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While the Oakland A’s had a successful season by all means in 2012, the infield is bound to be a lot better in 2013. 

The A’s went out and got Hiroyuki Nakajima and Jed Lowrie, and they will return formerly injured Scott Sizemore in 2013. Brandon Moss hit .291 in 2012, and Donaldson hit .284 in his last 225 at-bats (for the regular season). Sizemore doesn’t have too much on his resume, but he is a talented player who may start at second base.

Lowrie has some pop, as he homered in 4.71 of his at-bats in 2012. He is a good middle infielder, and while he might not start, I see him improving on his stellar .331 on-base percentage (OBP) and seizing a starting spot eventually.

Right now, however, the leading candidates appear to be Sizemore and Jemile Weeks, who broke out and had a spectacular 2011 season before regressing significantly and getting sent down to the minors. Weeks hit .303 in 2011, but in 2012, his .158 well-hit average placed him among the 10 worst players in the league at making hard contact.

Weeks has speed, however, and while he isn’t a great defensive second baseman, he can play defense. However, it’s going to take a lot from him in the spring, as his numbers were appalling last year. It’s hard to post a horrific minus-one wins over replacement (WAR) and bounce back so significantly the next spring to win the starting job.

And, unfortunately for Weeks, that’s the position he is in.

Sizemore, however, is also in a tough position. He tore his ACL in 2012 and was forced to watch Oakland’s magical playoff run from the dugout. Due to his injury, his chances of starting in 2013 have significantly decreased. Sizemore is only a career .239 hitter, so it’s not like he’s automatically penciled in as a starter.

In 2011, Sizemore posted a .345 OBP with the Athletics, which is good by all means. Sizemore has a career .958 fielding percentage as a second baseman, a mark that needs to improve. However, he seems to be a better and more proven option than Weeks, which gives him a slight edge.

Lowrie is expected to get time everywhere, backing up Nakajima, who was projected by scouts to hit .270 or .280 in the big leagues. Lowrie, who doesn’t hit for average, is predicted to be a utility player, although he piqued interest from teams as a trade target and should see significant time at lots of positions.

Lowrie won’t be playing first base, however. Moss did a great job in 2012, hitting .291, and Daric Barton is a capable backup. He isn’t great, but he has posted a .360 OBP over his career. Unfortunately for him, he will need to build significantly on his .204 batting average for 2012 if he wants to work his way into a platoon.

Luckily for Barton, he should be on the roster, unlike some players. The A’s cannot afford to carry eight infielders, and presumably, they will keep Weeks, Sizemore, Lowrie, Nakajima, Donaldson, Moss and Barton. Guys like Andy Parrino and Adam Rosales have an outside chance of making the team, but they don’t bring anything special.

Donaldson locked down third base due to his great end-of-year performance, as he almost hit .300 over a span of 225 at-bats. Moss and Barton have first base under control, and a strong start from Nakajima will give him shortstop.

Second base is the only position that appears to be in doubt, and while I believe Sizemore will start on Opening Day, we will see if Weeks can rebound from his sophomore slump and if Lowrie can make a good first impression on manager Bob Melvin.

It will be interesting to watch how the infield works together, who plays when, where and how often. Any of these guys can play designated hitter, especially someone like Weeks, who isn’t an exceptional defensive player.

The infield is set in terms of which guys will make the 25-man roster, but the mess is yet to be sorted out. Melvin will have a difficult task at hand, and he will have to decide a lot of things. While I think he’s fairly confident about all four positions and how the infield can help the A’s, he has to be worrying about how to shuffle everyone around.

Spring training will be vital for all second basemen and just infielders in general, so everyone can prove that they’re ready to contribute in 2013. Oakland has enough depth and talent at each position that they are completely set in the infield, a place where they had lots of trouble in 2012.

What does that mean for the A’s? It means they are ready to embark on a legitimate championship journey, and every man in the infield will play a vital role in the team’s fate.

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While the Oakland Athletics didn’t have any legitimate stars last year, they managed to strike some magic, win the AL West and come within one win of the ALCS. However, this year the A’s won’t need a supply of magic to bring out the big-boy bats and pound opposing pitchers.

Last year, the A’s ranked 14^th in the MLB in offense, with 195 home runs and 713 runs. While the A’s hit just .238 as a team, they were able to hit a lot of home runs and avoid letting their strikeout woes bury them. At least until Game 5 of the ALCS, when Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers overpowered the A’s to put an end to Oakland’s magnificent run.

Yoenis Cespedes was clearly the best hitter on offense, while Josh Reddick, Brandon Moss and Stephen Drew put together very good numbers. While Drew, Cliff Pennington and Chris Carter, all of which started games, are gone, the A’s are ready to bring out the bats in 2013.

Billy Beane and the front office made sure to be active in the offseason, filling gaping holes in the infield with pure talent. The outfield was stacked and improved over the offseason, as the A’s snatched power threat Chris Young from Arizona in a trade that included Pennington.

Cespedes, who hit .292 with a .356 OBP (on-base percentage) in 2012 is poised for an even better 2013 campaign. He has the whole package, as he is a power threat who hit a home run in 4.72 percent of his at-bats. Cespedes is also a speed threat (80 percent success rate for steals) with a heavy dose of defensive talent.

Coco Crisp is another great defensive player, and we’ve seen Josh Reddick lay out and make some great catches as well. Young can play some great defense in his own right, so the A’s will be in great shape when it comes to outfield defense.

On offense, the A’s will also be in good shape. Crisp isn’t much of a power threat, but he has speed and can hit the ball well. Reddick hit 30 home runs in 2012, and while he strikes out a lot, he makes up for that with big, clutch hits.

The outfield is stacked, but the infield can’t be overlooked either. Last year, the A’s barely had anything in the infield, but Beane made some moves to bolster the unit. Among those moves was the signing of Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, who hit .297 or better in all of his years in Japan.

Nakajima is projected to be a .270 or .280 hitter in the big leagues, according to FOX Sports. That would completely change the dynamic of the whole offense: for the better.

Jed Lowrie also has the potential to change the dynamic of the offense, at another position where the A’s received nothing in 2012: second base. Cliff Pennington started in the playoffs and didn’t do much. Lowrie, on the other hand, got on base about one-third of the time while hitting a home run in 4.7 percent of his at-bats.

Second base lacked power or any sort of intimidation factor in 2012, and the same goes with shortstop, as Stephen Drew was hurt and didn’t do a ton on offense. If Nakajima can get on base, presumably at the top of the order, Cespedes will have tons of opportunities to drive in runs.

I can also see Lowrie in the middle of the lineup driving in runs. If not, Brandon Moss and Josh Reddick—both players which can whack the ball out of the park at any time—will be. Both strike out a lot, but both have power. In addition, Moss hit .265 in 2012.

At the bottom of the lineup, the A’s will have John Jaso, who will start at catcher. In 2012, Jaso posted a whopping .394 OBP with five more walks than strikeouts. I think Jaso can set up opportunities for someone like Young, who is powerful, but won’t be at the top of the lineup. Jaso will get on base and he can drive guys in while providing a power threat.

The batting order is stacked because of the tinkering the A’s did in the offseason. Oakland let go of Chris Carter, but reeled in Lowrie in that deal. Nakajima will get on base at the top of the order, and Jaso will do so at the bottom of the order. Cespedes will do part of the cleaning up while providing more opportunities for power threats such as Moss and Reddick, who will finish the job.

There is no position that the A’s are weak at on offense, as every player is capable at the plate. Even Scott Sizemore, likely the starter at third base, owns a career .329 OBP. Having a complete offense built around a star (Cespedes) is always good, and that offense will take the A’s far in 2013.

And if everything goes into place, the A’s could even be the last team standing once the season concludes.

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Ever since the news first came out that Grant Balfour would have surgery that would deactivate him for four to six weeks, it has been all good news for Balfour and his rehab.

First, he was back on his feet and walking around the A’s clubhouse within 24 hours of going under the knife.  

Then the news came out that just five days after his surgery that he was trowing at the A’s spring training complex in Arizona with the rest of the pitchers as if it were business as usual.

When the timetable was first reported to be four to six weeks, there was reason to be concerned about the closer’s health come April 1 when the A’s host the Seattle Mariners to begin the 2013 MLB regular season.

However, since the surgery took place, the “Mad Aussie” has been reminding the baseball world about just how tough he really is and how much he wants to play ball.

As if he didn’t show enough passion for the game in the 2012 regular season finale when he forced his way into the game despite a massive lead, Balfour is showing even more passion and desire to pitch now after his surgery.

If Balfour is showing this much heart and working this hard so early in the spring, then there is no way, barring a setback during his rehab, that Balfour will not be in the A’s bullpen on opening night.

I expect to see “Balfour Rage” at full strength by April 1.

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The Oakland A’s had a busy winter stocking up on talent in order to defend their AL West title. They acquired outfielder Chris Young, shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, catcher John Jaso and infielder Jed Lowrie to bolster the squad.

The A’s did lose shortstops Stephen Drew and Cliff Pennington, outfielder/desginated hitter Jonny Gomes, first baseman Chris Carter, starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy and catcher George Kottaras. Time will tell if the new additions can provide more value this year than the departures did last season.

Regardless of how well Young, Nakajima, Jaso and Lowrie perform, the biggest source of improvement from last season is likely to come from within.

Brett Anderson should more than make up for the loss of McCarthy in the rotation this year after making six impressive starts down the stretch last season to complete his recovery from Tommy John surgery. Anderson’s rotation mates Jarrod Parker and Tommy Milone should continue to improve upon their stellar rookie seasons from last year as well.

Offensively, Josh Reddick showed what he was capable of in the first half when he hit .268/.348/.532—which should have earned him All-Star honors—before slumping to .215/.256/.391 in the second half. A full season at his first-half pace would go a long way to helping the A’s defend their crown this season.

Yet no Oakland player—and very few players in all of baseball—have the tools that Yoenis Cespedes possesses. Cespedes has the natural talent to take a giant leap forward in 2013 and contend for the AL MVP award.

He can hit for average, hit for power, run and throw—giving him four of the five tools scouts look for. The fifth tool, his defense, improved after he moved from center field over to left.

Cespedes improved drastically as the season wore on.

When I saw him in spring training, he was hacking at every breaking ball in sight. Then, he got off to a slow start in April—hitting only .244. He continued to struggle in May—hitting only .227 with a .534 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS).

He took off from there. His OPS improved to 1.016 in June, .961 in July, .788 in August and .874 in September. In the postseason, he hit .316 with a .381 on-base percentage.

The adjustments that he made throughout the season at the plate were impressive.

He became a more patient hitter as the season went along, which allowed him to get better pitches to hit and unleash his impressive power. He improved from a .465 slugging percentage with nine home runs in the first half to a .533 slugging percentage and 14 home runs in the second half.

All the more impressive is that he did this while transitioning to the United States from Cuba, learning a new position and battling through injuries. He missed 31 games with hand and hamstring injuries.

His at-bats became must-see events last year.

At 5’10”, 210 pounds, he’s built more like an NFL running back than a baseball player. He has tremendous bat speed, and he doesn’t get cheated at the plate—taking controlled but vicious hacks. He does an outstanding job of getting his stout lower half into his swing via his quick-twitch weight transfer and hip rotation. 

He’s a physical specimen with four plus tools. His natural power is right up their with the best sluggers in the game. 

He finished his rookie year with 23 home runs, 25 doubles, five triples, 16 steals and an .861 OPS despite playing in a pitcher’s park and skipping the minor leagues entirely. His tools and physique, combined with his ability to adjust to major league pitching, are going to lead to an even bigger breakout this year.

With a year to adjust to a new culture and a new position under his belt, Cespedes is ready to become an MVP candidate in 2013.

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After a busy offseason for the Oakland A’s, they will fight to retain their standing on top of the American League West.

During said offseason, the A’s have moved around a lot of infielders through addition and subtraction.

Gone are the days of Cliff Pennington at shortstop or second base, after he was traded to Arizona. Stephen Drew is gone as well after being the A’s shortstop down the stretch.  

Another trade split apart the solid first base platoon of Brandon Moss and Chris Carter with Carter being sent to Houston.

Brandon Inge also will not be back in Oakland this year.

With all the departing infielders, who will take their spots rather that be an everyday job or part-time platoon job?

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Say what you will, but Billy Beane is not averse to making decisive moves. Adding guys like John Jaso and Jed Lowrie may not be as sexy as Josh Hamilton, but the Oakland Athletics have further addressed offseason deficiencies with their moves. 

With Lowrie in the fold, the A’s now have someone with real Major League pop to fill in voids all over the infield. That means players like Eric Sogard and Adam “Skolnick” Rosales have less at-bats in meaningful situations. I like them both, but neither should be hitting more than 70 times a year in the big leagues. 

The reality is, the A’s were not far away last year and the two biggest holes in the lineup have been addressed with a trio of potentially big time upgrades in Jaso, Lowrie, and Hiro Nakajima. Yes, losing Chris Carter has the potential to take home runs away from the lineup. As a matter of fact, I anticipate that happening. 

However, you sometimes have to pull from a position of strength to address a position of weakness. There is no guarantee what Nakajima will give the A’s.

Lowrie would be a fantastic alternative at shortstop. He also fits at second, third, and first base as well. Scott Sizemore hasn’t played second base in the Major Leagues with any consistency. In other words, having a player with a real pedigree in waiting can only help this infield.

But the separation Oakland has from both Texas and Los Angeles, er Anaheim, is in the starting pitching. One to five, no team in the AL West is better than the A’s in terms of pitching. The Angels tried to address their deficiencies with outsiders Jason Vargas, Tommy Hanson, and Joe Blanton. Good luck. They aren’t on the level of the departed Zack Greinke, Dan Haren, and Ervin Santana. 

Meanwhile, Texas has issues with a lack of starting pitching and the potential issues with Nelson Cruz being implicated in the most recent PED scandal in baseball. The reality is, Oakland’s status quo is still the best in the division until proven otherwise. No team has the depth of pitching combined with a solid lineup one through nine in the division. Oakland doesn’t have a Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, Felix Hernandez, Yu Darvish, or any other marquee name (though Yoenis Cespedes is darn close) yet.

What they still have is the best overall team in the American League West.

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When Bartolo Colon signed with the Oakland A’s last year there weren’t high expectations for him.  

Although he had won a Cy Young earlier in his career, he was expected to be an average middle-of-the-rotation starter in 2012.

Colon surprised everyone in 2012 as he went 10-9 with a nice ERA of 3.43.  

Colon’s season would come to an abrupt end when he tested positive for illegal substances in the summer and he was hit with a 50 game suspension.  That suspension will carry over into 2013 and he will be held out of the first week of the regular season.  

Coming of the suspension, it is not a sure thing that Colon will be back to his 2012 form in which he relied on his PED-fueled fastball to blow hitters away with 91 strikeouts.

When Manny Ramirez was suspended for 50 games, he never quite regained his prior form and he struggled so poorly that he couldn’t crack the A’s 25 man roster in the spring of 2012 when the A’s were struggling on offense.

When Colon was suspended and Brandon McCarthy was injured late in the season, the A’s showed off just how much pitching depth they have when Dan Straily and A.J. Griffin came up from Triple-A Sacramento to continue carrying the A’s down the stretch.

The A’s potentially could start the season with their five-man rotation being Brett Anderson, A.J. Griffin, Jarrod Parker, Tommy Milone and Dan Straily.  Notice that Colon is the odd man out.

With Colon’s suspension costing him the first week of the season, plus the potential for his production to dip coming off such a long suspension, and factoring in the depth that the A’s have in pitching, Colon may not be on the A’s 25 man roster at all.

Colon could find a back-door way onto the team through the bullpen perhaps, but Colon will have to fight to be in the A’s starting rotation come April.

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A repeat as AL West champions for the Oakland Athletics starts with manager Bob Melvin. Without him at the helm, it’s not happening this year and it wouldn’t have occurred last season either.

The team is talented, but Melvin pulled the right strings at the right times throughout the 2012 season. With the first base platoon returning and five outfielders for four spots, he’ll have to hope his magic touch hasn’t waned.

Take comfort, A’s fans.

There’s a reason Melvin is a two-time Manager of the Year winner. After nine years of coaching in Major League Baseball, he holds a .502 winning percentage. Furthermore, he’s managed teams to 90 or more wins three times, including in his first full year as Oakland’s manager.

In 2012, he did it with low expectations. Now he’ll have plenty—from fans and management.

The roster hasn’t seen much turnover in the offseason, so Melvin will face similar challenges. However, this time he’ll be more accustomed to the pieces he’s playing with.

These are the nine reasons Melvin holds the keys to the green and gold machine.

You might find that most are no-brainers. Nearly all of these reasons should be written in a manager’s job description. But with a team this young, the role becomes that much more important for success.

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The Oakland A’s shocked the baseball world last year by winning 94 games and sweeping the Texas Rangers during the final weekend of the season to win the AL West. Have they done enough this winter to give themselves a legitimate shot to repeat as division champs in 2013?

This offseason, general manager Billy Beane traded for outfielder Chris Young, catcher John Jaso and reliever Chris Resop. He also signed shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima and re-signed starting pitcher Bartolo Colon.

Stephen Drew, Brandon McCarthy and Jonny Gomes departed via free agency. Cliff Pennington was dealt for Young and George Kottaras was lost on waivers.

With Brett Anderson, Dan Straily and A.J. Griffin returning, the A’s have plenty of young pitching depth to replace the departed McCarthy.

 After coming back from Tommy John surgery, Anderson had a 2.57 ERA in his six starts last season. Griffin had a 3.06 ERA in his first 15 starts, and Straily had a 3.89 ERA in his seven rookie starts.  Anderson not only has the ability to be the ace of the staff, but he could be a Cy Young candidate if he stays healthy over the full season.

The A’s also return the veteran Colon (3.43 ERA), Travis Blackley (3.86) and second-year starters Tommy Milone (3.74) and Jarrod Parker (3.47). Among those seven starters, they should be able to find a way to duplicate or improve their 3.80 rotation ERA from last season, which was the eighth lowest in the majors.

The A’s have added Resop to a bullpen that was fourth in the league with a 2.94 ERA in 2012. They’ll also be returning Grant Balfour (2.53 ERA), Ryan Cook (2.09), Sean Doolittle (3.04), Jerry Blevins (2.48) and Jordan Norberto (2.77).

The A’s have depth, youth and talent up and down the pitching staff. They also have a deep group of outfield and designated hitter candidates among Young and incumbents Coco Crisp, Yoenis Cespedes, Josh Reddick and Seth Smith.

Cespedes, who will turn 27 next year, hit .292/.356/.505 with 23 home runs in his rookie season last year. Reddick, who will turn 26 next year, blasted 32 home runs to go with a slash line of .242/.305/.463. Given their youth, both outfielders should continue to improve as they enter their primes.

One area where the A’s could see some regression is at first base where Brandon Moss and Chris Carter combined to hit 37 home runs in just 556 plate appearances last season. Manager Bob Melvin’s platoon got the most out of both players, but Moss is a 29-year-old journeyman who may not be able to sustain his torrid .291/.358/.596 batting line from last season.

The rest of the A’s infield could be offensively challenged as well. Nakajima hit .311/.382/.451 in Japan last season, but the ZIPS projection system used at FanGraphs projects a pessimistic .271/.316/.366 batting line for him in his first season stateside. But all projections are just estimates, and Nakajima has a chance to top that batting line, based on his outstanding professional career in Japan. 

Josh Donaldson returns at the hot corner after hitting just .241/.289/.398 last season. Scott Sizemore will return to his original position at second base after missing all of last season due to injury. He’ll battle the incumbent Jemile Weeks, who hit just .221/.305/.304 before losing his job to Pennington late last year. Sizemore also has experience at third base, so he could become an option there if Donaldson falters.

Jaso and Derek Norris will handle catching duties next season, though Jaso could also see time at DH. Jaso, who hit.276/.394/.456 last season, should upgrade the offense behind the dish for the A’s, who finished dead last in the American League with a .587 OPS from the catcher position in 2012.

The A’s appear to have the pitching depth and talent to carry them into contention again in 2013. The Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros have had quiet winters, and while the Los Angeles Angels added Josh Hamilton to an already potent offense, their starting pitching doesn’t match up with the A’s rotation on paper. 

For the A’s to repeat as AL West champs, they’ll likely need to improve on their .238/.310/.404 team batting line from last season. The additions of Young, Jaso, Nakajima and a healthy Sizemore, combined with continued improvements from Cespedes and Reddick should provide the A’s with enough offense to sneak back into the postseason.

The Angels and Rangers have larger payrolls and more well-known players, but Oakland heads into 2013 with the best roster from top to bottom in the division.

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Last year, the Oakland A’s went on a run for the ages, and they almost snuck into the ALCS.

The A’s won their last six regular season games to stunningly capture the AL West, before rallying from down 2-0 to force Game 5 of the ALDS. They lost Game 5, but it let Oakland experience a run for the ages.

However, the A’s haven’t done much in the offseason. They signed Hiroyuki Nakajima from Japan, but only to replace Stephen Drew. They re-signed Bartolo Colon and traded for Chris Young, but that’s really been it.

Oakland isn’t expected to do as well in 2013 because of their lack of big names. However, the offensive went on a home run spree in the second half, and while Brandon Moss won’t be smashing 21 homers in 265 at-bats, he, Josh Reddick and Yoenis Cespedes could provide pop for the middle of the lineup.

Crisp and Nakajima will likely be table-setters, while Young will be relied on to provide pop from the bottom of the order. The offense looks fine right now, because they were in the top half of the league in runs scored. And, the pitching staff will look to protect that.

A good season may not be realistic to expect from Travis Blackley, but Jarrod Parker and Tommy Milone can only be better in their second season. Brett Anderson finished the 2012 season with a bang, and Colon did a good job before being suspended for steroid use. So, the pitching staff has talent, and they can be one of the league’s best.

Factor in a mean bullpen with Sean Doolittle, Ryan Cook and Grant Balfour and you have a good team. Unfortunately for the A’s, a complete team just isn’t enough.

On paper, the Rangers, Angels, Blue Jays, Tigers, Red Sox and Yankees all look more talented than the A’s. Texas has Nelson Cruz, Ian Kinsler, Elvis Andrus on the offense and Matt Harrison and Derek Holland on the pitching staff, and the Angels have Albert Pujols, Mike Trout, Josh Hamilton, Jered Weaver and others.

Both are in the division, and if games were won on paper, Oakland would finish third. However, they pride themselves on being a resilient team which doesn’t win games on paper, and they are wound up around the middle of the pack in the AL.

Baseball is about getting hot at the right time, but in a 162 game season, the best teams almost always find their way into the postseason. The A’s have some talent, but there are still question marks in the pitching staff. Teams like the Angels and Blue Jays are fine with the pitching staff, as the Blue Jays practically have a new team due to some offseason spending and dealing.

Detroit didn’t dominate Oakland, although they would have won the ALDS in four games with a better closer. Justin Verlander overwhelmed the A’s and Yankees, while Doug Fister, Max Scherzer and Anibal Sanchez did the same to all three teams that Detroit faced in the playoffs.

Even though baseball is unpredictable, it won’t be easy for the A’s to sneak into the playoffs. The AL is great this year, and it will be harder than ever to win the AL West. Even if they do make the playoffs as a Wild Card, they will be down to a one game playoff without a true ace (yet).

Oakland is definitely a talented team, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they reached into their bag of tricks and pulled out more magic to find their way to the playoffs. But they are still unproven, and there are question marks. With all the talent around them in the AL West and the AL in general, I’m not seeing them in the playoffs.

The only thing that I think could get them into the playoffs is some more magic, which the A’s sure know how to provide. 

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