explanation of rankings and other team previews here
2008 Record: 75-86
Offseason Additions: Matt Holliday, Jason Giambi
Offseason Subtractions: Huston Street, Carlos Gonzalez, Greg Smith
Ranks:
Line-Up – 23rd
Rotation – 23rd
Bullpen – 14th
Defense – 1st tier (out of 5)
Baserunning – 1st tier (out of 5)
KEY PLAYER: PICK A STARTER…
The additions of Matt Holliday and Jason Giambi were both uncharacteristic for Billy Beane’s buy-young, sell-young Oakland A’s. However, it tells us that Beane thinks that this team can compete this season, and that the hitting, not the pitching is what needed to be improved in order to get them there. But looking at the stats, it certainly seems like he’s putting a lot of faith into a very young, very unproven group of pitchers. After Justin Duchscherer (and who knows if he’ll be able to repeat his phenomenal season) you have Dana Eveland (5.23 career ERA), Sean Gallagher (5.54 career ERA), Dallas Braden (5.44 career ERA) and former Phillie Gio Gonzalez (7.68 career ERA) rounding out the rotation. All have great arms, and if they falter, the A’s may call on another former Phil, Josh Outman, or one of their super-prosepcts Brett Anderson or Trevor Cahill. But someone (and maybe more) out of this crew is going to need to realize their potential and have a great year for the A’s for the team to be what Billy Beane (and a lot of baseball writers) think they can be.
PLAYER TO WATCH: MATT HOLLIDAY
If Anderson or Cahill do get called up, they will certainly be worth keeping an eye on, but the guy I’ll be tracking is Matt Holliday. Holliday has been involved in Philly sports talk a bit over the last couple years. First, his head-to-head battle with Jimmy Rollins for the 2007 MVP award. Then, in the playoffs, as the Rockies swept away the Phillies. And finally, during the trade deadline and then again this winter as a possible trade target. Every time I’ve written about him, I’ve brought up his horrible stats away from Coors Field as a reason why he’s overrated, and not worthy of an MVP, or the prospects we’d have to give up. With this trade, we will find out what kind of player he is under normal circumstances, and it will greatly affect the contract he will get when the season is up.
PHILLY ANGLE
“What if the A’s still played in Philly?” and several other questions…
In 1954, when they left town, the Philadelphia Athletics had won 5 world series titles and 8 AL pennants. The Phillies? 1 pennant. They had legendary players like Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, Eddie Collins and Lefty Grove. The Phils had Robin Roberts and Richie Ashburn, but not even close to HOF cast the A’s boasted. They were the Yankees, the Phillies were the Mets. Then, in 1954 they left for Kansas City. But what if they hadn’t? How great would it be to have 2 ballparks in town and the opportunity to see AL and NL games? How exciting would the Phils/A’s interleague match-ups be? How strange would it be to have rivalry with a team within your own city? I couldn’t imagine it. How would you feel if you were a Phillies fan, but the A’s had the better team, ownership, organizational philosophies and uniforms? Could you switch? It’s the same city, right? Would we even be big enough to support 2 teams? Would talk radio find a way to become more unbearable? So many questions, and no real way to answer them. Would have been interesting, that’s for sure.
QUICK HITS
Worst Contract: Eric Chavez, 6 years, $66 million (ends in 2010)
Best Pitch: Justin Duchscherer’s Curveball
Best Player in a Contract Year: Matt Holliday, OF
Top Prospect: Brett Anderson, SP
Best Individual Season: Vida Blue, 1971 (21 years old, 312 IP, 301 K, 1.82 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, Cy Young and MVP)
Worst Uniforms: 1968
Where’d They Come From?
- Trade, 9 (tied for most in MLB)
– Draft, 5
– Free Agent, 1
– Amateur FA, 0
2009 OUTLOOK
2nd AL West, 9th AL, 20th MLB
I want to pick the A’s to win the division, I really do. They are one of my favorite non-Philly franchises and it is fascinating the way Billy Beane runs his operation. I think they could surprise, but I can’t see past the fact that they have very few “sure things” on their team and are relying on a bunch of young pitchers and a 38-year old Jason Giambi. They will likely be a force in a couple years when their stacked farm system starts graduating to the majors, but this year I see them not quite having enough to stay in the race the entire year.
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ups to Pete; the hardest working writer in the blogosphere. Statman 2009!! keep em coming. recliner GM – what takes 30% of my free time.
I’ll second jkay in thanking Pete for all his hard work. I’ll do it here under the first preview, but it certainly carries through for all of them.
As far as the A’s, I read a fantastic book a few years back by Rob Neyer and Eddie Epstein titled “Baseball Dynasties”. For anyone who hasn’t read it, I highly recommend that you do. It is packed with great info. Anyway, in the book the A’s are credited with 3 dynasties in their existence (1911 and 1929 while in Philly and 1974 while in Oakland). It’s wild how Connie Mack would continually repeat the cycle of building a monster ballclub only to sell everyone off when he needed money.
Like just about everyone else in the world, I couldn’t care less about the Oakland A’s (including most in Oakland. But baseball previews means baseball, which means movement in my pants.
Pete, three comments:
1) I like the categories you’ve added.
2) I fully expect you to write a ringing endorsement for Holliday by the All Star break as you finally realize that he is a straight-up hitting machine.
3) At first I thought 2nd was a somewhat bold pick but then I looked at Texas’s starting rotation and Seattle’s lineup.
Can’t wait to read the rest.
Baseball preview day is to me as ”Nudie Magazine Day” is to Billy Madison.
YES! baseball previews are very exciting. 24 days til pitchers and catchers. I would also like to thank Pete.
Hey Pete,
That was one of the most awesome “What If?” questions in Philly sports. Never gave it much thought because the A’s moved long before I was born and long before that little dynasty they had in the early ’70s.
But now that I think about it… can you imagine the likes of Vida Blue, Catfish Hunter, Sal Bando, and Joe Rudi winning all those championships in Philly? They’d be freaking legends in this town.
And, oh yeah, that Reggie Jackson guy. Personality-wise, he was the anti-Schmidt. To have him and Schmitty playing in the same town with our fans and media… hoo boy. Hell of a rivalry. Factor in Jackson being a Cheltenham High alum and it gets even better.
Last but not least, a little trivia: Checked the Oakland A’s 1974 roster and was surprised to find none other than Manny Trillo on the team. It was his second year in the bigs and he didn’t play much until after he joined the Cubs the following season.
Anyway, thanks for giving us a much-needed baseball fix. Got my kid a new glove and I sheepishly admit he caught me sniffing the leather on it like a crack addict. What can I say. Just hooked on baseball, man.
drolz,
Pete,
Somehow, I totally overlooked Henderson. That definitely would have been THE media circus of them all.
In a Jackson vs. Schmidt rivalry I don’t see Schmidt saying much (if anything) to fuel the flames. But in 1979, Henderson broke in with the A’s the same season the Phillies signed… Pete Rose. We had three or four major Philly newspapers back then and that wouldn’t have been enough to cover all the Man of Steal vs. Charlie Hustle stories.
That’s another angle right there: how the A’s championship teams of the early 70’s as well as the ‘89 Bash Brothers squad would have fared under our intense media scrutiny. Jackson and Henderson no doubt would have loved it. The other players, I don’t know. I’ve always believed that when you put on a Sixers, Flyers, Phillies, or Eagles uniform, you put the weight of a championship-starved town on your shoulders along with the media that constantly reminds you about it. (I’ll never forget Schmitty saying this is the town where you can experience the thrill of victory and the agony of reading about it the next day).
Thanks again for the baseball fix. Can’t wait til pitchers and catchers report.