Oakland Athletics

Okay, I know I said I would do an overview of the teams in the running, and at 18 games back on August 6, the A’s do not appear to be in that category. In fact, of all the things the A’s are “in” – the midst an insurmountable deficit, organizational turmoil, deep trouble come to mind – “the running” is probably last on the list. But those of you who know me also know that this blog would not adequately express my passion for baseball without showing at least some preferential treatment to the Oakland Athletics. I promise the blog as a whole will not be totally biased or one-sided; it’s not A’s Nation (although I strongly suggest checking it out if you want great in-depth analysis of the team).

So without further ado, here’s Thoughts About Baseball’s first team overview:

Oakland Athletics
47-61
AL WEST (4th place out of 4)

LINEUP
3B Adam Kennedy
CF Rajai Davis
LF Scott Hairston
DH Jack Cust
C Kurt Suzuki
1B Tommy Everidge
RF Ryan Sweeney
2B Mark Ellis
SS Cliff Pennington

BENCH
1B/3B Nomar Garciaparra
IF Bobby Crosby

ROTATION
Dallas Braden
Brett Anderson
Trevor Cahill
Vin Mazzaro
Gio Gonzalez

BULLPEN
Andrew Bailey (CL)
Brad Ziegler
Michael Wuertz
Russ Springer
Santiago Casilla
Craig Breslow

Edgar Gonzalez

Manager: Bob Geren
General Manager: Billy Beane
Owner: Lew Wolff
Payroll: $56,089,250 (27 out of 30)

Prior to the 2009 season, many experts picked this team to pose a legitimate threat to the Angels for first place in the AL West. But, as you may have guessed based on the current standings, things didn’t go according to The Plan.

To fully understand The Plan, we have to talk a little bit about the plan-maker, GM Billy Beane. Relatively unsuccessful in his 6 major league seasons as a player (1984-89), Beane became the General Manager of the A’s in 1998. He proved to be an extremely capable front office man, putting together squads that would make the playoffs five years out of an eight year span (2000-03, 06). He made some really interesting decisions, and – as chronicled in Michael Lewis’s 2003 novel Moneyball – helped revolutionize MLB’s system of player evaluation.*

* This revolution consisted of a shift from classic “scouting” methods (basically judging a player based on how he looks, or his athletic ability (or “tools”)) to more advanced statistical analysis. If you’re at all interested in this revolution and its consequences, I encourage you to check out Stephen Soderbergh’s film adaptation of Moneyball, if it ever hits theaters.

Now the A’s find themselves perennially strapped for cash – their payroll this year is 27th out of the 30 major league teams; they are dead last in the AL – so over the years, Beane found himself having to either let his best, highest profile players sign with other teams as free agents, or trade them away for lower cost alternatives. And with the departure of these players, the A’s gradually fell out of contention. But Beane continued to work behind the scenes, stocking the A’s minor league system with very promising pitching prospects.

Before the 2009 season, someone apparently convinced Beane that all his young pitchers would simultaneously reach their potential this year, so he made a characteristically flashy trade and some uncharacteristic free agent signings to upgrade the A’s offense. In the trade, Beane sent former star closer Huston Street, serviceable young starting pitcher Greg Smith, and future star outfielder Carlos Gonzalez to the Colorado Rockies for slugging left fielder Matt Holliday. He also signed former A’s MVP first basemen Jason Giambi, aging shortstop Orlando Cabrera, a couple of seasoned relievers (Russ Springer and Michael Wuertz), and veteran corner infielder Nomar Garciaparra. (Nomar apparently gave the A’s an ultimatum before this season: sign me to a contract or I retire. For some reason, he really wanted to wear the green and gold this year…)

The A’s young pitchers stacked up like so: the projected staff ace was Justin Duchscherer, a converted reliever who made the All Star team last year before missing significant time due to injury. Number two was Dallas Braden, a soft-tossing lefty with good mound presence and a fierce competitive attitude. (That, by the way, is a good example of “scout speak.”)

The remaining three spots in the rotation were to be filled by a large pool comprised of pitchers acquired via trade (Dana Eveland from the Diamondbacks, Josh Outman from the Phillies, Gio Gonzalez from the White Sox, and Sean Gallagher from the Cubs) and recent draft picks (Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, and Vin Mazzaro). Aside from their names and Beane’s insistence that they were all major league ready, nobody, not even Billy himself, had any real idea who would pitch where, when, or how.

Presumably, Beane’s strategy would have worked, if everything went according to Plan. But then came the injuries.

During spring training, the A’s found out that Duchscherer would have to start the season on the DL to have surgery on his pitching elbow. He hasn’t played yet this season. Their projected closer, Joey Devine, also had elbow surgery, and was pronounced out for the season before the end of April. Josh Outman, arguably their most effective starting pitcher, went down for the season in late June. Hard throwing reliever Santiago Casilla was on the DL for half of May, but is now back, albeit with a rather ugly ERA of 5.58.

As far as hitters go, starting third basemen Eric Chavez played only 8 games before succumbing to his chronic back problems (his most recent relapse resulted from simply rising from a chair). Second baseman Mark Ellis missed 55 games due to injury. Nomar Garciaparra has been gimpy all season and still needs plenty of rest between appearances.

Just as devastating as injuries was ineffectiveness. Dana Eveland and Sean Gallagher had to be sent down to the minors (Gallagher was later traded). Gio Gonzalez, while just now starting to find a groove, didn’t start to miss bats until late July. And the “new big three” of Anderson, Cahill, and Mazzaro (referring of course to the old Big Three of Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito) have been wildly inconsistent (as you would reasonably expect from a trio of pitchers barely old enough to drink).

On the hitting side, Matt Holliday apparently suffered from the move to a ballpark closer to sea level than the one he was used to. (If you haven’t heard the stories about the ball flying farther in Coors Field because of the altitude, you should have.) Jason Giambi, despite hitting 32 home runs last year, finally began to feel his age – he sported a league low batting average of .193 (minimum however many At-Bats) at the time of his placement on the DL. He will not be missed much. The only bright spots on the roster were rookie closer Andrew Bailey, hot hitting new acquisition Adam Kennedy, and the fact that Jack Cust is no longer on pace to strike out 900 times this season.

So come deadline time, Beane began unloading. After first, curiously enough, acquiring streaky outfielder Scott Hairston from the Padres, Beane shipped Holliday off to the Cardinals for prospects, and sent Cabrera to the Twins for a box of rocks. The pitching staff remained relatively untouched, and if you can believe the hype about these kids, it will be the same rotation we’ll see on this team for many years.

Thoughts about the current lineup: Suzuki and Ellis are still solid; Rajai Davis is a nice speedy surprise in center; Jack Cust continues to hit home runs, walk, and strike out with great frequency; first base is a bit of a mess, with Giambi and last year’s starter Daric Barton both on the DL; outfield prospects Ryan Sweeney, Travis Buck, and Aaron Cunningham will hit soon, I promise; and Cliff Pennington is the shortstop of the future, as it appears that Beane is finally ready to give up on the Bobby Crosby experiment. (NEWSFLASH: A Rookie of the Year award five years ago is not reason enough to reward subpar performance at every level, except maybe defense.)

PROJECTED FINISH: Way too far out of it to even mention.

So that’s how the Athletics’ season is going. Check back later for more teams.