Billy Beane is once again the biggest genius in baseball, and Moneyball is alive and well. After trailing the first place Texas Rangers by 13 games in August, the swingin A’s did The Bernie all the way to an AL West division championship and a date with the eventual Pennant winning Detroit Tigers in the ALDS.
What went right: Everything. Absolutely everything. Except Justin Verlander took the hill for Game 5 of the ALDS. But up to that point everything went right. Journeymen players played well above their expectations, high priced Cuban imports played up to their billing, and they had injuries and PED suspensions. Yes, injuries and PED suspensions were good things. Freakin Billy Beane… The A’s misfit cast of characters got on an incredible roll the second half of the season and a bunch of their no name rookies and spares became everyday players and breakout stars, including right fielder Josh Reddick, acquired from Boston for closer Andrew Bailey, overly aggressive closer Grant Balfour, rookie set up man Ryan Cook, and just about every rookie pitcher who started a game, including up and coming Jerrod Parker, A.J. Griffin, and flavor of the month Dan Straily.
What went wrong: They had to face Justin Verlander in a do or die playoff game. That’s it. Off the field their stadium situation remains unsolved, as the World Series champion San Fransisco Giants refuse to give in and give up their territorial rights to San Jose. Why can’t they just bring back their original idea of Fremont?? INSERT LINK http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlTvSUCCqPo
As the defending AL West champs, Oakland can no longer just linger in the shadows. They have gone from hunter to hunted, and will have to prove that they weren’t just a flash in the pan. Pitching will always be strong as long as the A’s are in the offense killing atmosphere that is the West Coast, so it’s just a matter if they can score enough runs. Last year, starting in the middle of the summer they were able to put up runs in bunches. Can their return players prove that they have what it takes to consistently succeed? We’ll find out…
The Rotation:
As of right now, the A’s rotation is healthy. Historically, that won’t last long. If healthy, Brett Anderson has the stuff to front just about any ballclub, but he has never been able to stay on the field long enough to prove it. Jarrod Parker established himself as a very capable righty, Tom Milone was able to rack up wins, despite not having an overpowering fastball, Bartolo Colon was back to his old self, despite being slightly out of shape (before being suspended for PED use..), and Oakland showed their great pitching depth when A.J. Griffin, Dan Straily, and Travis Blackley all played key roles down the stretch.
1. Brett Anderson RHP – Anderson is the son of a pitching coach, so he knows what it takes to be successful. After he returned from Tommy John surgery late last season he did nothing short of dominate opposing hitters. If he can stay healthy and put together a full season he could compete for the AL Cy Young award.. If Oakland stays in contention. If they are out of the race, he could be one of the top arms on the trade market.
2. Jarrod Parker RHP – Parker was acquired in the fruitful trade to Arizona that also netted them Ryan Cook in exchange for Trevor Cahill. Parker has an excellent changeup and a plus fastball that he can amp up to the mid ninties. Parker would have been a strong rookie of the year candidate had the AL not had names such as Trout, Darvish, and Parker’s teammate Cespedes. Pitching in Oakland really lets his talent shine through, as he has quickly established himself as an up and coming young righty.
3. Timmy Milone LHP –When Milone was acquired from Washington in the Gio Gonzalez trade, he had put up terrific minor league numbers everywhere he went, but the consensus among scouts was that his stuff didn’t match up to his numbers, and that once he got to the big leagues he would struggle. Luckily for Tommy, he is an Oakland A, where his home park gobbles up fly balls and the cavernous foul territory can easily steal several outs per game. His home road splits were fairly significant, but that doesn’t take away the terrific rookie year Milone had. He has a plus changeup that keeps hitters off balance, and like the rest of his team, he will be challenged to see if he can sustain his success from 2012.
4. A.J. Griffin RHP – Watching Griffin pitch last year was pretty incredible. He doesn’t have the best stuff in the world, in fact his fastball didn’t even hit 90 every time, not a great recipe for success for a righty, but the man just hit spot after spot after spot. While his lack of stuff will keep him from being a front of the rotation type, as long as he hits his spots he will always have a place on a major league ball club. He fatigued down the stretch, but that’s not surprising for yet another Oakland rookie starting pitcher.
5. Dan Straily RHP – The fourth second year starting pitcher for Oakland, Dan Straily came out of nowhere to strike out all of the minor leagues. People weren’t sure if he was for real or not, but scouts were impressed with his pitches. He has a good fastball that touches 93 and a strong changeup, but his secondary stuff lacks behind. He struggled some with the long ball in his first audition with the big club, but he is ticketed in as their #5 starter, at least until Bartolo Colon is healthy, but at his age, who knows how much left Colon has left, especially after his PED suspension.
The Bullpen: The A’s bullpen down the stretch was as good as any in baseball. Manager Bob Melvin was able to send out Grant Balfour, Ryan Cook, and Sean Doolittle on four consecutive days to shut down opposing lineups. The back end of their bullpen is as good as any, Cook was a breakout star, splitting time between key setup man and closer after Balfour had some early season struggles. Balfour can occasionally be wild, but he has terrific stuff and may be the most intense pitcher in baseball. Doolittle is a converted first baseman and outfielder whose career as a position player ended because of a balky knee, but the A’s decided to try him out as a pitcher, and in a span of mere months he went from first baseman to A ball reliever, all the way up the ladder to successful big league set up man. Goes to show if you are left handed and can throw in the mid-nineties you will have opportunities. When you have an arm as good as Doolittle you can really cement yourself as a solid late inning arm. The A’s have several other solid middle relievers, such as Jordan Norberto, Pat Neshek, and Jerry Blevins, but the strength of their bullpen is at the tail end.
Offense and Defense – Oakland in their recent history hasn’t been known for the offense, and while last year was no different, they did have one thing that did go in their favor, a dramatic increase in the long ball. Josh Reddick had 32 homers in his debut season in Oakland, Cuban Missile Yoenis Cespedes hit 23 out when he was able to stay on the field, and they had solid contributions from the likes of Brandon Moss, Jonny Gomes, Chris Carter, and Seth Smith. I don’t think its realistic to expect the same level of production from the journeymen who had strong 2012 campaigns, but Oakland did acquire the talented, but underachieving Chris Young. While on the surface it looks like they have a surplus of outfielders, Cespedes, Young, Coco Crisp, Reddick and Smith, Melvin has proven he can make a lineup work. Their infield will have some questions, but they did acquire talented, but very inury prone Jed Lowrie from Houston to fit in somewhere in the middle infield, as well as the annoying John Jaso to catch. Jaso doesn’t know how to have a bad at bat. I think his shortest at bat last year was 11 pitches, look it up (don’t look it up). Their 2013 offense should be typical Oakland, good patience, low average, but a little bit more pop than previous years. Defensively they will have one of the best outfields in baseball, plus their 10th defender, the Oakland Coliseum foul territory.
The A’s may not be able to repeat their 2012 performance, where they basically won 7 of every 10 games for the better part of a half season, but there is a lot of room for optimism. Their pitching staff is terrific as always, and very young. Their lineup has improved tremendously compared to teams of the past and their front office and coaching staff are always underrated. For 2013, I certainly see a playoff season for the Swingin A’s, but I believe they will be battling the Angels in a one game playoff for the right to play at least 3 more. I see Oakland finishing 89-73.
