2010 Year in Preview: Oakland Athletics

My preamble on the A's is going to be pretty short, this team was fairly pathetic last year and I don't see their fortunes changing much this year. They have a lot of young talents, and they made some small waves in free-agency during the off-season, but the talent they have is mostly raw and unproven.

2009 Record: 75-87, 22GB the Los Angeles Angels (last place, AL West)


Key Departures:
There is no one who departed who could be considered "key." Here are the names of those who left who you might recognize:
-Dana Eveland (SP) - traded to the Blue Jays for PTBNL
-Bobby Crosby (INF) - lost via free-agency to the Pirates
-Scott Hairston (OF) - traded to the Padres


Key Additions:
I can't help but just a bunch of also-rans when I look at the group of players the A's added during the off-season. Here are the bigger names and a brief thought about each.

Ben Sheets (SP) - The one thing that could keep the A's mildly competitive this year, is their starting staff. Sheets had a pretty decent year last year and if he can stay healthy, would be good for 10-15 wins. With Sheets, Duchscherer, and Anderson heading up the rotation, they have a solid 1-2-3 that could prevent extended losing streaks.

Coco Crisp (OF) - The journey continues for this guy who is playing for his 3rd different team in the past 5 years. Crisp provides some solid D, but a middle-of-the-road bat at best.

Jake Fox (INF/OF) - I was really confused when the Cubs traded this guy. Fox was a .293 hitter in 2,636 minor league plate appearances, plus he has power and can play several positions (not very well, though). At 26, he's still young and given regular playing time, I think he'll be a decent player. Apparently, he agrees with me.

Kevin Kouzmanoff (3B) - Kouz is an intriguing player who has gotten better in each of his 3 previous ML seasons. He's not gonna wow anyone by getting on base all the time, but he's a timely hitter, sporting an average of 91RBI every 162 games. One thing that really improved last year was his defense, with only 3 errors in almost 1,200 innings at third.


Talent En Route:
Oakland seems to have quite a bit of depth in their farm system despite how many rookies they've brought up over the past couple of years. Here are two of their prospects that Baseball Prospectus considers to be 5-star prospects.

Chris Carter (1B) - With Daric Barton being the guy who stands in between Carter and a ML gig, I think it we will be seeing this kid in short order. Carter has led the minors in total bases the past two seasons, he's a natural power-hitter, and has apparently reduced his strike-out rate which led Baseball Prospectus to say the following about him:

"He made impressive adjustments against more advanced pitching to close up some holes in his swing, reducing his strikeout rate as the season wore on, leaving most to believe he'll hit for average as well. Combined with a good feel for the strike zone, he could put up big numbers in all three triple-slash categories."

Michael Taylor (LF) - Like Carter, Taylor has very shallow talent in between him and a starting-gig with the A's. Taylor is a contact hitter, producing a solid average, he's very athletic, and throws well. BP calls him an unorthodox hitter, mostly because of his size, 6' 6", 250lbs. Taylor has hit well at all levels of the minors so far and mostly likely will get a chance to play at the major-league level this year.


2011 Free Agency and Salary Outlook:
The Athletics are one of the smaller market teams in MLB considering their total team salary heading into 2010 is $62.3MM. Because their team is so young, they have 1+ years of arbitration left on many of their players, and as for the other ones (Chavez, Sheets, etc), seeing them go after another year or so would not be the end of the world, especially given that Duchscherer and Anderson are really the core of your staff going forward.


The Future of the Athletics:
I'd say the future of the Athletics is bleak. They were last in attendance last year, there is talk of them being sold and/or moved to San Jose, and for as brilliant as Billy Beane is, the Athletics simply cannot consistently compete with such a low payroll. With Seattle re-tooling this off-season, and the Rangers seemingly building into a consistent contender as well, I think Oakland will continue to be the red-headed step child of the AL West.