The Oakland A’s aren’t too far away from their ‘Moneyball’ days. They still rely on young homegrown talent and basic sabermetric strategies that Billy Beane helped usher into baseball. They just lack some of the star power like when Miguel Tejada, Jason Giambi and Barry Zito were first breaking into the big leagues.
Another issue with this A’s team is that their best young pitchers are either not quite ready for the Majors or will miss the season due to Tommy John surgery.
Can Billy Beane compete with this group of players or will they need to add another starter to get through the year?
Here is the 2018 MLB season preview for the Oakland A’s.
2017 Win/Loss Record: 75-87
Key Additions: C Jonathan Lucroy, OF Stephen Piscotty, RP Yusmeiro Petit, RP Emilio Pagan, RP Ryan Buchter, OF Slade Heathcott & 2B Steve Lombardozzi
Key Losses: 3B Ryon Healy, SP Jesse Hahn, RP Josh Smith, SP Michael Brady, RP Sam Moll & RP Chris Smith
Interleague Schedule: NL West
Projected Starters: Jonathan Lucroy, Matt Olson, Jed Lowrie, Matt Chapman, Marcus Semien, Matt Joyce, Boog Powell, Stephen Piscotty & Khris Davis
Projected Starting Rotation: Kendall Graveman, Sean Manaea, Paul Blackburn, Andrew Triggs & Daniel Mengden
Closer: Blake Treinen
Fantasy Sleeper: C Jonathan Lucroy – I still believe in Lucroy. Maybe it’s because I relied on his consistency in fantasy for so many years, but I think he still has a year or two left as a fantasy-relevant catcher. He could be worth a late-round pick as a backup if you have a catcher that rests two games a week. He could pay dividends if his average comes back.
Prospect To Keep Your Eye On: SP A.J. Puk – Puk is one of the best pitching prospects in baseball. He has swing-and-miss stuff and nice fastball/curveball combo. He was just sent down to the minors after spending a couple weeks with the big league squad in Spring Training. He should get some starts for Oakland at some point this season since Jharel Cotton is set to have Tommy John surgery. They have an opening in the rotation and it could be good for the young guy to get some experience facing big league batters.
Team Analysis: The A’s have a typical Billy Beane lineup. They have power hitters on cheap contracts and guys who are OBP machines. They continue to get career years out of mostly unheralded guys. No one really expected Matt Olson to knock 24 homers in only 189 at-bats. There’s absolutely no way he will hit for power at that rate this season…and don’t hate him if he can’t repeat that Hall of Fame-level rate.
Oakland was hit with some bad news as one of their young aces Jharel Cotton will need Tommy John surgery. They will not use Kendall Graveman, Sean Manaea and Paul Blackburn as their front-of-the-rotation starters. They could be top-three starters later in their careers, but I don’t see any of them ready for this spot. They gravely need an innings-eating front-of-the-rotation starter. There are still some inning eaters out there, but none of them should really be front-end starters at this point in their careers.
I’m predicting Oakland will be a 76-win team thanks for their young hitters and their ability to get on base. I also think their bullpen is underrated. Yusmeiro Petit is one of the best long relievers in baseball. I was surprised when the A’s picked him up. The AL West is stacked, so the A’s will most likely finish fourth.
2018 Wins Over/Under Betting Line: 75.5 (Prediction: OVER)
2018 Projected Win/Loss Record: 76-86 (4th in AL West)
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About the Author…
Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.