Oakland Athletics: Still Plenty to Watch for in a Rough Season

2016 has not been kind to the Oakland Athletics, both on the injury front, and subsequently in the standings. If the Minnesota Twins weren’t running away with the worst record in the American League, the A’s struggles would certainly be more noticeable. Yet, there is still plenty to keep an eye on in the coming months for A’s fans.

At 30-42 and 16.5 games behind the American League leading 47-win Texas Rangers in the AL West, the A’s face a serious uphill climb over nearly every team in the league if they hope to get a whiff of a wild card spot this season. Chances are extremely slim that will happen, with the offense essentially nonexistent of late, as evidenced by Oakland starters getting just their first win last night against the Angels since Sean Manaea (currently on the dialed list) got one in his June 1 start. Earlier this month the A’s went through a four-game stretch that saw them score just three runs against rebuilding Reds and Brewers squads. Times are tough in the East Bay.

That said, it’s likely that Oakland will begin to unload some of their talent in the coming weeks, and depending on how valuable assets Rich Hill and Josh Reddick return from injury (basically anyone that you’ve heard of besides Sonny Gray, who spent time on the DL earlier this season, is currently on the DL) the returns may jumpstart the team’s future.

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Last season the A’s landed Sean Manaea, who had a rough first couple of starts in the big leagues but had started to figure things out before landing on the disabled list, in a deadline deal with the Kansas City Royals last year for Ben Zobrist. Manaea can be filthy at times, relying on his changeup to keep hitters off-balance. After the game manager Paul Molitor said [Manaea’s] changeup was particularly effective against right-handed batters and that his guys were swinging at balls outside of the strike zone.

With more experience in the big leagues, Manaea could become a very solid number two or number three in the A’s rotation for years to come.

With Hill, Reddick and third baseman Danny Valencia likely to be traded, the A’s hold some of the power in negotiations this deadline, with a serous lack of depth at starting pitching on the market not only at the deadline, but also during next offseason. Reddick is a solid defensive right fielder that has shown that he can produce at the plate, when healthy. Valencia is arguably the biggest impact bat available at this year’s deadline after some tweaks have him hitting right-handers for power since his arrival in Oakland last season. Each of these three could bring a nice haul of near-ready minor leaguers, which pairs nicely with where the A’s are in their re-tool/rebuild.

On Saturday, Dillon Overton will make his Major League debut in Anaheim. The 23 year-old lefty was the A’s second round pick in 2013, and has put up solid numbers in his rise up the ladder, totaling a 3.06 ERA, an 8.4 strikeout per nine rate and a 1.9 walks per nine rate since 2014.

This season with Triple-A Nashville Overton has a 3.01 ERA over 83.2 innings pitched. With Gray back and pitching like he has in previous seasons, Manaea set to come off the DL, and with Overton being added to the rotation this weekend for what could be an extended stay given the team’s injuries at the moment, the A’s could get a nice look at their potential top three starters in the 2017 rotation for an extended period this season.

A little further down the line, say in September when rosters expand, A’s fans should get their first glimpses of some of the team’s top prospects. Number four prospect 3B Renato Nunez has loads of raw power, totaling 75 home runs in his last three seasons before 2016, while his teammate in Nashville, number six prospect 1B/RF Matt Olson (potentially Reddick’s replacement in right) has 86 homers in that same span, and is what the people call an OBP Machine. In High-A Stockton Olson had a .404 OBP, while last year in Double-A Midland he held a .388.

This year has been a struggle for both players, compared to their typical outputs in recent years, with Olson batting just .210 with a .326 OBP and Nunez hitting thirty points below his career average while still crushing the ball with 11 home runs. A hot streak for both players could easily help those numbers look more attractive than the roughly average output they have put forth this season according to wRC+.

Add them in with 2B/SS Chad Pinder, the team’s seventh-ranked prospect heading into this season, and the youth movement should be in full force later this season. If all three of these guys make it up in 2016, and they should given players on the move and the general ineffectiveness of the club, then five of Oakland’s top eight prospects entering the season will have been added to the big league roster at some point this season, with Manaea and Overton being the other two.

2017 could see the arrivals of both Franklin Barreto (the key piece from the Josh Donaldson deal) and 3B Matt Chapman, who has been known as a glove-first player, but has really developed some power over the last two seasons, belting 23 home runs in the California League last year, and 16 so far in the Texas League this season. Barreto is one of the youngest players in the Texas League after turning 20 this year (well he’s only older than the Dodgers Alex Verdugo actually), and while he’s batting just .240, nearly sixty points below his 2015 mark, his BABIP stands at just .283, and his walk rate has gone up by 2.5%, so it’s not all bad. Barreto played some center field in the Venezuelan Winter League, but has returned to manning both shortstop and second base with Midland. He could end up being the A’s replacement for Coco Crisp in the outfield when the time comes.

Next: Is it Time for Reed in Houston?

The core is in place for the next round of A’s players, and throughout the course of 2016 we should begin to see each of these players make their big league debuts. It will take some time for them to find their footing in the Major Leagues, but if they do, the dark times in Oakland shouldn’t last too much longer.

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