Every year I look at the Oakland Athletics and think “eh, they’re just going to be a middle of the pack group, they can’t compete in a top heavy American League East”. And for the better part of five years, they’ve been proving me wrong.
This offseason Billy Beane has made some drastic changes to the A’s that were the talk of the winter. Some good some bad.
Perhaps my favorite addition Beane made this offseason was Jesse Hahn. A relatively unknown commodity coming out of Virginia Tech, Hahn had a good year in San Diego in limited big league action.
In 14 games (12 starts), Hahn went for a 7-4 3.04 ERA in 73 innings. Hahn’s 70 Ks and 2.19 K/BB ratio was excellent in his first taste of big league ball.
In the minor leagues, Hahn’s numbers were equally as impressive, and all the same at the spacious PetCo Park. At the even more spacious Oakland Coliseum, I expect Hahn to be equally as impressive, if not more so.
Another offseason acquisition I really like for Oakland was Ben Zobrist. This guy drew a lot of the headlines, and for good reason. The ideal model of consistency for many years now, Zobrist is the ultimate plug and play guy. A career average of near .270 and average of 10-15 homers each year, I would have to think given the size of the Coliseum, we may see a decline in the power production from Zobrist, but I very much doubt that will slow him offensively.
I look for Zobrist to be a solid catalyst near the top part of this year.
If you’re looking for a guy that will fly under-the-radar, keep an eye on Marcus Semien. Not a big average guy, but he definitely fits the Billy Beane, get on base model. Flying through the minor leagues, Semien’s .374 clip allowed him to make the big leagues with the White Sox just two years after being drafted.
Another guy with a lot of versatility on the infield, Semien should be on his way to a solid big league career in Oakland.
The A’s have a lot riding on their corner infielders. Ike Davis comes to Oakland with a ton of potential, but also a ton of questions. After a 32 home run campaign in 2012 with the Mets, we thought perhaps Davis could become the next Darryl Strawberry, but injuries and shot confidence forced the Mets to move Davis to Pittsburgh where his career was not revived, and ended splitting time at first base in a year and a half.
Can Billy Beane and the A’s cash into the immense power this kid has? We’ll see. I don’t put it past them to finally get it out of him.
The other big question for the A’s is third basemen Brett Lawrie. Like Ike, Lawrie comes to Oakland with immense potential, but after a couple of rough two years in Toronto, the Blue Jays pulled the trigger to get a more consistent Josh Donaldson, and again, Beane is taking a chance on a guy that has shown he can do it at the big league level.
If Oakland can cash in on either the Davis or Lawrie investment, he will once again look like a complete genius for taking a chance on what the league might deem “damaged goods”.
In my opinion, the best investment the A’s made this winter was Billy Butler. Another guy that is uber-consistent, Butler is just 28 (I don’t know about anyone else, but that completely shocked me when I looked that up) and would seem to have plenty still left to offer. After all, a career .295 hitter, Butler may not hit that prototypical 25 or better amount of homers year after year, but I think the consistency and steady lineup presence is going to be a huge boost to the A’s this year.
A very good 2014 campaign for journeyman Jesse Chavez was a tale of two halves. One of baseball biggest surprises in the first turned into a big disappointment, and ultimately lost his spot in the A’s rotation after the trade for Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel.
Chavez appears poised to still have a shot at this rotation, but will need to find consistency after the All-Star break if he wants to keep it.
Scott Kazmir was same way. A stellar first half allowed the once elite prospect into the All-Star appearance but Kazmir struggled mightily in the second half.
Only one other time in his career did Kazmir throw more than the 190 innings he logged last year, but that was seven years earlier, and after a long battle of trying to maintain his status as a professional starter.
All of Oakland’s hopes in this rotation in no way all fall on what Kazmir and Chavez do, but getting consistency from start to finish from them would be a big lift, given the lack of starting pitching depth in Oakland.
It’s my belief the A’s have plenty of talent to win once again in 2015. I have a hard time buying the argument they will win the American League West given the reigning AL West Champs Anaheim are still largely intact and Texas should be much better.
If I had to make a prediction, a second place finish is not out of the question in Oakland, but a playoff spot is going to be hard to get in a stacked and improved American League.
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