30 Teams in 30 Days: Oakland Athletics

Billy Beane was at it again this off season, making moves galore. The “Big Three” was reduced to one when Beane shipped off Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson. Four talented young pitchers will round out the rotation in an attempt to fill the void left by the departure of Mulder and Hudson. The offense also saw it’s share of changes made. Prized prospect Nick Swisher will now get a shot to be their everyday right fielder, an upgrade was made at catcher, and depth was added to the middle infield.

Offensively the A’s did some tinkering too. Damian Miller left in free agency to sign with the Milwaukee Brewers. Miller calls a great game behind the plate, and does a great job with pitching staffs, but he just didn’t fit in with this squad. He wasn’t a “money ball” guy. Jason Kendall on the other hand is. Kendall, brought in to replace Miller is a great offensive catcher, but close to a liability defensively. That fits in with what the A’s do. Kendall can also leadoff, something I don’t think Mark Kotsay was fit to do, so the A’s finally have a leadoff hitter for their offense.

Another move made saw Oakland ship young hard-throwing Justin Lehr, and outfielder Nelson Cruz to the Milwaukee Brewers for Keith Ginter. Ginter was one of the Brewers best hitters last year. He can bat for power, and provides insurance is Mark Ellis is not 100% recovered from his injury that cost him his entire season last year. Lehr throws hard, and could be a potential closer, and Nelson Cruz has the ability to become a five tool player within the next few years, but I still think both teams won in this deal. With Ginter, Ellis, and Marko Scutaro all on the roster, I would expect a deal made by the end of spring training.

Jermaine Dye left as a free agent, signing with the White Sox, and the A’s are rumored to be shopping Eric Byrnes around the league. If Byrnes does get moved Charles Thomas, who was acquired from the Braves in the Tim Hudson deal, will probably replace him.

The biggest question facing the A’s rotation is Barry Zito. Can Zito handle being the staff ace, and can he rebound from an average season last year. Rich Harden, Danny Heren and Joel Blanton all have an exceptional amount of talent, and should be prominent pitchers at the major league level, but if Zito cannot perform as an ace the staff could be in trouble.

The bullpen situation is a big question, especially now that Chad Bradford will be out until at least late June due to back surgery. Arthur Rhodes, while not that great of a set up man anymore, is gone and will still be sorely missed by this club. Juan Cruz, who was also a part of the Tim Hudson deal, gives them a good long relief guy or spot starter in the pen. If any of those young pitchers struggles Cruz could even step into the rotation. And Kiko Caliero, acquired from the Cardinals in the Mark Mulder deal, gives Oakland a hard throwing dynamite set up man. The two big concerns are depth and Closing.

Aside from Caliero, Cruz and Bradford, who will be out for the first half of the season, the A’s really have nothing in their pen. Octavio Dotel is not a closer. He is a good set up man, but he doesn’t have the mentality to close in this league. The A’s need to do something to address the depth to their pen, and find a new closer. Ideally they would love to do this in a deal involving Eric Byrnes. Ugeth Urbina would be a great fit here, but the Tigers don’t need to bring on another outfielder.

5 Burning Questions

5. Shallow Water
How can or what will the A’s do to address this issue. The ideal situation would be deals involving Eric Byrnes and Marco Scutaro or Mark Ellis for more bullpen depth. Oakland would love to get a real closer and move Dotel to a set up role, but that probably won’t happen.

4. Close but no cigar
Oakland has been close the last five years, but just can’t seem to get over the hump. Are these moves made the right ones? More importantly did they do enough to get Oakland over the hump and into the upper echelon of the American league? Probably not, but only time will tell.

3. The Ace
Can Barry Zito prove last year was an aberration, and more importantly can he be the ace of a major league staff. Until now he’s had the luxury of pitching on a staff with two other very good young pitchers, taking pressure off of himself. A lot will be expected of Zito and Rich Harden this year.

2. Who’s on second?
Keith Ginter, Mark Ellis and Marco Scutaro. Unless both Ginter and Ellis get injured, Scutaro will be backing one of the two up. The real question should be who gets traded, Keith Ginter or Mark Ellis. Considering the A’s traded for Ginter this off-season I guess that makes the question where does Mark Ellis get traded.

1. Ready for Prime Time?
Are Joel Blanton, Danny Heren and Dan Meyer major league ready. Blanton looked very good in limited action last year, as did Heren. This question could partially be answered if Zito and Harden pitch well enough to take pressure off them.

Fearless Predictions

Keith Ginter will win the starting second base job.
Eric Byrnes will get dealt to the Pirates in a deal that involves Craig Wilson.
Octavio Dotel will struggle in the closers role again.
Rich Harden will pitch like the ace of the staff, and Barry Zito will rebound to have a very solid season.
The A’s will have one of the better offenses in the American league.
Jason Kendall, Eric Chavez and Erubiel Durazo will all make the All-Star team.
The Oakland A’s will win the West.