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Dream A's lineup



A

My proposed A's Lineups

Let me start off by explaining my decisions:

  • I did not include the DH position because Bob Melvin tends to use it as a "half-rest day" for whoever is getting tired but is still hot. For that reason, I don't think there should be a designated DH spot as much as there should be a list of players in particular situations that could fill the role. Of course, because I only have Billy Butler playing on days with left-handed pitching, he'll be there more often than not when the only lefties the opponent has are on the bench.
  • The decision to not include Crisp (who would force Gentry to LF, then Zobrist to 2B, making Sogard and/or Semien the odd man out) was not taken lightly. I poured over his statistics, and found something startling: He doesn't steal anymore. On top of that, he's getting caught more. Couple fewer attempts with more failures, and the picture is unpleasant. He had a career year in 2013, but I'm starting to think that that was a fluke. If you look at last season, you can see that he was actually luckier (according to BABIP) than he was in his 2013 campaign, yet his batting average actually dropped fifteen points down to a mediocre (at best) .246. Couple this with a suspicious amount of luck, decreasing speed, and an arm in CF that can be beat by impending replacement Craig Gentry (who still has speed and a 2014 batting average eight points above Crisp), and your picture is one of trade bait, not of a starting center fielder for a contending team.
  • I don't value Sogard's bat very much. I love his work ethic, fielding, and what he brings to the clubhouse on top of his ability to play three positions (SS, 2B, 3B), two of which are some of the hardest in all of sports, with finesse and capability. I struggled with whether to give Semien, the player with the undeniably higher ceiling, playing time verses RHP, but Sogard's glove is what pushes him ahead in a race with fairly equal batting stats.
  • Looking back on it, and after reading about his dismal fielding last year, I would put Yunel Escobar at 2B instead of SS; essentially, I would switch the 2B row with the SS row such that Escobar is your second baseman and Sogard and Semien are your shortstops. There is no question that the latter duo can handle the position, and I have always advocated moving Sogard to a more challenging position than 2B to take advantage of his world-class glove/arm combo.
  • After seeing Tommy Milone traded away for him, I want Fuld to be used. However, there is a backlog of outfielders, and Fuld is the least potent hitter among them. That said, I would keep both Reddick and Gentry on a short leash whether Fuld is on the A's or not, so the buildup of outfielders may not be as thick as it seems.
  • Ben Zobrist is an infielder by trade. I know this. But he has played hundreds of games in the outfield, and I think that he can handle being the everyday LF. Some would move him to the infield (taking Sogard and Semien out of the equation, and opening up a space for either Crisp or Fuld), but I think that his defensive talents are best used there. His fielding is better than average pretty much anywhere, but it is furthest beyond what is expected in the outfield, according to a simple comparison of his fielding percentages with the league norms.
  • While we're talking about Zobrist, I know that he's not a third baseman. Of all the positions he's played, he's logged the least number of innings there. But who else would be the backup to Lawrie? Sogard And Semien have starting jobs with no descernible backup options (whereas Zobrist's LF position has several– Fuld and Gentry, of course, but also Chana and Vogt) and I don't trust Yunel Escobar (who has the same issue as Sogard and Semien) over there; he has issues at SS, and a decreased margin of error will do nothing to help. If there is anything to be learned from Josh Donaldson, it's that an adequately athletic player with a high level of preexisting skill can learn to play the hot corner.
  • I know Josh Reddick can't hit lefties, and that's why I want Fuld breathing down his neck. I started him against southpaws just to get some consistency in the lineup as a whole– plus, he may surprise us. More startling things have happened before.

Well, what do you all think?