The Oakland Athletics are coming off their best season since their 2006 ALCS run.
81-81 is by no means a sweeping success, but considering the injury problems, regrettable trades (NL MVP candidate Carlos Gonzalez for, essentially, Michael Taylor) and bust free agent signings, a .500 campaign and second-place finish was overall positive for Bob Geren’s boys.
After I called for Geren’s firing coming off his third season in which he once again failed to break the 76-win plateau, I concede now that the A’s made the right move and kept him around.
Entering his fifth season, Geren must put up wins that at least reach the 85-86 range to keep his job, but I won’t be the first one to doubt him this time around.
The A’s finished last season with the American League’s best starting rotation and arguably best staff overall but were plagued by a season-long power outage (Kevin Kouzmanoff’s 16 home runs was the lowest team-high number since the A’s came to Oakland). Billy Beane recognized this (as lesser GMs would) and spent the entire offseason working tirelessly to improve this area despite his limited budget.
After Adrian Beltre priced himself out of the A’s market, Beane signed Hideki Matsui to a medium-sized deal. While Matsui and now former A’s DH Jack Cust have had an identical OPS since 2007 (.840), Matsui strikes out nearly 100 times less per season, while playing better (though still mediocre) defense if needed in left field.
Beane’s best additions, however, were guys who can play the field as well as hit.
His first move of the offseason was to send Vin Mazzaro and Justin Marks to Kansas City in exchange for David DeJesus. Not only does DeJesus bring a great glove (one error in his past three seasons), but he also has a career OBP of .360 and is coming off a season in which he hit .318.
Beane then brought in Josh Willingham, sending Corey Brown and Henry Rodriguez to the Nationals. Willingham’s career OPS of .841 will give the A’s a decent power hitter in the outfield, something they’ve lacked throughout the Geren era.
These three new bats have all come to Oakland for relatively nothing in return, and this is how improvement should be judged. The A’s didn’t simply address their weakness, but they did so effectively, without hurting any other aspect of the team in the process.
With three new potential starters in the fold, the A’s will have multiple key position battles, some that may linger a couple months into the season. Here is an early look at the A’s 2011 position player battles.
Catcher
The A’s are set here. Kurt Suzuki is coming off the worst season offensively of his career, but the A’s value his defense and handling of the pitching staff far more than his bat. He is an above-average defensive catcher with the potential to become a very good one, and he was possibly the biggest factor in the A’s young rotation’s breakout season. Given that, he is still an adequate hitting catcher at worst.
The backup will likely be Landon Powell.
First Base
Another predetermined job. Daric Barton finally began living up to his potential last year and was quietly the A’s best position player. He was second on the team in OPS (.798) and OBP (.393), but more importantly, he blossomed from a DH who’s playing first to an above-average major league first baseman.
His solid fielding percentage of .993 is not as impressive if you did not watch him play this year; he may be the best in the league at stretching and reaching for throws. This doesn’t improve fielding percentage but if he didn’t, runners would simply beat the throws and get infield hits. This was as key a part as any in the A’s AL-leading 3.58 ERA.
Second Base
No questions here either. Mark Ellis is the best defensive second baseman in the league and led the team with a .291 average to boot. It’s a wonder why there was ever talk of the A’s not bringing him back.
The backup spot will likely go to Adam Rosales, who hit .271 at four positions last year (primarily 2B), but Adrian Cardenas and Cliff Pennington are other possibilities.
Third Base
Despite leading the team in HRs and RBI’s last year, Kevin Kouzmanoff’s job is far from safe. This is likely because his more important offensive stats were scary bad, especially considering his expected role as the A’s No. 1 power source. His OBP of .283 and his four-to-one K/BB ratio gave the A’s no choice but to pursue a replacement.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t land an all-around stud in Adrian Beltre, so they brought in Edwin Encarnacion but released him just 20 days later. The A’s have a lot of defense; they need offense from this position.
Shortstop
Cliff Pennington’s first full season was a mixed bag. He was anemic at the plate (.250/.319/.368), but he did steal 29 bases on 34 attempts and display good range on defense despite committing 25 errors. All in all, Pennington did not do enough to secure the starting spot in 2011, and he can expect Adam Rosales and Adrian Cardenas to compete with him for the job.
Left Field
This is Josh Willingham’s job to lose. Slugging .479 in two seasons in RFK is no easy task, which makes Oakland confident that he can hit at the Coliseum as well. He is a decent defender, and certainly better than Cris Carter, who the A’s would like to be able to play in the OF but simply cannot.
As a result, the only other candidate for this job is Conor Jackson, whose career OPS of .777 is not a nightmare option. Willingham, though, remains the better hitter, and Jackson’s best chance to start relies on Willingham’s iffy durability.
Center Field
David DeJesus will play as often as his body lets him for this team. His .318 average last year would have led this team by 27 points, and his defensive abilities are elite. Coco Crisp will make an excellent backup, coming off an injury-plagued season in which he still managed a .779 OPS and an incredible 32-of-35 on the basepaths.
A’s fans will miss the excitement of Rajai Davis, but this is an improved position and maybe the strongest spot on the team.
Right Field
Ryan Sweeney will be the starting right fielder if he’s healthy, and people may be forgetting how good a healthy Sweeney is. He hit .286 as a rookie, .293 in year two and was above .300 most of last year before an injury cut him off after a slump, leaving him at .294.
Still, Sweeney will return and look to break the .300 plateau, while playing excellent right field with his range, glove and arm (at the time of his injury, his 21 assists since 2008 led all outfielders).
The likely backup here is Conor Jackson or Coco Crisp, although if Sweeney cannot get healthy, then Michael Taylor could enter the conversation.
Designated Hitter
This appears to be Hideki Matsui’s job, and as the clear No. 1 lefty option, he will likely get the majority of ABs this year. However, a right-handed hitter will compete for a platoon role and could potentially yank the job out of Matsui’s clutches.
The potential scenario is Cris Carter having a monster spring. The A’s know that he is their DH of the future, and if Carter proves he can hit as well as Matsui, he will likely win the job because his potential is so much greater. Carter will either win the job outright or start the season in Sacramento.
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