Oakland Preview

I started a website, Bullpen Banter, with a few buddies from Minorleagueball.com, an SBN affiliate. We had a round table chat about the A's and thought we should share it with you and get your feed back. We think there is some good content here. Enjoy.

JD Sussman: The Athletics offense was one of the worst in the league last year (-40 wRC), rating higher than just the Royals (-54) and Mariners (-81). Defensively, they were the middle of the pack due to outstanding outfield defense which made up for a below average infield. Rajai Davis and Ryan Sweeney had ridiculous fielding seasons last year, posting an overall UZR/150 of 16.2 and 27.6 respectively, but both should regress. However, that doesn't mean Oakland's defense will suffer because the team has added Coco Crisp. Together, that tandem should be devastating to opponents' fly balls. Lastly, from a pitching standpoint, the Athletics had the fourth most valuable pitchers by WAR in the American League. I don't know if there is a correlation between the fly swatters in the OF and that metric, but I bet there is.

Oakland's young rotation is full of potential and has room to further develop and exceed last season's numbers.

Michael Herrick: I should disclose up front that I've been an A's fan for over 20 years so there might be a bit more optimism here than anyone else will present.  While I pick the A's to finish last, I honestly think every team in this division has a real chance to take the AL West crown.  The A's should once again see strong defense from their outfield and improved defense in the infield with Kevin Kouzmanoff manning the hot corner now.  Mark Ellis and Daric Barton form an above average defensive right side of the infield and Cliff Pennington is at worst an average defender at shortstop.  They have one of the best young(and often underrated) catchers in baseball in Kurt Suzuki, he's excellent behind the dish and solid with the bat.  Jack Cust comes back as the DH but the A's have added some pop to the bench with Jake Fox coming over in a trade with the Cubs.  It would be great to see Eric Chavez be able to contribute something with his bat off the bench this year, but I'm going into the season expecting the worst from him so that anything he does provide is a pleasant surprise.

The A's signed Ben Sheets to front their rotation, with plenty of time off to heal from injury he should be healthier than he's been in years.  Retaining Justin Duchscherer after his injury issues and his bout of clinical depression last year was both welcomed by the fan base for keeping a favorite player around another year as well as a good gamble for the team that he regains his form and makes a solid #2 pitcher behind Sheets.  The other thing those moves do is take some pressure off of the younger pitchers in the rotation, specifically second year rising star Brett Anderson.   Having two veterans around allows him to improve without having to be "the man" in the rotation.  Dallas Braden proved last year he's a solid mid to back end rotation arm that can eat up innings and keep his team in every game he pitches.  Ideally Gio Gonzalez gets the 5th spot in the rotation allowing both Vince Mazzaro and more importantly Trevor Cahill the opportunity to start the year in the minors.  Cahill was rushed to the majors last year based on a strong spring but he had no business being there with so little upper minors experience and such glaring control issues that needed ironing out.  My concern at this point is whether or not any damage was done to Cahill by essentially wasting a year of service time and developmental time.  Hopefully he can get half a season in the minors to iron things out without any damage to his confidence.  Josh Outman pitched well until getting hurt and undergoing Tommy John surgery.  He likely won't see action in the bigs this year but does factor into the team's plans in the future I think.

The A's continually build strong bullpens both through their farm system and with castoff types from other organizations.  Andrew Bailey is a converted starter who had a very good rookie year, though I expect some regression from him.  A healthy Joey Devine would deepen this group even more as he and Brad Ziegler would provide an excellent pair of setup men.  Brad Kilby was very good late in the season and looks to be a LOOGY at worst but capable of more.

With the young pitching already in the majors or just on the cusp to go with talent hitting prospects Michael Taylor, Chris Carter, Adrian Cardenas, and Jemile Weeks in the upper minors this could be the last year the A's aren't considered a serious contender in the West.

Al Skorupa: I picked the A's to finish 3rd. This is a team that is lacking a big bat/franchise player. The starting pitching doesn't look great on paper, but there is enough talent and depth there (combined with great defense and a favorable park for pitchers) that you have to think they'll piece together an above average staff. The pen projects as a strength. The defense should be excellent. The offense clearly is going to lack some punch, though. This team features a number of players who lack standout secondary skills and whose value relies heavily on their batting average. Ryan Sweeney, Rajai Davis, Coco Crisp, Mark Ellis and Cliff Pennington all fit that description to varying degrees. The heart of the order could also feature two players with major flaws in their skill sets. Jack Cust is very poor at making contact and Kevin Kouzmanoff exhibits very little discipline at the plate. Too bad they couldn't go back and delay the Matt Holliday trade until this year... add Holliday in here and this team would be very interesting. As is, I just can't see them hitting enough to make a real playoff push or doing anything else well enough to make up for the lack of run scoring. Sure, there are some players with upside in this lineup (Wallace and Barton come to mind)and they could always add a bat in-season... I just think the other teams have improved enough to hold the A's off.

Solid team, but still a few pieces short. Definitely within a puncher's chance distance, though.

We've also got a review of the team's top moves, worst moves, and two prospects to watch. Stop by and let us know what you think.