It is a marriage made in the hell the franchise has built for itself, so it is hard to find much sympathy on either side, except for this: One side has John Fisher, the tiebreaker that settles all arguments.

Ultimately, this is what the A's get for trying to evade the lowball payroll tax by signing Severino in the first place, and the fact that it has backfired so wonderfully and spectacularly and swiftly is in its own way delightful. That they have so few other players with the leverage to snipe their way back to the Major Leagues means that this won't be the start of a parade out of town. In other words, Brent Rooker is trapped, and Tyler Soderstrom thinks getting an endorsement deal from Sodastream is Christmas in June.