A's 2015 Season Preview:
And so the vicious circle continues. Months after the A's reached their first World Series since 1990, Billy Beane let playoff hero Billy Butler walk despite carrying an option for another year on his contract. Butler was just the first of many to leave the A's during the offseason in a payroll purge. The salary dump has done little to spark interest in a buyer for the team, and the A's appear to have no long-term vision for the ballclub. Any hopes of Oakland being a major player in the 2016 offseason -- Clayton Kershaw, Miguel Cabrera, and Justin Upton are scheduled to be free agents -- are foolhardy at best. But all is not lost in Oakland, where the A's could very well field another playoff contender in '15.
Michael Saunders (.254, 22 HR for Seattle in 2014) is an upgrade over Coco Crisp in the outfield. Matt Dominguez (.263, 23 HR, 74 RBI with Houston and Texas in '14) is expected to take over third base, with Josh Donaldson (.290, 16 HR) shifting to a DH role. Minor league prospect Addison Russell should battle Josh Rutledge (.274, 10 HR for Colorado) for the starting shortstop job vacated by Jed Lowrie. Mark Trumbo (.253, 27 HR, 79 RBI) moves out of a platoon to become the A's fulltime first baseman.
Holdovers Yoenis Cespedes (.265, 25 HR, 86 RBI) and Josh Reddick (.252, 23 HR, 70 RBI) will anchor the outfield, while Matt Wieters (.264, 12 HR, 66 RBI) is behind the plate for a second year in Oakland and Jemile Weeks (.312, 8 HR) holds down second base.
The A's stellar pitching staff remains relatively unchanged. Dan Strailey (4-7, 2.66 ERA) and Jarrod Parker (11-3, 2.87 ERA) headline a rotation that led the AL with a 3.82 ERA. Tommy Milone (12-9, 3.49) and Zach Britton (15-11, 3.76) are locks to make the starting five, while AJ Griffin (13-11, 5.21), Maikel Cleto (6-0, 2.79 in 90.1 innings of relief for Tampa Bay), and Taijuan Walker (4-7, 4.79 ERA in a mid-season call-up for Seattle) will battle for the fifth and final spot in the rotation.
The bullpen is loaded with the usual suspects, with a healthy Carlos Marmol (2-2, 1.36 ERA, 24 saves in 46.1 IP) taking the closer's role full-time, helped by set-up men Sean Doolittle (3.42 ERA, 20 saves) and Ryan Cook (1.88 ERA, 2 saves).
2014 Record:
93-69 (won AL West, lost to Washington Nationals in World Series)
Key additions:
OF Michael Saunders (trade), P Taijuan Walker (trade), 3B Matt Dominguez (trade), P Maikel Cleto (trade), IF Josh Rutledge (trade)
Key departures:
1B Billy Butler (free agency), OF Coco Crisp (free agency), SS Jed Lowrie (trade), OF Delmon Young (trade), 1B B.A. Vollmuth (trade), P Johan Santana (trade), 2B Darwin Barney
Preaseason Projections and Lineup...