Hot Stove:  A rundown of each team in the offseason and what they are looking to improve in 2012. 

Oakland Athletics:            The next team we will look at will be the Oakland Athletics.

Projected Starting Lineup:

1B            Daric Barton

2B            Jemile Weeks

SS            Cliff Pennington

3B            Josh Donaldson

LF            Coco Crisp

CF            Yoenis Cespedes

RF            Josh Reddick

C              Kurt Suzuki

DH           Manny Ramirez

Projected Starting Rotation:

Brandon McCarthy

Dallas Braden

Bartolo Colon

Jarrod Parker

Brad Peacock

Projected Batting Order:

LF            Coco Crisp

2B            Jemile Weeks

CF            Yoenis Cespedes

DH           Manny Ramirez

RF            Josh Reddick

C              Kurt Suzuki

1B            Daric Barton

3B            Josh Donaldson

SS            Cliff Pennington

The Athletics haven’t been in contention in the AL West for the last few years.  The last time they were in the playoffs was in 2006.  They’ve finished last or second to last every season since then except for a second place finish in 2010 that saw only a 500 record.  They’ve entered a re-building stage and are trying to get back into contention with a group of talented youngsters.  But they aren’t there yet.  After letting Josh Willingham go in free agency and sending away a few talented young pitchers, they are in full re-building mode and hoping to relocate to San Jose.  In fact, they are adamant about the move and upset that the Commissioner’s Office hasn’t addressed the issue fully yet.  Some think Billy Beane is just sending away all the talent on the team and waiting to start re-building until the Commissioner lets them move.  I don’t think he’s truly doing and they do have lots of talent in the minor leagues that they’d like to see in the majors.  But Beane did let two talented young pitchers go fairly early in their careers, and I think he’s planning on a full re-build.  I’m sure he doesn’t want to start it until they get their location settled.  The A’s think the move will be great for the franchise and will bring in a little more money for the team. The hope is that a slightly higher revenue stream will enable them to hang on to their talented young players a little longer and maybe earn them a playoff berth in the near future.

The A’s haven’t been sluggers in a while.  Their offense has been very weak the past couple of seasons, and they’ve subsisted with good pitching.  Last year was no exception.  Cliff Pennington had the best AVG on the team, and it was an unimpressive 264.  Josh Willingham led the team in HR and RBI with an impressive 28 HR and 98 RBI.  But he left for Minnesota.  After him, Kurt Suzuki was the HR leader, with 14.  Hideki Matsui was second with 72 RBI, but he’s also gone.  That makes the current RBI leader…Cliff Pennington with 58.  Ouch.  They make the Atlanta Braves look like the New York Yankees.  This offense sorely needs some punch.  They hope to have found that in Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes, who is likely to open the season in center field.  That moves Coco Crisp to left, which leaves Seth Smith and Jonny Gomes looking for at bats at DH.  However after 50 games, Manny Ramirez is likely to be the primary DH.  So Gomes and Smith will look to take time over at first, which is already crowded with Daric Barton, Brandon Allen and Kila Ka’aihue over there.  The people getting the most playing time will be the ones with the most pop in their bats, as this team sorely needs some power.  Last year only 5 hitters had double digit home runs and 3 of those 5 hitters have departed.  Of the two remaining, third baseman Scott Sizemore sustained an injury and will miss the entire 2012 season.  So they hope that one of the first baseman can find a power stroke, as Suzuki needs help, and Manny and Cespedes are neither too old nor young to be in their power prime.  The one thing this team doesn’t lack is speed.  Coco Crisp stole 49 bases last season, Jemile Weeks 22 and Cliff Pennington 14.  But it doesn’t always translate into runs.  Crisp scored 69 R in 136 games.  His 264 AVG and 314 OBP left a lot to be desired.  Weeks was better, though he only played in 97 games.  He hit 303 with a 340 OBP and 50 R.  There is suspicion that he might take the leadoff job from Crisp, moving him to second in the order.  Either way, they want these two to get on base, steal bases and score runs.  With Pennington hitting ninth, they have three guys in a row with great potential, but none of them have shown that they can consistently hit for a high AVG, and therefore haven’t approached 100 R.  If they can get on base more regularly, that will be the first step in Oakland’s offense coming alive.  However scoring runs also requires big bats to drive them in.  Yoenis Cespedes is supposed to be that bat, but this will be his first year in the majors and he’s relatively unproven.  He’s got good power and speed, and also plays a good defensive center.  But even with all that upside, he’s still a wildcard this season.  Manny Ramirez hasn’t played in a while.  He missed essentially all of last season when he got busted for PEDs.  As it is, he’s been suspended for the first 50 games of this year.  When he gets back he should still be able to hit for good contact, but I don’t know how much power is left in the tank, especially in the Oakland Colliseum.  While he’s gone, Seth Smith and Jonny Gomes will split DH time, and while both have some pop, neither is a true power hitter.  Right fielder Josh Reddick played well in Boston last season, hitting 280 with 7 HR and 28 RBI in 87 games.  He’ll probably hit 5^th in the lineup but I don’t think Athletics fans should be expecting 25+ HR.  If he can get to 15 it’ll be a good season for him.  The A’s will drive in runs by having rabbits on the bases and guys with good contact and plus power drive them in.  The last guys on this offense are the soft-batted group of first basemen and the newcomer who’s taking over at third for Scott Sizemore.  I’m guessing Josh Donaldson is the new third baseman while all a ton of people will play first until one stands out.  They’d like it to be Ka’aihue or even Allen, but so far it’s been Barton.  This offense could be better this year, but I think Oakland fans can still expect plenty of 3-2 games.

The one area where the A’s excelled last season was on the mound.  They had two young studs leading this staff in 2011, but unfortunately both have been sent off to new teams while the A’s continue to try to build contenders on a shoestring budget.  With Trevor Cahill and Gio Gonzalez gone, Brandon McCarthy is the new ace and was recently named the Opening Day starter.  He only pitched 25 games last year, but went 9-9 with 5 complete games and 1 shutout.  His ERA was a strong 3.32 and he did a good job stranding runners.  His BAA was a little high at 258, but he was able to keep most of those guys on base.  He struck out 123 guys in 170 innings and had a fantastic 1.13 WHIP.  He’s the ace this season, but he probably won’t measure up to Cahill and Gonzalez.  And it drops off mightily behind him.  Dallas Braden fought the injury bug all of last year and only started 3 games after needing shoulder surgery.  He’s only one year removed from a perfect game in a season that saw a strong 3.50 ERA.  He’s no stud, but a solid, reliable pitcher who can get guys out.  They want a full season of him next year.  The third pitcher in this rotation is a low risk free agent signee.  Bartolo Colon came back to baseball last year after missing all of 2010 and making only 19 starts from 2008-2009.  Last year he made 29 for the Yankees injury depleted rotation and went 8-10 with an ERA of 4.  The former Cy Young winner still knows how to get guys out, though many wonder how his arm is able to stay attached to his shoulder.  (He apparently got an injection of stem cells into his shoulder to repair the tissue damaged when he tore a rotator cuff after his Cy Young season in 2005…MLB was investigating the legitimacy of that treatment).  He’s not expected to do much for this staff, but if he can eat some innings and get guys out the A’s will be thrilled.  He brings a veteran presence to this young team, and assuming his right arm doesn’t fall off he’ll be a solid pitcher for them next year.  After these three, some young guys are trying to get slots in the rotation.  The A’s have lots of young pitching so this is essentially pretty wide open.  Right now, Jarrod Parker has the inside track at the number 4 slot.  The A’s received Parker in the trade that sent Cahill to the Diamondbacks.  For that reason, they really want him to win the job and be a solid starter.  And if I had to guess at a 5^th starter, I’d go with one of the guys they got for Gonzalez in the trade with Washington.  Brad Peacock started 2 games for the Nationals last year going 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA and 1.08 WHIP.  His BAA was 167 and he had 4 Ks over 12 IP.  Now he also had 6 walks and the sample size is ludicrously small.  But if he can earn the starting job in Spring Training, the A’s will at least feel like they got decent value for the two guys who they had to trade away before free agency hit.  Those starters hope to pitch well enough to keep their team in low scoring games so that their offense might be able to win some games scoring 2 runs. 

2012 Prediction…The A’s have struggled the past few seasons.  They have some great baseball people and a strong class of minor leaguers waiting to join the team.  Unfortunately, they are unable to keep them around very long, as they can’t afford to pay them big roster bonuses to keep them from hitting free agency.  They hope a move to San Jose will re-invigorate the franchise and give them the added cash flow necessary to field consistently strong teams.  But the immediate future looks dim for this club.  Texas has been good the last two years, and the Angles look fantastic.  The A’s are likely playing for third this season, and unless something major is done with this franchise (like a move to a new location) they will be playing for third the next few seasons too.

Up next…Seattle Mariners