MLB Preview 2015: Oakland Athletics

Oakland Athletics 2014 Record: 88-74

Team Overview:

The 2014 A's opening day lineup and the 2015 A's opening day lineup will be almost completely different. Their strategies will still be the same and they made a complete roster overhaul to fit their style based on moves that many questioned and but some believed in.

New faces who will be the core of the team consist off Ben Zobrist, Billy Butler, Ike Davis, Brett Lawrie, Marcus Semien, Sam Fuld and more on the bench. That is tough to digest but this isn’t new to the A's. Their constant is Coco Crisp who can switch hit, but fought through injuries in 2014 and is on the wrong side of 30. When he plays he does hold a solid OBP and can run on the bases. Zobrist is an addition that can also switch-hit and is a former utility man who is given a shot at starting everyday. A theme with some of these better teams is depth and position flexibility. He can provide that, as can Marcus Semien and Brett Lawrie. Lawrie can play second and third base and was once regarded as a top prospect but it just never translated in Toronto. The A's may feel that a change of scenery is what will launch the 25 year old and his speed/power combo he showed in the minors. Semien can play short and second and was acquired from the White Sox. He never really had a spot there and at 24 it is tough to determine how good he will be.

The remainder of the As roster will mostly be in a platoon. Josh Reddick, Ike Davis, Stephen Vogt, and Sam Fuld, Eric Sogard represent the left handed bats, and Craig Gentry, Mark Carnha, and Josh Phelgy all represent right handed options. Billy Butler will look to keep the engine running as a DH and right-handed bat, because to be honest their lefty lineup looks better on paper. Butler hit .245 through May but got it up to .275 to help the Royals get to the playoffs. He also is a career .295 hitter after a down season for him. He isn’t exactly young so I am not sure if he can get back to being a .300 hitter but it sure seems like the As are betting on it.

The A's are also betting on their pitching. Sonny Gray is turning into a star pitcher and the As will need him to be one this season for them to be competitive. He is only 25 but does have the makings of a break out candidate. Scott Kazmir has broken out and faded many times in his career and he will slot in behind Gray. Kazmir is now 31, which isn’t too old but I think can only be trusted so much. When he is healthy and pitching he can give you a lot of innings and can get Ks when needed. Three relatively new faces should join the two to start the season. Drew Pomeranz will get a spot this season after being in AAA, and getting spot starts as a prospect in 2014. The new names from this offseason consist of Jesse Hahn and Kendall Graveman. Hahn had a great year for the Padres last year and given a similar ballpark and pitching style it may be a good fit, and Graveman is a top prospect who will get his MLB chance in 2015. If the bottom three can hold up for a few innings per outing the bullpen should be able to clean things up. This is a top ten bullpen going into 2015. Sure you can point to it being the downfall of their 2014 playoff run but it also is a huge reason they had a run to begin with.

What to Watch For?

There are two more starting pitching options that the A's basically have stashed away going into this season. Jarrod Parker and AJ Griffin both had Tommy John Surgery within five weeks of each other in 2014 and effectively never had a season. They are both former high quality prospects and have both performed as good pitchers in the MLB, albeit a short experience. Since the A's having pitching options on the roster, and a few other candidates in the minors they have the ability to let these two ease into pitching against professional hitters, and that is advantage some pitchers don’t get. Only time will tell what any of this means but I hope to hear both of their names in the rotation by seasons end.

Where Do They Rank?

The lineup isn’t the best but given the ability to adjust and find specialty players it is hard to question what wheelin dealin Billy Beane is up to. The pitching has a name at the top and depth to surround it and that will be how the A's will look to stay competitive. Only time will tell what this team is really about but I think they may regress a bit from last season. With promise else where it isn’t impossible they fall from 2nd to 5th but I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt and expect a 3rd place finish.

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