[thehatfield]

Relievers

#93 J.P. Howell 36, $930,000, Lefty (0-7 7.73 ERA 46G 7GS 1SV)
Spot starter and mop-up man Howell is another Oakland player with Kansas City roots and another player who did a circuit (K.C. -> Chicago White Sox -> St. Louis Cardinals) before joining up with the A’s in 2017. In his time in gold & green Howell has gone 8-26 with a 6.78 ERA and 3 saves. Although he is the hardest thrower on the entire staff with a 92 m.p.h. fastball Howell is eligible for free agency this year and at 36-years old likely won’t be retained. He’s got below average control and stuff and just barely average movement on his pitches these days. It’s time to start bringing in some younger, more lively arms and Howell is the perfect fit to clear some room on the roster.

#29 Emesto Salgardo 32, $350,000, Righty (3-6 7.80 ERA 72G 1SV)
Salgardo was a 7th round pick of the San Francisco Giants in 2009 and moved across the bay in 2014 after being released outright. A two-time AAA All-Star, Salgardo has not been able to translate his minor league dominance into a successful Major League career. In 2018 a comebacker to the mound bounced off the heel of his glove and fractured his eye socket leaving him blurry-eyed and with virtually no control of his pitches. Despite that fact, my predecessor signed him to a 2-year extension at $370,000 per year as Salgardo’s contract expired at the end of this season, no doubt one of those “final straws” that led to the former GM’s firing. Any velocity Emesto had was ruined when he ruptured a tendon in his tricep in 2019, forcing him to miss the entire season. The only bright spot was his return last year to appear in 72 games although late in the year it was clear from the declining stats that the Costa Rican had been overused and had nothing left in the tank. We have to try to get rid of him this year.

#37 Ed Sourley 34, $350,000, Lefty (5-2 5.56 ERA 78G 1SV)
Sourley, now in his second stint with the A’s, has been with 7 different organizations and 8 different teams over the last 10 years. Whenever he would come into a game last season he would get as wild cheers as are possible from the 5,000 fans in attendance as he was one of only two pitchers on the Major League roster with a winning record. Between Sourley’s 2 stints in Oakland he has an amazing 11-4 record with a 5.07 ERA which makes him one of the 25 pitchers with career winning records out of 120 that have ever appeared in an A’s uniform. He’s a free agent, yet another completely average pitcher with a fastball in the mid-80s and unlikely to be brought back despite his kitschy folk-hero status.

#21 Josh Frank 25, $350,000, Lefty (2-1 3.99 ERA 55G 1SV)
Josh Frank has been one of the few recent bright spots for the A’s. Drafted in the 18th round of the 2013 draft by the Baltimore Orioles, 516th overall, Frank has wicked stuff and slightly above average control even though his pitches sometimes come in very flat. The old regime thought enough of Frank to trade highly regarded 21-year old defensive catching prospect Dene Dillman, himself a former 1st round pick, to the Orioles prior to the start of last season. Despite coming out of nowhere, Frank appears to have a decent Major League career ahead of him and will be bound to the club automatically for next season. Last year he worked his way into position as the left-handed setup man and he’ll certainly be a large part of the bullpen in 2021.

#11 Ed Robinson 25, $1,035,000, Righty (0-2 6.94 ERA 23G 1SV)
Yet another hurler that can barely break a wet paper bag with his fastball, Robinson was acquired from the Orioles prior to last season in one of the great steals of 2019 for 20-year old blue-chip shortstop prospect Robbin Granier. Even a casual look at Granier reveals a man with the talent to become an All Star talent for years to come. Unfortunately Robinson, the right-handed setup man, is nowhere near in that class. His only asset is his great movement and otherwise he’s below average in terms of control and stuff. If he can learn to pitch the deal might not be a total and complete ripoff. If the A’s had kept their old GM we may have been forced to accept arbitration on Robinson for next year just so we didn’t have so much egg on our collective face but if an opportunity comes to dump him I’m going to do it.

#33 Jonathan Leverett 29, $2,451,200, Lefty (4-10 4.16 ERA 54G 21SV)
Leverett has been our closer for the last two years and isn’t a bad pitcher – a former first-round pick of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays acquired in a trade prior to the 2018 season. His 56 career saves for the A’s is 9th all-time on our career save leader list. He’s got average stuff but above average movement and control and can actually hit 90 m.p.h. on the gun. We’re going to take a look at extending his contract but even if those talks break down we’ll have the chance to bring him back through arbitration. If we can find a shutdown closer in the off-season the organization and I would feel a lot better about dropping Leverett back into a Middle Reliever slot.

#47 Anastasio Aviles 26, $350,000, Lefty (2-4 6.66 ERA 68G 1SV)
The last regularly appearing reliever on the staff, Aviles earned his save on the last day of the regular season last year giving every A’s reliever at least 1 save. It’s becoming a far too familiar analysis – Aviles tops out at 86 miles-per-hour, has no movement on his pitches and has average everything else. Another auto-renew making the league minimum salary, one has to wonder what the previous management was thinking by constructing a staff of nearly identical pitchers. If we can get rid of him we shall.

On The Farm
Once again the farm is barren in terms of arms. There are plenty of pitchers, but none that are likely to help us in 2021.

Analysis
After looking at the starters too I don’t think we need lots of pitching. We need enormous amounts and at every single level of the organization. There isn’t a prospect anywhere near being ready to step in and none that can throw hard. Unless we can pull off some magic this winter we are going to have an absurdly poor pitching staff.

After all that it was time for some sleep. Looking at the pitching staff has been so depressing I've asked Herb, Jeff & Gaspar not to reconvene for a couple of days at which point we'll take a long look at the hitters.