February 16, 2015

Changes, Oakland Athletics

With major league teams going through trading frenzies this off-season, Baseball Musings takes a look at the players added by each team this off-season, continuing with the Oakland Athletics. The Athletics brought in the following players from other organizations:

It’s sad that Kendall Graveman is a starting pitcher. He has the perfect name for a closer. He is not a high K pitcher, however. Graveman was extremely stingy with walks and home runs in the minors, so I suspect the Athletics see him as a Greg Maddux type starter.

The immediate star, however, will be Ben Zobrist. Zobrist ranks seventh over the last five seasons in fWAR, with a great mix of offense and defense. I think his lack of a definite position makes him a bit underrated in the eyes of the casual fan, but getting Zobrist goes a long way toward replace Josh Donaldson.

The Athletics fill the 1b/dh slots cheaply with slick fielding/get on base Ike Davis and hope for a bounce back year Billy Butler. Davis is great at chasing foul pop flies, and the Coliseum will give him ample opportunity to show off.

Most of the acquisitions are young, but not too young relievers. It seems Oakland looked for pitchers who strike out a high number of batters, without being too concerned with walk totals. They only need two or three of the group to shine to make the deals worthwhile.

Finally, there is reclamation project Brett Lawrie. He made a big splash in his 43 game rookie year, but regressed ever since. He will play 2015 as a 25 year old, meaning he’s just entering his prime. If Oakland can turn around his hitting, they can capture his prime while the older Josh Donaldson declines for the Blue Jays.

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