Both second place teams in the Western divisions were Wild Card teams this past season. In the NL, the San Francisco Giants were able to come out on top as World Series champions for the third time in five seasons. The Oakland A’s, however, were not as fortunate. The A’s started with a bang, but once they traded away a key bat to boost a pitching staff that was already very strong, the mighty A’s suddenly weren’t so mighty. They limped into the playoffs, and just when things were looking up, they fell again, this time ending their season. Oakland has made a flurry of offseason moves in order to make reparations to their depleted roster. Those moves, in addition to the controversy surrounding Billy Beane, have made one thing certain: The A’s 2015 season is not looking good.
The Athletics started off hotter than a firecracker at 59-36. They scored 466 runs in 95 games while blasting 98 long balls. The total ERA for the pitching staff was a hair above three at 3.09. Why ruin a good thing, Billy Beane? The A’s traded virtually their whole offense when they sent Yoenis Cespedes to the Red Sox in exchange for Jon Lester. Guess what: Lester helped the rotation exactly none. After the All-Star Break, the pitching staff owned a 3.42 ERA.
Jon Lester may have salvaged their season from completely shipwrecking, but even he couldn’t save their postseason life. Nobody could. They wouldn’t have been in the mess if they didn’t try to fix what didn’t need fixing. Things were going great in the seventh inning of that Wild Card game. The A’s were up by four on the Kansas City Royals, and it seemed their regular season woes were behind them. Not quite, guys. The Royals “shocked the house” as the Royals broadcaster would say, when KC came back from a 7-3 deficit to win 9-8 in extras. A single off the bat of Salvador Perez ended what started as a monumental season for the A’s, but was really just a heartbreaking end to a heartbreaking season.
As for free agents, Billy Beane has been busy this offseason to make sure that his team doesn’t have another mid-season collapse like in 2014. Major offseason additions include Billy Butler (three years, ten-mil per), Ben Zobrist coming over from Tampa Bay, and Brett Lawrie from Toronto. The gain for Oakland is heavily outweighed by what they lost, including Jon Lester, Brandon Moss, Josh Donaldson, Derrick Norris, and Jeff Samarzija, to name just a few.
Blatantly put: The A’s are in bad shape next year. Sure, they signed a legitimate DH in Billy Butler, but who replaces the rest of the offense? Zobrist and Lawrie? Okay, maybe. Where’s the power coming from? Butler hit nine home runs for the Royals in 2014. Translate that to O.co, and the outcome doesn’t look pretty. Brett Lawrie and Ben Zobrist combined for 22 home runs last year. This Athletics offense is a head-scratcher. On the flip side of the ball, who will fill the holes left by Samarzija and Lester? Jesse Chavez (8-8, 3.45 ERA) and Drew Pomeranz (3-1, 3.69 ERA in AAA) don’t exactly fill the void left by those two. Oakland did receive a bit of a help in the pen when they traded Yunel Escobar (acquired along with Ben Zobrist) in exchange for Tyler Clippard from the Nationals. Clippard had a 2.18 ERA and a 0.995 WHIP with one save in 2014. Sean Doolittle, current A’s closer, had an ERA of almost three in 2014, so expect a few things to be switched around this year.
Oakland’s roster is one big hole. With no power, little speed, and a mediocre starting rotation, competing for the AL West division with Anaheim, Seattle, and Texas will be a challenge. Oakland has a lot to prove in 2015, and it might not be that doable.
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Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images
