2020 record - 36-24, 1st place in AL West
Key Addition - Elvis Andrus
Elvis has left the building and joined Oakland by way of a trade this offseason. Mr .247, Khris Davis went the other way in the February trade with the Rangers, which also included minor leaguers.
Andrus had spent his whole career in Texas and is 2nd on their list for most games played, first in stolen bases and 3rd in hits. But the Athletics had a need for a new shortstop after Marcus Semien left as a free agent.
But despite Oakland's need for a shortstop, this was an unusual trade for a number of reasons. Firstly, it's rare for two teams to trade within the same division. Secondly, Andrus & Davis haven't been good recently. In fact, they both had negative WAR last season. Finally, Texas sent a lot of money over to Oakland - $13.5m - to help cover some of Andrus' salary.
Oakland seems to have acted in desperation in order to get a shortstop. Any shortstop. But maybe they see something in Andrus that the Rangers didn't; they announced some time ago that Isiah Kiner-Falefa would be their starting SS.
When Andrus signed his monster 8 year $120m contract extension in 2013, he had finished 2nd in rookie of the year voting and been voted to the All-Star game twice in 4 years. But he hasn't been to another one since then.
Andrus is a seasoned veteran though and we predict that he'll have a better season than he did in 2020, but will still be a marked downgrade from Marcus Semien.
A .250 average with 10 home runs and 55 RBI seems like a fair prediction for Andrus in 2021.
Just missed out - Trevor Rosenthal, Mitch Moreland
Key Departure - Liam Hendriks
We chose Hendriks here, but really we could have picked any one of a number of players who have left Oakland this offseason.
We already mentioned Marcus Semien above. Tommy La Stella had a solid 2020 season and impressed in the playoffs. Robbie Grossman was a reliable bat and glove at LF. Mike Minor was a reliable innings eater in the rotation. Joakim Soria had an ERA below 3 last season.
The list goes on and all of them will start 2021 with new teams.
But the Athletics will probably miss Hendriks the most. He has arguably been the dominating closer in the game over the last 2 seasons. He's picked up 39 saves with an ERA of 1.79 and had a very impressive 13.1 K/9.
With Hendriks reaching free agency, it was always going to be extremely unlikely that Oakland would be able to afford Hendriks so they quickly turned their attention towards getting a replacement.
They did well to sign Trevor Rosenthal to be their closer though. Rosenthal has struggled with injuries, including Tommy John Surgery in 2017 but he was excellent last season. Especially with the Padres after a mid-season trade where he pitched in 9 games to a 0.00 ERA and held batters to a batting average 0.091.
If Rosenthal can stay healthy all season long, then perhaps Oakland won't miss Hendriks too much.
Notable rookie cards - James Kaprielian
James Kaprielian is the only Oakland representative in the rookie class of 2021 Topps Series 1.
Kaprielian made a very brief Major League debut in 2020 where he pitched 3.2 innings over 2 games. But the fact that Kaprielian even made it to the Majors is nothing short of incredible.
He was drafted in the 1st round of the 2015 draft by the Yankees before being traded to Oakland, but he missed an astonishing 3 seasons (2016-18) due to injury.
While his stat line from 2020 in a very small sample size isn't pretty, his performance certainly offers promise. He was able to demonstrate that his fastball velocity was close to pre-surgery levels and is fully healthy.
We think that he will probably start the season at AAA Vegas but will get another taste of action at the Coliseum at some point.
Oakland does not have a very strong farm system. Partly through bad luck (Kyler Murray, for example, was drafted in the 1st round in 2018, signed with the A's and then reneged to play in the NFL) and partly through prospects not developing as they would have hoped.
Their lack of quality prospects is evident by them not having a single player on the MLB Pipeline top 100 players; so to have Kaprielian healthy and back in action is a welcome sight for A's fans.
Predicted 2021 Team MVP - Matt Chapman
Chapman had another very good season in 2020 and we expect that will continue into this season. The third baseman who famously told USA Today that "we're used to not having too many fans" clearly wasn't affected by the pandemic and fans not being able to attend games.
Last year he hit 21 extra base hits including 10 home runs, continued to have a hard hit rate above MLB average and fielded 3rd base as well as anyone.
For us, the 2021 Oakland MVP likely comes from 1 of 3 players; Chapman, Matt Olsen and Ramon Laureano. But we think that Chapman will just edge ahead.
We predict he will hit .250 with 35 home runs and 90 RBI in 2021.
Player to watch for the future - A.J. Puk
As we mentioned earlier, the Athletics' farm system isn't the deepest and injuries have been rampant within their ranks.
Puk certainly fits into that category. He is another 1st round pick who has incredible potential, especially in terms of his stuff. In 3 minor league seasons, Puk has a 12.9 K/9 and an ERA below 4 which is outstanding. He lights up the radar gun too, with the ability to hit triple digits with his fastball when healthy.
But being healthy hasn't been easy for him. He has missed significant amounts of time due to shoulder injuries and Tommy John surgery.
However, he appears to be well on the road to recovery and we will hopefully see him in the Oakland green and gold this season.
Obviously, the Athletics will be keen to manage his innings carefully in his return from long-term injury. We are hopeful that he makes the rotation for Opening Day but eventually transitions into the bullpen to manage his inning count.
If that happens, we think that 90 innings with an ERA around 3.80 are realistic targets for Puk.
Storyline to keep an eye on - Will this be the year that plans finally get settled for a new ballpark?
The Athletics have played at the Coliseum since 1968 and are the sole occupants since the Raiders moved to Las Vegas. But it has seen better days.
The was a major sewage problem in 2013 which saw raw sewage leaking into offices and the training facilities and the Coliseum regularly finishes at or near the bottom of best ballpark votes. Although from our experiences there, this is more than a little unfair. We like the acres of foul territory and really enjoyed the games we saw there.
But it didn't always have this poor general reputation. Prior to 1996, there was a view of the Oakland Hills beyond the outfield which was as picturesque as any in the Major Leagues. Mount Davis, named after the then Raiders owner, was built to pack more fans into the stadium. This huge seating section blocked the stunning view, which was at least in part due to the agreement to bring the Raiders to back to Oakland.
All of these factors combine to make the A's an ongoing storyline regarding either relocation or a building a new ballpark.
Thankfully the talk of relocation has died down but moving to a new home hasn't. But is this the year that it finally comes to a head?
In February, a third design was submitted for a new ballpark to be build at Howard Terminal in Oakland. The 34,000 capacity proposal looks stunning, it's right next to the water and has a beautiful looking rooftop garden incorporated into it's design.
There are still hurdles still to overcome, like who will pay and improving transport links to name just two. But at least things appear to be moving forward after some years of stagnation - both figuratively and literally.
Will this be the year that plans are firmly made to move the Athletics to a new home?
Prediction for 2021 - 3rd in the AL West
We don't think that the A's are as strong this season as they were in 2020 when they won the division. Their bullpen was a major strength for them last year and they have lost a significant portion of it to free agency. But they have made acquired some very good replacements.
Chapman, Laureano and Olsen are quality hitters, and Jesus Luzardo has a ton of potential in their rotation.
But we think that the Angels will just pip them at the post in the race for 2nd place in a AL West. It'll be close and betting against Oakland isn't usually a good idea but we think that they miss the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
Do you agree with our predictions? Or have we got them horribly wrong?
Let us know in the comments or on twitter.
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