A’s go back to drawing board
It’s back to the basement in the AL West for Oakland in '08, unless Texas decides to put up a strong fight to hold their position. Will the sell-off continue or do the A’s hold the rest?
For a while last season it looked like the Athletics were going to pull off another one of their patented small-market runs into the playoffs. Despite losing yet another ace to free agency before the season started with the exit of Barry Zito and bidding adieu to the huge, MVP-type bat that Frank Thomas provided for their run in 2006, Oakland was making noise 10 weeks into the ’07 campaign.
After sweeping the Giants in San Fran and taking two of three from the Astros in Houston, Oakland returned home on June 15 to open a three-game set against the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals. With former Cardinal Dan Haren on the mound for the A’s, they won the series opener easily, 14-3, to move to a season-high eight games over .500 (37-29) and just four behind the Angels in the West.
But the ride ended right then and there. Thanks for coming, exit to your left and please drive home safely.
Oakland won just 11 of their final 33 games to finish 76-86 and GM Billy Beane started to work immediately on rebuilding the team. Though the infield and a few pitchers remain from their 2006 AL West title team, field manager Bob Geren has his work cut out for him this year.
PITCHING
The starting rotation is still a bit unsettled with all of the trade rumors that continue to swirl around Joe Blanton and some new rumors cropping up regarding the ever-fragile Rich Harden. Plus Geren and pitching coach Curt Young are going to have to find at least a temporary replacement for Chad Gaudin who is coming back from offseason hip surgery. What is it about the A’s and their pitchers having hip trouble anyway?
Assuming there are no more trades between now and when the team departs for their season openers in Japan against the Red Sox (Mar 25-26), Blanton and Harden will open in the 1-2 positions of the rotation. But you can bet a dollar to a doughnut that Blanton won’t be with this team all season.
With their schedule being a bit mucked up due to the games in Japan, it’s unclear just what Geren might do for his starters in the third and fourth games of the season once the team gets home to Oakland (Apr 1-2). He could conceivably go with Blanton and Harden once again. But at some point the A’s will put Justin Duchscherer and lefty Lenny DiNardo in the 3-4 slots in one order or another. Gaudin will return by mid-April, it appears, and be the fifth wheel then. Until that time, southpaw Dane Eveland might make a start or two.
And at some point this season we are very likely going to see several other left-handers that Oakland will send to the farm to start the season. Gio Gonzalez, Dallas Braden and Greg Smith all sling from the port side and should all see some action at some point in the season, what with the impending trade of Blanton and the impending DL trip for Harden.
Down in the pen Huston Street is the closer, but with the A’s and Street’s agent Alan Hendricks unable to work out a long-term deal by now, the former standout from the University of Texas could be part of a deadline trade in July.
Kiko Calero has been slowed this spring coming back from rotator cuff surgery, and won’t be ready to pitch before mid-April at the earliest. That will leave a lot of the setup chores early on to Santiago Casilla and left-hander Alan Embree. The A’s were hoping to have Joey Devine in a setup role, but minor injuries have kept him down so far and he does have options left.
Fernando Hernandez, a Rule V pick from the White Sox, will probably get a middle relief role, especially considering the injuries right now. Jerry Blevins, part of the compensation from the Cubs last season in the deal for Jason Kendall, is a left-handed option for the pen. And Andrew Brown is another relief candidate as are veterans Keith Foulke and Kirk Saarloos who could stick in the long relief role and even make a spot start or two if called upon. Bet the Over in those spot starts if it happens.
OFFENSE/DEFENSE
Hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo is going to get a workout this spring with so many young bats in camp. Now, if he could just work some magic on keeping the few veterans healthy.
Three-quarters of the infield should be familiar to fans as Eric Chavez is back at third, Bobby Crosby will be the shortstop and Mark Ellis is at second. Chavez and Crosby were limited to about half-seasons in 2007, and even when they were in the lineup it wasn’t that sweet. With Chavez already hurting, Jack Hannahan will likely have the 3B job to open the year and is having a solid spring.
Over at first should be youngster Daric Barton who was a first-round pick by the Cardinals in 2003 and came to Oakland in the Mark Mulder trade before the 2005 season. He’ll be backed up by Dan Johnson and Mike Sweeney who will also sit behind Jack Cust on the DH depth chart.
Kurt Suzuki is the starting catcher and has some decent potential with a discerning eye at the plate and enough punch to pop 15+ HR this season. Rob Bowen, the other part of the Kendall trade with the Cubs last season, will back Suzuki up south of the dish.
The outfield will be new from last year at this time. Nick Swisher’s trade to the White Sox is opening the center field job up for Chris Denorfia who was acquired last April from the Reds. Denorfia missed all of '07 with elbow surgery, and will have to at least prove himself over Ryan Sweeney (part of the return for Swisher).
One of the OF corners, and possibly the leadoff role in the batting order, will go to Travis Buck who contributed an .851 OPS in his first full season. Emil Brown will take the other corner spot, probably left, and is just a one-year fill-in for this club and maybe not even that long as Carlos Gonzalez will likely get a call in August or September of this season.
Key Player(s): When you’re as entrenched into rebuilding as the A’s obviously are entering this season, the most crucial members of the team are Geren and his coaching staff. You can also throw in Beane and the front office as they look to maximize their returns on the rest of the players who may be dealt away.
Futures: The Greek has set their win total at 73½, one more than were they have the Astros listed. Not only that, but the Over is priced at -120 with the Under at an even +100. In my five simulations, Oakland reached 74 or more wins one time, with the average putting them in the 68-70 range.
The A’s are +1800 at 5Dimes to take the AL West and +6600 to win the AL Pennant. If you really like throwing money away, try taking the +10000 line on Oakland to win the World Series.
It’s back to the basement in the AL West for Oakland in '08, unless Texas decides to put up a strong fight to hold their position. Will the sell-off continue or do the A’s hold the rest?
For a while last season it looked like the Athletics were going to pull off another one of their patented small-market runs into the playoffs. Despite losing yet another ace to free agency before the season started with the exit of Barry Zito and bidding adieu to the huge, MVP-type bat that Frank Thomas provided for their run in 2006, Oakland was making noise 10 weeks into the ’07 campaign.
After sweeping the Giants in San Fran and taking two of three from the Astros in Houston, Oakland returned home on June 15 to open a three-game set against the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals. With former Cardinal Dan Haren on the mound for the A’s, they won the series opener easily, 14-3, to move to a season-high eight games over .500 (37-29) and just four behind the Angels in the West.
But the ride ended right then and there. Thanks for coming, exit to your left and please drive home safely.
Oakland won just 11 of their final 33 games to finish 76-86 and GM Billy Beane started to work immediately on rebuilding the team. Though the infield and a few pitchers remain from their 2006 AL West title team, field manager Bob Geren has his work cut out for him this year.
PITCHING
The starting rotation is still a bit unsettled with all of the trade rumors that continue to swirl around Joe Blanton and some new rumors cropping up regarding the ever-fragile Rich Harden. Plus Geren and pitching coach Curt Young are going to have to find at least a temporary replacement for Chad Gaudin who is coming back from offseason hip surgery. What is it about the A’s and their pitchers having hip trouble anyway?
Assuming there are no more trades between now and when the team departs for their season openers in Japan against the Red Sox (Mar 25-26), Blanton and Harden will open in the 1-2 positions of the rotation. But you can bet a dollar to a doughnut that Blanton won’t be with this team all season.
With their schedule being a bit mucked up due to the games in Japan, it’s unclear just what Geren might do for his starters in the third and fourth games of the season once the team gets home to Oakland (Apr 1-2). He could conceivably go with Blanton and Harden once again. But at some point the A’s will put Justin Duchscherer and lefty Lenny DiNardo in the 3-4 slots in one order or another. Gaudin will return by mid-April, it appears, and be the fifth wheel then. Until that time, southpaw Dane Eveland might make a start or two.
And at some point this season we are very likely going to see several other left-handers that Oakland will send to the farm to start the season. Gio Gonzalez, Dallas Braden and Greg Smith all sling from the port side and should all see some action at some point in the season, what with the impending trade of Blanton and the impending DL trip for Harden.
Down in the pen Huston Street is the closer, but with the A’s and Street’s agent Alan Hendricks unable to work out a long-term deal by now, the former standout from the University of Texas could be part of a deadline trade in July.
Kiko Calero has been slowed this spring coming back from rotator cuff surgery, and won’t be ready to pitch before mid-April at the earliest. That will leave a lot of the setup chores early on to Santiago Casilla and left-hander Alan Embree. The A’s were hoping to have Joey Devine in a setup role, but minor injuries have kept him down so far and he does have options left.
Fernando Hernandez, a Rule V pick from the White Sox, will probably get a middle relief role, especially considering the injuries right now. Jerry Blevins, part of the compensation from the Cubs last season in the deal for Jason Kendall, is a left-handed option for the pen. And Andrew Brown is another relief candidate as are veterans Keith Foulke and Kirk Saarloos who could stick in the long relief role and even make a spot start or two if called upon. Bet the Over in those spot starts if it happens.
OFFENSE/DEFENSE
Hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo is going to get a workout this spring with so many young bats in camp. Now, if he could just work some magic on keeping the few veterans healthy.
Three-quarters of the infield should be familiar to fans as Eric Chavez is back at third, Bobby Crosby will be the shortstop and Mark Ellis is at second. Chavez and Crosby were limited to about half-seasons in 2007, and even when they were in the lineup it wasn’t that sweet. With Chavez already hurting, Jack Hannahan will likely have the 3B job to open the year and is having a solid spring.
Over at first should be youngster Daric Barton who was a first-round pick by the Cardinals in 2003 and came to Oakland in the Mark Mulder trade before the 2005 season. He’ll be backed up by Dan Johnson and Mike Sweeney who will also sit behind Jack Cust on the DH depth chart.
Kurt Suzuki is the starting catcher and has some decent potential with a discerning eye at the plate and enough punch to pop 15+ HR this season. Rob Bowen, the other part of the Kendall trade with the Cubs last season, will back Suzuki up south of the dish.
The outfield will be new from last year at this time. Nick Swisher’s trade to the White Sox is opening the center field job up for Chris Denorfia who was acquired last April from the Reds. Denorfia missed all of '07 with elbow surgery, and will have to at least prove himself over Ryan Sweeney (part of the return for Swisher).
One of the OF corners, and possibly the leadoff role in the batting order, will go to Travis Buck who contributed an .851 OPS in his first full season. Emil Brown will take the other corner spot, probably left, and is just a one-year fill-in for this club and maybe not even that long as Carlos Gonzalez will likely get a call in August or September of this season.
Key Player(s): When you’re as entrenched into rebuilding as the A’s obviously are entering this season, the most crucial members of the team are Geren and his coaching staff. You can also throw in Beane and the front office as they look to maximize their returns on the rest of the players who may be dealt away.
Futures: The Greek has set their win total at 73½, one more than were they have the Astros listed. Not only that, but the Over is priced at -120 with the Under at an even +100. In my five simulations, Oakland reached 74 or more wins one time, with the average putting them in the 68-70 range.
The A’s are +1800 at 5Dimes to take the AL West and +6600 to win the AL Pennant. If you really like throwing money away, try taking the +10000 line on Oakland to win the World Series.