No, smarty-pants, I'm not talking about a Vietnam War first-person shooter. (Although now that I think about it, I'm surprised I haven't seen one of those yet. I'll end that thought before I say something silly about the Viet Cong.) I'm talking about The Split That Matters, the Trot Nixon Special, the (Bobby) Coxamamie Scheme. I'm talking about lefty-righty hitting platoons. You'd have to get someone more versed in baseball history to tell you why they're called platoons (especially since, in military parlance, a platoon is a group of 30-50 soldiers led by a lieutenant-- admittedly "hitting fire-teams" sounds like a Sandy Alderson invention, but what about "hitting squads"?). Fortunately, that's not my task. I aim to investigate the possible platoons that the A's could potentially deploy for next season, in the hopes of wringing a little more offense out of their current roster (and assuming that it isn't upgraded in the meantime).

Let's set some ground rules here. (Why? Well, if you want to try and convince someone that Kurt Suzuki should be moved to third base and platooned with Eric Chavez, knock yourself out. Just don't expect me to do it for you. You aren't the one who has to type this.)

1. Players will keep their current positions. Yes, Jack Hannahan might be a serviceable left fielder. No, I'm not going to treat him as such.

2. No righty-righty platoons. I don't care that Flash Inthepan OPSed 100 points better against righties than lefties despite being right-handed. No one hits like that in the long term.

3. For obvious reasons, anyone who's capable of posting at least league-average offense against both types of pitchers is not going to be platooned. Swish, Cust and Buck are thus exempted (although Swish and Buck have bizarre platoon splits anyway, each hitting considerably better against lefties this year).

4. Minimum of 40 plate appearances against the appropriate "side." I want something to work with here.

Let's see what we've got to work with here. Here are the A's righties (and switch-hitters) who OPSed at least .750 against LHP this season, their position, and their OPS against lefties. I'm using minor-league stats for some guys; they'll be in italics. (All minor league splits from MiLB.com)

Mark Ellis, 2B: .984
Donnie Murphy, 2B/SS/3B: .968
Rob Bowen, C: .774
Marco Scutaro, 2B/SS/OF: .861
Nick Blasi, OF: .962
Jeremy Brown, C: .828

And lefties with an OPS of .725 or less (or a AAA OPS of .850 or less and a platoon split of 100 points or more).
Mark Kotsay, CF: .332 (no, that's not a typo, he OPSed .332 against lefties)
Eric Chavez, 3B: .704
Jack Hannahan, 3B/2B: .803
Kevin Melillo, 2B: .685
Daric Barton, 1B: .749 [should be higher, but this counts neither his spectacular AAA playoffs nor his MLB at-bats]

Conversely, here are the lefties who posted an OPS of .750 or higher against righties:

Eric Chavez, 3B: .779
Dan Johnson, 1B: .758
Jorge Piedra, OF: 1.015
Daric Barton, 1B: .861 [again, take the raw number with a grain of salt]
Kevin Melillo, 2B: .851
Jack Hannahan, 3B/2B: .929

And the righties who posted an OPS of .725 or less, or a AAA OPS of .850 or less and a platoon split of more than 100 points:

Mark Ellis, 2B: .704
Marco Scutaro, 2B/SS/OF: .637
Bobby Crosby, SS: .608
Donnie Murphy, 3B/SS/2B: .595
Nick Blasi,OF: .709

Let's take a look, therefore, at what we've got at each position.

C

Not much in the way of platoon options here. Kurt Suzuki showed good power against lefties, but had a horrible batting average. I suspect that this is an artifact of a small sample size, as he hit significantly better against lefties in the minors. Rob Bowen was much better against lefties despite being a switch-hitter (which makes sense given his right-handed throwing arm). A standard starter-backup arrangement makes more sense to me, at this point, than a platoon.

1B

Daric Barton has to be considered the odds-on favorite to win this job next season. The potential platoon partner for him is Nick Swisher, but I think the A's are not likely to give Swish a lot of starts at first base in an effort to reduce the number of position switches he has to make (something about which he's complained in the past). Barton technically shows up on our list of "weak lefties against LHP" but showed no signs of that in the majors this season. Again, there are no strong indicators that a platoon would be beneficial at this position next year.

2B

Now we start getting meaty. Mark Ellis is going to be the starting 2B next season, and there's really no reason for him not to be. Even if he hit like he does against righties all the time, he would still be above average because of his defensive value.

However, I believe the A's should find ways to work Kevin Melillo into the lineup as his backup against RHP. Melillo was abysmal against lefties in AAA this season, but showed well against righties. They need to evaluate him in case they decide not to extend Ellis's contract. If Melillo has outfield potential, that should also be evaluated.

If-- and I emphasize if, because many (including myself) think Ellis ought to be extended-- the A's opt not to resign him next season, we could be looking at a platoon of Melillo and Donnie Murphy at 2B in 2009. Quick-and-dirty math tells me that this could give the A's an OPS of around 800-825 from the second base spot, albeit with non-Ellis-like defense. Still, that's a great offensive platoon for a middle infield spot.

If Melillo fails to develop, a Jack Hannahan-Donnie Murphy platoon is also an option. I'm not convinced Hannahan has Melillo's upside, but he's clearly capable of hitting at the major league level, and I think this combination would again produce above-average offense at second base.

Marco Scutaro is a potential option as the right-hander in place of Murphy, but I feel that his increasing salary and age will make him expendable as the utility infielder this offseason.

SS

In a few years, we might be talking about Cliff Pennington as a platoon candidate. He's another nominal switch-hitter, but was horrific as a right-hander in AA. So bad, in fact, that I question whether he might not be better off giving it up and going lefty full-time.

In the meantime, the A's have no viable option as a left-handed platoon hitter at shortstop.

3B

I would argue that, regardless of whether Chavez is healthy enough to begin 2008, Donnie Murphy should start the year in a platoon role. With either Chavez or Hannahan, Murphy provides significantly better offense against left-handed starters. In the case of Chavez, resting every fourth game or so will help him ease back into the starter's role, while providing an easy institutional excuse to get Murphy some at-bats in the big leagues. I think that at some point, Chavez can return to everyday play; his defense offsets his weakness against left-handed starters. But I suspect that he will not be 100% on defense for a long time (look at how long it took Crosby to return to full form after his back problems). Meanwhile, I've already addressed the advantages of a Hannahan-Murphy platoon under second base, above.

Corner OF

Swisher and Buck are projected to hold down these two positions somewhat firmly. In the unlikely event that Swisher is given a platoon role at first base against lefty starters, the A's may need to find an additional hitter (or Buck may continue to be fragile). Nick Blasi can be counted on to work pitchers, and his numbers against lefties last season suggest that he could hit them at a major-league level. If Buck is injured, the A's could potentially go with a platoon of Blasi and either Jorge Piedra (if they resign him; I believe he's a free agent this offseason) or Chris Snelling (if he's healthy and is retendered a contract). If Chris Denorfia's services aren't required in center field, he's a fine option as a right-handed injury stopgap in the corners.

CF

This one is up in the air, as it seems far more likely that the A's will sign a free agent center fielder than any other position. If not, they need to identify whether Mark Kotsay can hit lefties or, indeed, anything at all by the end of spring training. If Kotsay replicates his numbers of last season, he's not worth having even in a platoon role and should be released, at least saving the A's the league minimum when he signs with another club.

If we assume that part of his struggles were injury-based and that he's closer to full health in 2008, however, he might form part of a quality platoon. Chris Denorfia seems to be the ideal candidate here, since his versatility (he doesn't show strong platoon splits) will enable him to serve as a general fourth outfielder as well as a specific platoon partner for Kotsay. Blasi has much more pronounced platoon tendencies, but as a Kielty-ish 5th outfielder/designated lefty-killer, he might be a reasonable choice. He has a reputation as a guy who'll give you a professional at-bat; if he can emulate Reggie Willits's play this year, he could be an asset.

DH

Cust is penciled in as the everyday starter here. If he really starts scuffling against left-handers, however, the A's might work Landon Powell into the platoon role in the second half of the season. Frankly, I doubt that Powell will ever catch effectively again at this point-- his knees are in terrible shape. But he has tremendous power and pretty good contact potential (just 44 Ks in 236 ABs). If he can stay healthy, he could potentially be the DH of the future for Oakland.

Summary

Bob Geren showed impressive flexibility with regard to lineups during his first year as the A's manager. Most of that flexibility, however, had to do with batting orders rather than who would start (and it needs to be said that frequently he had little choice, with only 22 or 23 genuinely healthy players at a time). In 2008, the A's need to make full use of the potential of their players if they intend to compete with the current roster. That means aggressive platooning at certain positions. In particular, the A's need to find ways to fit Donnie Murphy's bat into the lineup against lefthanders and Jack Hannahan's against righthanders.

In addition to the projected starting lineup (Suzuki, Barton, Chavez, Crosby, Ellis, Kotsay, Swisher, Buck, Cust), I would suggest the following.

Chris Denorfia-- 4th outfielder, starts in CF against lefties, gradually eased into an everyday job as center fielder.
Jack Hannahan-- utilityman, starts primarily against righties, left-handed pinch-hitter for Crosby and Suzuki in key spots against righty pitchers.
Donnie Murphy-- platoon player at the infield positions and primary pinch-hitter against lefties.
Rob Bowen-- backup catcher.

I haven't really seen a lot of platooning from the A's lately, apart from Kielty earlier this season. This surprises me-- platooning is one of the more effective ways of extracting extra value out of marginal players. Normally it's much worse to have two guys who are half as good instead of one star, but platooning offers a way around this general rule. In addition, it's a great way to work a guy into the bigs in a way that builds confidence and gives him a chance to succeed.

Surely Beane doesn't eschew the practice as an old-school myth; platoon advantage is a sabermetrically rigorous concept. He's much too smart for that. I think it's more a question of arranging to have the right players on the roster.  Short of a major acquisition in the offseason, the A's will need to obtain as many platoon-advantageous at-bats as they can.

I would be very interested to hear what others think about creative ways to leverage the A's bench. It seems like, if the A's play their cards right, they can throw out 6 or 7 good hitters against an opposing pitcher on any given day.

Also, if you can think of any free agents that might be brought in as cheap platoon partners for a current A's player, suggest them.

Do you love the smell of napalm in the morning?