional sports team is looking to win its first World Series in over 30 years this season. But when nothing is done to upgrade the team, it may be another long wait for A’s fans.