FanPost

The Top 161* Oakland A's Position Players of All-Time

Ever since I was a kid I always loved making lists. I had notebooks full of lists, mostly of sports statistics especially baseball. I decided this offseason I wanted to take on an ambitious project of ranking the Top 50 Oakland A's players by position using just positional splits. My goal was to come up with a quick and dirty way to provide an estimated WAR for each player based on their positional split.

Did I accomplish this goal? No. I have a full-time job and a one-year-old boy so what the hell was I thinking? Instead I settled on a less ambitious project of an all-time ranking of Oakland A's players. I very briefly flirted with the idea of ranking literally every positional player ever to play in Oakland but thought better of it. I settled on cutting list off at players with at least 502 plate appearances, in essence those who played at least one complete season with the A's. This originally gave me 162 players which I thought was great symmetry with the 162 game season but sadly I then noticed that one of those players was Catfish Hunter who had 504 plate appearance so the list was reduced by one. Obviously there are better players that have played for the A's in brief stints than several of the players on this list (Starling Marte gone too soon) but you can't include everyone.

Now anyone can go to FanGraphs or Baseball-Reference and easily rank players by WAR. But I didn't want to take the easy way out. Instead I came up with the brilliant idea of of combining the two and ranking players based on the average of fWAR and bWAR (listed as aWAR). I know pretty ingenious, right? Now bWAR tends to give position players more credit than fWAR and I tried to give more weight to fWAR but it made little difference in the rankings so I left it as is.

I also added some additional numbers here. Most of it self-explanatory but the last three columns is the average Batting Runs, Base Running runs, and Fielding runs of bWAR and fWAR. I just threw that in there for additional context. And of course there is always the disclaimer that WAR is a counting stat so of course if someone played several years with the A's they will tend to rank higher than someone who played only a year with them.

So who's overrated and underrated according to WAR? And do you remember how bad of a right fielder Ruben Sierra was when he was with the A's?

Player Position Rank aWAR bWAR fWAR PA AVG OBP SLG wRC+ Batting BaseRunning Fielding
Rickey Henderson LF 1 70.60 72.6 68.6 7481 0.288 0.409 0.430 140 366 83 59
Sal Bando 3B 2 48.65 50.7 46.6 5907 0.256 0.360 0.422 130 206 5 18
Reggie Jackson RF 3 47.05 48.5 45.6 5297 0.264 0.357 0.501 146 270 7 46
Mark McGwire 1B 4 43.70 43.0 44.4 5409 0.260 0.380 0.551 151 340 -13 -2
Bert Campaneris SS 5 39.75 42.4 37.1 5716 0.263 0.316 0.342 95 -27 47 92
Eric Chavez 3B 6 33.75 35.1 32.4 5405 0.267 0.343 0.478 113 86 9 43
Dwayne Murphy CF 7 31.10 31.8 30.4 4886 0.247 0.356 0.402 116 96 -3 49
Jason Giambi 1B/DH/LF 8 28.50 29.0 28.0 4411 0.300 0.406 0.531 143 249 -6 -44
Jose Canseco RF/LF/DH 9 27.40 27.2 27.6 4531 0.264 0.344 0.507 135 184 1 -18
Carney Lansford 3B 10 25.20 27.4 23.0 5046 0.288 0.343 0.404 111 83 5 -14
Terry Steinbach C 11 24.75 24.8 24.7 4571 0.275 0.328 0.426 106 38 -15 16
Mark Ellis 2B 12 24.40 26.8 22.0 4296 0.265 0.331 0.397 96 -20 13 77
Gene Tenace C/1B 13 23.10 23.6 22.6 3016 0.245 0.374 0.435 140 136 -6 -19
Matt Chapman 3B 14 21.65 23.1 20.2 2386 0.243 0.330 0.478 120 57 3 62
Joe Rudi LF/1B 15 21.40 21.7 21.1 4328 0.273 0.320 0.432 117 77 1 35
Miguel Tejada SS 16 19.60 22.2 17.0 3967 0.270 0.331 0.460 105 30 10 -30
Dave Henderson CF 17 19.20 19.6 18.8 2831 0.263 0.325 0.445 118 55 -2 35
Marcus Semien SS 18 19.00 20.1 17.9 3294 0.256 0.325 0.430 106 31 8 -1
Bill North CF 19 18.45 20.0 16.9 2859 0.271 0.364 0.336 110 38 9 38
Matt Olson 1B 20 16.60 18.0 15.2 2369 0.252 0.348 0.511 132 93 -4 31
Tony Phillips 2B/SS/3B 21 14.65 15.7 13.6 3491 0.250 0.341 0.361 100 2 -3 3
Josh Donaldson 3B 22 14.55 15.3 13.8 1691 0.268 0.347 0.458 128 52 0 20
Josh Reddick RF 23 14.45 16.5 12.4 2364 0.257 0.321 0.440 110 31 17 31
Mike Davis RF 24 13.40 14.4 12.4 2797 0.267 0.319 0.433 107 29 8 31
Tony Armas RF/CF 25 13.05 13.4 12.7 2653 0.250 0.286 0.434 99 -3 -4 70
Rick Monday CF 26 12.95 13.5 12.4 1895 0.270 0.371 0.429 134 71 2 -11
Coco Crisp CF 27 12.95 13.5 12.4 3112 0.253 0.322 0.397 100 2 28 -15
Jed Lowrie 2B/SS/DH 28 12.30 10.5 14.1 3434 0.267 0.338 0.411 109 35 -10 -37
Dick Green 2B 29 11.10 11.2 11.0 2480 0.240 0.309 0.337 88 -34 -6 49
Mark Canha LF/CF/1B/RF 30 10.20 9.8 10.6 2492 0.244 0.344 0.431 116 53 4 -18
Wayne Gross 3B 31 10.15 10.7 9.6 3002 0.235 0.332 0.386 104 13 1 -21
Kurt Suzuki C 32 10.00 11.5 8.5 2822 0.255 0.311 0.380 88 -38 -9 1
Nick Swisher RF/1B/LF/CF 33 9.60 9.2 10.0 1924 0.251 0.361 0.464 118 42 4 4
Ramon Laureano CF 34 9.50 9.6 9.4 1257 0.263 0.335 0.465 118 27 10 10
Mike Bordick SS 35 8.85 10.4 7.3 2990 0.258 0.324 0.329 82 -69 0 9
Ramon Hernandez C 36 8.70 8.8 8.6 2139 0.253 0.322 0.400 90 -29 -7 9
Jack Cust DH/RF/LF 37 8.55 9.3 7.8 2142 0.247 0.381 0.457 129 73 -3 -24
Yoenis Cespedes LF/DH/CF 38 8.40 8.3 8.5 1546 0.262 0.318 0.470 118 33 5 3
Mike Gallego 2B/SS 39 8.35 9.5 7.2 2151 0.232 0.313 0.312 82 -42 -7 33
Daric Barton 1B 40 8.30 8.9 7.7 2085 0.247 0.356 0.365 102 4 4 31
Geronimo Berroa DH/RF/LF 41 7.80 8.1 7.5 1949 0.293 0.361 0.499 122 60 -5 -12
Stan Javier CF/LF/RF 42 7.50 9.3 5.7 2115 0.255 0.328 0.346 88 -23 21 12
Mitchell Page DH/LF 43 7.50 8.1 6.9 2383 0.266 0.345 0.429 117 49 1 -10
Mike Heath C/RF 44 7.40 7.9 6.9 2653 0.251 0.296 0.364 86 -39 -5 9
Scott Brosius 3B/CF 45 7.20 7.4 7.0 2227 0.248 0.315 0.416 92 -21 -3 18
Brandon Moss 1B/RF/LF 46 7.15 6.8 7.5 1381 0.254 0.340 0.504 136 55 0 -13
Walt Weiss SS 47 7.15 7.5 6.8 1831 0.246 0.316 0.307 83 -38 2 16
Bobby Crosby SS 48 6.95 6.9 7.0 2657 0.238 0.305 0.378 81 -61 7 3
Matt Stairs RF/DH 49 6.90 7.5 6.3 2346 0.268 0.363 0.509 123 71 -2 -48
Mike Epstein 1B 50 6.85 6.7 7.0 939 0.255 0.372 0.468 152 48 -2 -3
Khris Davis DH/LF 51 6.85 7.3 6.4 2601 0.240 0.315 0.493 117 52 -13 -15
Dave Revering 1B 52 6.70 7.0 6.4 1578 0.279 0.325 0.452 115 28 -1 8
Ryan Sweeney RF/CF 53 6.55 6.2 6.9 1597 0.286 0.347 0.383 99 1 2 15
Cliff Pennington SS 54 6.45 6.6 6.3 1954 0.249 0.313 0.356 86 -31 7 -6
Eric Byrnes LF/CF 55 6.40 6.6 6.2 1466 0.270 0.336 0.462 109 16 12 -3
Rajai Davis CF 56 6.40 6.8 6.0 1528 0.276 0.321 0.384 91 -18 20 5
Lance Blankenship 2B/CF/LF/RF 57 6.35 6.8 5.9 1292 0.222 0.350 0.299 96 -6 4 24
Jason Kendall C 58 5.95 7.8 4.1 1614 0.271 0.337 0.321 80 -35 -1 13
Mark Kotsay CF 59 5.95 7.5 4.4 2087 0.282 0.336 0.410 97 -9 -4 -7
Derek Norris C 60 5.65 6.2 5.1 982 0.246 0.336 0.392 108 9 1 -7
Jim Essian C 61 5.55 5.9 5.2 1175 0.233 0.313 0.333 85 -17 -5 21
Claudell Washington LF/RF/CF/DH 62 5.55 6.6 4.5 1402 0.285 0.326 0.389 108 17 4 2
Stephen Vogt C/1B/DH 63 5.30 7.0 3.6 1652 0.255 0.316 0.416 100 1 -1 -18
Dave Duncan C 64 5.25 5.0 5.5 1534 0.221 0.288 0.370 93 -12 -3 -7
Alfredo Griffin SS 65 5.15 6.1 4.2 1834 0.273 0.307 0.348 81 -37 4 -3
Ben Grieve LF/RF 66 5.00 5.8 4.2 2019 0.280 0.370 0.475 119 55 -1 -54
Sean Murphy C 67 4.90 4.4 5.4 648 0.222 0.321 0.431 109 8 -1 10
Davey Lopes 2B 68 4.90 5.3 4.5 1324 0.260 0.328 0.405 105 11 7 -19
Randy Velarde 2B 69 4.80 4.9 4.7 987 0.286 0.363 0.412 104 9 -1 4
Erubiel Durazo DH 70 4.60 4.9 4.3 1390 0.283 0.375 0.462 120 35 -3 -3
Phil Garner 2B 71 4.45 4.4 4.5 1186 0.251 0.297 0.369 95 -9 1 2
Scott Hatteberg 1B/DH 72 4.45 5.3 3.6 2351 0.269 0.355 0.396 103 9 -3 -4
Terrence Long CF/LF/RF 73 4.35 4.7 4.0 2480 0.265 0.317 0.411 89 -35 4 -10
Brent Gates 2B 74 4.30 5.0 3.6 1732 0.272 0.331 0.369 88 -26 0 1
Luis Polonia LF/CF 75 4.00 4.8 3.2 1000 0.288 0.332 0.385 102 4 10 0
Chad Pinder LF/RF/2B 76 3.80 4.4 3.2 1361 0.244 0.302 0.427 98 -3 -5 4
Harold Baines DH 77 3.70 4.0 3.4 1227 0.274 0.360 0.431 122 31 -3 -6
John Jaha DH 78 3.60 3.8 3.4 755 0.245 0.396 0.471 128 30 -2 0
Olmedo Saenz DH/3B/1B 79 3.60 4.0 3.2 1062 0.266 0.347 0.453 109 17 -1 -2
Bruce Bochte 1B 80 3.50 3.9 3.1 1480 0.272 0.352 0.373 107 15 -2 -7
Troy Neel DH/1B 81 3.45 3.8 3.1 861 0.280 0.362 0.475 126 29 -3 -4
Stephen Piscotty RF 82 3.25 3.0 3.5 1357 0.250 0.310 0.432 103 3 0 -5
Tony Kemp 2B/LF 83 3.20 3.2 3.2 511 0.272 0.377 0.392 121 13 5 -4
Frank Menechino 2B 84 3.20 3.1 3.3 1054 0.228 0.347 0.357 93 -10 -2 1
Dan Johnson 1B 85 3.20 4.0 2.4 1261 0.249 0.344 0.419 104 7 -3 4
Willie Wilson CF/LF 86 3.05 3.3 2.8 755 0.257 0.313 0.325 84 -14 6 14
Donnie Hill 2B/SS/3B 87 3.00 3.5 2.5 1156 0.273 0.306 0.351 85 -19 2 -3
Frank Thomas DH 88 2.95 3.6 2.3 776 0.268 0.376 0.500 131 32 -11 0
Jack Hannahan 3B 89 2.95 3.7 2.2 804 0.226 0.314 0.352 80 -19 -2 19
Marco Scutaro SS/2B/3B 90 2.90 3.3 2.5 1702 0.262 0.321 0.387 87 -24 0 -23
Danny Valencia 3B/RF 91 2.85 2.8 2.9 722 0.286 0.349 0.469 124 22 -3 -15
Jay Payton LF/CF/RF 92 2.85 3.5 2.2 879 0.287 0.317 0.429 94 -5 1 7
Ron Hassey C 93 2.85 2.5 3.2 949 0.234 0.302 0.335 84 -19 -3 7
Ted Kubiak 2B/SS 94 2.70 3.2 2.2 1049 0.228 0.283 0.283 67 -37 1 18
Travis Buck RF/LF 95 2.50 2.4 2.6 669 0.250 0.330 0.424 102 2 1 6
Mickey Tettleton C 96 2.65 2.7 2.6 844 0.221 0.324 0.354 94 -6 0 -10
Don Baylor DH/1B/RF/LF 97 2.65 2.6 2.7 998 0.239 0.330 0.355 105 6 3 1
Danny Cater 1B 98 2.50 2.5 2.5 1170 0.275 0.314 0.376 103 5 -4 5
Eric Sogard 2B/SS 99 2.65 3.6 1.7 1331 0.239 0.295 0.313 72 -43 3 10
Ryon Healy 3B/DH/1B 100 2.45 3.1 1.8 888 0.282 0.313 0.475 111 14 -5 -8
Don Mincher 1B 101 2.40 2.3 2.5 710 0.236 0.330 0.424 110 8 -2 5
Matt Joyce RF/LF 102 2.35 1.8 2.9 790 0.232 0.331 0.436 109 8 1 -4
Kevin Kouzmanoff 3B 103 2.30 1.9 2.7 735 0.242 0.279 0.387 80 -18 -2 12
Seth Smith LF/DH 104 2.25 2.3 2.2 851 0.246 0.331 0.406 104 5 2 2
Dusty Baker LF/1B/DH/RF 105 2.25 2.3 2.2 667 0.256 0.340 0.391 108 9 -2 2
Scott Spiezio 2B 106 2.25 2.8 1.7 1369 0.250 0.318 0.399 86 -23 -1 -8
Josh Willingham LF/DH 107 2.20 2.3 2.1 563 0.246 0.332 0.477 123 14 -2 -3
Jermaine Dye RF 108 2.20 2.8 1.6 1663 0.252 0.326 0.444 101 3 -8 -14
Johnny Damon CF/LF 109 2.15 2.4 1.9 719 0.256 0.324 0.363 85 -13 3 9
Jeff Burroughs DH 110 2.15 2.0 2.3 879 0.267 0.355 0.424 120 23 -6 -5
Dave Kingman DH 111 2.15 2.1 2.2 1883 0.239 0.296 0.450 105 11 -4 -2
Josh Phegley C 112 2.10 2.4 1.8 934 0.233 0.282 0.397 83 -17 -7 -6
Robbie Grossman LF 113 2.05 2.0 2.1 674 0.241 0.337 0.386 99 -1 2 2
Adam Melhuse C 114 2.05 2.1 2.0 588 0.251 0.307 0.435 92 -5 -2 0
John Jaso C/DH 115 2.00 3.1 0.9 593 0.267 0.358 0.407 121 13 0 -17
Felipe Alou LF/RF 116 2.00 2.2 1.8 627 0.271 0.307 0.367 87 -9 2 15
Mike Aldrete 1B/LF 117 1.95 2.1 1.8 640 0.260 0.344 0.407 104 5 1 1
Billy Burns CF 118 1.95 2.7 1.2 853 0.273 0.311 0.360 84 -17 8 -5
Jerry Browne 3B/CF/LF 119 1.90 2.0 1.8 676 0.271 0.340 0.346 99 -2 1 -3
Ray Fosse C 120 1.90 2.1 1.7 901 0.222 0.262 0.320 67 -33 -1 7
Angel Mangual CF/RF/LF/DH 121 1.80 2.2 1.4 1314 0.245 0.279 0.346 83 -23 -1 16
Billy Williams DH 122 1.70 1.9 1.5 1015 0.231 0.333 0.387 109 8 2 -1
Bobby Kielty LF/RF/DH 123 1.70 2.5 0.9 1048 0.250 0.334 0.396 95 -6 2 -3
Yonder Alonso 1B 124 1.65 1.5 1.8 903 0.258 0.338 0.431 108 10 -4 -7
Scott Hemond C/2B 125 1.60 1.9 1.3 538 0.235 0.311 0.351 84 -10 -1 2
John Donaldson 2B 126 1.60 1.8 1.4 547 0.219 0.301 0.273 76 -15 1 10
Jason McDonald CF/LF 127 1.55 2.0 1.1 708 0.242 0.345 0.336 85 -12 1 2
Sam Fuld CF/LF/RF 128 1.50 1.8 1.2 532 0.201 0.275 0.308 65 -20 5 14
Jeremy Giambi DH/RF/LF 129 1.45 1.8 1.1 932 0.272 0.374 0.445 119 22 -3 -22
David DeJesus RF 130 1.40 1.1 1.7 506 0.240 0.323 0.376 96 -2 0 4
Cliff Johnson DH 131 1.40 1.4 1.4 554 0.251 0.327 0.435 119 12 -2 -2
Jeff Newman C/1B 132 1.40 1.7 1.1 2072 0.226 0.264 0.363 73 -62 -6 2
Adam Rosales SS/2B 133 1.35 2.0 0.7 835 0.226 0.282 0.345 72 -26 1 3
Jamie Quirk C 134 1.30 1.3 1.3 580 0.250 0.317 0.331 87 -8 -3 -2
Adam Kennedy 3B/2B 135 1.30 1.1 1.5 587 0.289 0.348 0.410 103 3 1 -14
Brett Lawrie 3B/2B 136 1.30 1.7 0.9 602 0.260 0.299 0.407 94 -3 3 -11
Jemile Weeks 2B 137 1.25 1.0 1.5 957 0.258 0.319 0.357 89 -12 3 -15
Shannon Stewart LF 138 1.20 1.4 1.0 630 0.290 0.345 0.394 100 1 1 -6
Dave Parker DH 139 0.95 0.5 1.4 1011 0.261 0.311 0.422 107 3 -2 -4
Elvis Andrus SS 140 0.85 0.6 1.1 541 0.243 0.294 0.320 72 -16 4 -5
Deron Johnson DH/1B 141 0.60 0.7 0.5 718 0.232 0.306 0.390 100 1 -1 -3
Jurickson Profar 2B 142 0.55 -0.2 1.3 518 0.218 0.301 0.410 90 -8 2 -9
Manny Sanguillen C/DH 143 0.55 0.7 0.4 601 0.275 0.302 0.354 81 -16 0 2
Dave McKay 2B/3B 144 0.45 0.7 0.2 797 0.237 0.278 0.324 73 -26 2 -4
Adam Piatt LF/RF 145 0.40 0.1 0.7 552 0.252 0.327 0.419 96 -3 -1 -4
Hideki Matsui DH/LF 146 0.35 0.5 0.2 585 0.251 0.321 0.375 93 -5 1 -1
Ryan Christenson CF 147 0.30 0.6 0.0 897 0.237 0.319 0.348 76 -27 -3 -1
AJ Hinch C 148 0.15 0.4 -0.1 628 0.225 0.284 0.342 62 -31 2 -3
Ernie Young CF 149 0.00 0.0 0.0 817 0.227 0.310 0.389 81 -21 -3 -8
Rafael Bournigal SS/2B 150 -0.25 0.4 -0.9 755 0.249 0.298 0.313 61 -37 1 -4
Mickey Klutts 3B 151 -0.25 -0.2 -0.3 510 0.237 0.283 0.355 80 -13 -2 -6
Jake Smolinski CF/LF/RF 152 -0.30 -0.4 -0.2 507 0.227 0.287 0.357 77 -14 -4 -1
Alberto Callaspo 2B/DH/3B/1B 153 -0.80 -0.6 -1.0 631 0.236 0.307 0.323 82 -11 -8 -5
Bill Almon 1B/SS/3B/LF/RF 154 -0.85 -0.6 -1.1 720 0.252 0.287 0.366 81 -14 1 -14
Craig Paquette 3B 155 -0.90 -0.6 -1.2 763 0.217 0.243 0.382 63 -35 1 -2
Mario Guerrero SS 156 -0.95 -0.9 -1.0 1137 0.255 0.284 0.317 69 -40 -5 -20
Billy Butler DH 157 -0.95 -0.6 -1.3 843 0.258 0.325 0.394 98 -2 -14 -2
Mike Edwards 2B 158 -1.85 -1.6 -2.1 937 0.252 0.281 0.300 65 -17 -5 -14
Rob Picciolo SS 159 -2.05 -1.4 -2.7 1540 0.236 0.249 0.314 56 -79 -2 -16
Ruben Sierra RF 160 -2.15 -1.0 -3.3 1560 0.253 0.303 0.435 91 -13 5 -50
Dan Meyer 1B/DH 161 -2.15 -2.5 -1.8 635 0.224 0.268 0.333 66 -14 -1 -1