Oakland Athletics’ New Year’s Resolutions
By Jason Burke
It’s that time of the year when we all start thinking of ways to improve ourselves for the year to come. For the Oakland Athletics, there are three areas that could give them a leg up as we look to 2015.
Health
Staying healthy is a factor that plays in to every baseball season, just ask the 2014 Texas Rangers. If key players can stay on the field for an entire season, the A’s could be a very surprising team. The big question mark will be Brett Lawrie, who has never played in over 125 games in a single season. The potential is there for Lawrie to be a key cog in the A’s lineup, but he will need to be on the field to make a difference. We’re all hoping that the switch from astroturf to grass is all the third baseman needs.
Josh Reddick is another player that has dealt with injuries each of the last two seasons, playing in 114 and 109 games in 2013 and 2014. The one season in which Reddick played nearly every game was in 2012, when we mashed 32 over the outfield fence, and drove in 85. If he could couple some of that power with his batting average of .264 in 2014, he could be a force for the A’s as well.
Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin should be back from Tommy John surgery at some point before the All-Star break, and even with all of the depth that Oakland has in the rotation, losses similar to these would be devastating to face in a second consecutive season.
A New Approach
The Oakland Athletics may have become too reliant on the long ball, and focused less on moving runners over, and hitting for average. Last season, now departed Josh Donaldson led the team among qualified hitters with a .255 batting average. Derek Norris hit .270, but didn’t accumulate enough at-bats, and, like Donaldson, is no longer with the team.
Of the players that hit above JD’s .255, there is Stephen Vogt (.279), Reddick, and John Jaso (.264). The addition of Billy Butler should help this cause, with Butler being a career .295 hitter. Even the .271 he hit last year in a down season would be welcome.
It seemed as though the approach that Chilli Davis worked on with the hitters in his time as coach was waiting for your pitch, and crushing it. Many players have done well with this approach, but Chilli is gone, and so are some of the most notable players that this affected in Donaldson and Brandon Moss.
One More Move
I mean, Billy Beane can’t be done yet, right? He has freed up some money for the Oakland Athletics to spend either before opening day, or at some point during the season. Not spending it doesn’t necessarily mean that it would just transfer over into the 2016 payroll, so may as well make some acquisitions, right Billy?
The Oakland Athletics could use an upgrade in left, at second and an additional reliever. I’m sure I’m not the only one that is excited about the prospect of Mark Canha, the Rule 5 pick. He has to stick with Oakland all season or be offered back to the Marlins, so he will get every opportunity to succeed, one would imagine. Craig Gentry is a solid fourth outfielder that can play all of the positions, but Sam Fuld, while the fans love him, did only hit .209 with the A’s in 2014.
Eric Sogard is currently slated to man second base, and has the potential to be a solid enough hitter to have real value for the team to go along with his superb defense. Last season we saw both sides of Sogard. Before the break, he hit .186, but coming out of the break he hit .267 with a .346 on-base percentage. Oakland could look for someone a little more consistent, but Sogie would keep many fans happy as well.
He’s not going to provide a ton of power numbers, but hitting for a decent average could help the offense immensely. The 2015 A’s offense may be more of a “keep the line moving” squad, than the previous “bloop and a blast” versions of the team.
Right now, the relievers we can pencil in are Sean Doolittle, Ryan Cook, Eric O’Flaherty, Fernando Abad and Dan Otero. It’s likely that one of the pitchers that doesn’t make the rotation will be the long relief option, with Chris Bassitt as another option for later situations. If that is not the plan, then we’ll need another righty in the ‘pen as well.
What are some of your resolutions for the Oakland Athletics?