How the Oakland Athletics can be good in 2015

The Oakland Athletics have made a series of perplexing moves. In a matter of weeks, GM Billy Beane has traded away Josh Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays, Brandon Moss to the Cleveland Indians and Jeff Samardzija to the Chicago White Sox.

As Oakland’s gotten worse by these moves, three American League foes have improved with Beane’s former players. This exodus in Oakland has urged talks of a rebuild and the A’s punting away its 2015 season. Do these skeptics understand how competitive Billy Beane is? His methods might be maddening to most fans, but he’ll never punt away an entire year.

When the emotion is stripped away from this series of moves, there’s a layer of reality that suggests Oakland can still be good in 2015. For a quick rundown, they need a healthy Brett Lawrie, strong contributions from Ike Davis and Billy Butler at first base/DH, added offense this offseason and at least two of the recently acquired players to contribute in 2015.

Are these outlandish possibilities? No, not particularly. Lawrie should be healthier off the turf and has the athleticism to succeed in every aspect of the game. With how horrible Moss was for a large chunk of 2014, Davis might not be a major step-down in production. He’s a cheaper version of Moss even if he’s not quite as good.

Butler’s a .295 career hitter who will be better than any DH Oakland used last season. Beane has a bit to spend and could bargain hunt for offense. Marcus Semien will have a chance to regularly start for the first time in his MLB career. Sean Nolin, Kendall Graveman and Chris Bassitt will all have an opportunity to land a spot in Oakland’s starting rotation or bullpen.

These trades hurt emotionally and represent a gigantic dip in productivity, but does anyone remember how prolifically bad Oakland was down the stretch of 2014? The A’s were 16-30 over a 46-game period and were seemingly incapable of scoring runs. Donaldson was severely hobbled, Moss suffered a power outage, Coco Crisp was completely ineffective and Derek Norris looked lost on both sides of the ball.

Beane has torn Oakland down, but what was built in the first place? It was a strong unit that made three straight playoff appearances. After back-to-back ALDS losses, Oakland then lost in an epic one-game playoff collapse. Given these playoff struggles and 2014’s dismal showing for a prolonged stretch, Beane’s decision to retool the franchise isn’t insane. If anything, it was a necessary shift.

Let’s also not forget who the A’s still have. Sonny Gray is an ace. For now, Scott Kazmir‘s in Oakland and is coming off an All-Star year. Josh Reddick is a Gold Glove outfielder and finally looked healthy toward the end of 2014. Crisp is still a dynamic player, but Craig Gentry and Sam Fuld are available as versatile speedsters should Crisp’s injuries plague him again. In the bullpen, Sean Doolittle is an elite closer, Ryan Cook is a former All-Star, Dan Otero is the most underrated reliever in the game and Fernando Abad is an excellent lefty.

What do the A’s have? A nice starting rotation with a collection of capable hurlers and a quality bullpen. Is that the makeup of a team that’s going to be horrible? The offense currently lacks power, but as said earlier, a healthy Lawrie could compensate for Donaldson’s loss. Davis and Butler could overcome the absence of Moss. The A’s were fantastic before landing Samardzija, so losing him shouldn’t be crippling.

The A’s seem perplexing right now. For the most part, nothing Beane’s doing makes sense to the general baseball community. In time, it’s not only possible, but likely, that these moves are understood. He’s amassed a number of young, affordable players. If Semien, Nolin, Graveman or anyone Oakland recently brought in becomes even remotely good, Beane will have a cheap and valuable asset under control for years.

Jarrod Parker, Cook, Norris, Reddick and others were ‘throwaway players’ Beane acquired when trading away premier talents. Since they became something, Oakland developed into a playoff team with a series of affordable assets. These seemingly random contributors are the key to Beane’s sustained success, not overpaying by Moneyball standards for Moss or resigning a nearly out of his prime Donaldson for $100+ million. Beane avoided these decisions for a reason. And come 2015, there are still plenty of reasons to think the A’s can be a quality team.