Designated Hitter is Oakland Athletics Top Storyline Entering Spring Training
Not well known for dipping their toes into the waters of free agency, the Oakland Athletics instead tend to build their team through drafting and developing prospects and the trade savviness of front office executive Billy Beane. During this year’s offseason, the A’s brought pitchers Henderson Alvarez, Ryan Madson and John Axford on board for six total years, committing a combined $36.25 million to the trio.
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This is a pretty big splash for a club like the A’s, but they spread their resources out amongst three players who will play key roles on the pitching staff. During the 2014 offseason, Oakland inked former Royal Billy Butler to be their designated hitter for the next three seasons. The A’s gave him a three year deal worth $30MM. After a disappointing 2015 in which Country Breakfast did not come close to matching some of his career averages at the dish, Beane made a trade to acquire left fielder Khris Davis from the Brewers for a couple of little known prospects.
Davis’ 27 home runs in 2015 would have led the A’s by a significant margin that year, as right fielder Josh Reddick headlined the club with an even 20. Butler tied for fifth on the club with 15, while his .251/.323/.390 slash line and OPS+ of 96 were marks well below his career lines of .290/.355/.442 and 116.
Davis, meanwhile, set a career high in home runs and stolen bases and he only played in 121 games, recording 392 at-bats. His OPS+ of 122 minimizes Butler’s affect even more when one considers that Davis’ 66 RBI outpaced Butler’s 65 despite the former having recorded 146 less at-bats than the A’s designated hitter in 2015.
Now of course, Davis is a left fielder by trade. Given Coco Crisp‘s injury background, Davis should provide Oakland with solid insurance in the outfield should Crisp or Reddick miss a significant amount of time. Crisp is more capable with his glove than Davis, so it should be assumed that Butler will be on a short leash at DH.
There’s not much disparity between how Davis has hit lefties versus righties (.238/.254) in his career, while Butler has traditionally hit southpaws much better (.302/.286). In 2015, Butler was crippled by left-handed pitching, slashing .200/.337/.350 compared to right-handers at .269/.317/.405. It’s a perplexing development to see a baseball player who has thus far earned his living by crushing left-handed pitching see his batting average drop over 100 full points off from his career mark.
Playing in the American League, the Oakland Athletics managed a mere 146 home runs in 2015. Only the Indians, Royals and White Sox hit fewer while only the White Sox had a lower team slugging percentage. Butler’s transformation into a very average hitter had a lot to do with these mediocre outputs. Reddick led the club with 77 RBI and no single Athletic player hit over .300 last season.
Another option the A’s may explore at DH is the out of nowhere 2015 player, Mark Canha. An obscure seventh round pick from the 2011 draft, a 26-year-old Canha put together a pretty solid line of .254-16-70 in 441 at-bats last season. His oWAR of 1.6 in 2015 far outproduced Butler’s -0.6. Anytime a club has a designated hitter actually being detrimental to offensive production, it’s probably best to explore other options. In Davis and Canha, manager Bob Melvin way well do so.
Davis likely won’t be a godsend for the A’s in 2016 and he’s not a candidate to hit .300, but his blend of raw power and ability to player either corner outfield spot as well as push Butler in his DH role to be better will be a valuable addition to Oakland’s roster.