Oakland Athletics: The Good and the Bad In 2016

The Good

Without question, the best part of 2016 for A’s fans may have been the trade deadline. Sure, they inexplicably lost speedster Billy Burns for Royals’ outfielder Brett Eibner, but the return that Beane got for outfielder Josh Reddick and starter Rich Hill was phenomenal. The A’s added Frankie Montas, Grant Holmes and Jharel Cotton, three highly-rated right-handers.

Cotton made five starts for the A’s, posting a 2-0 record with a 2.15 ERA. He allowed just 20 hits and 7 earned runs in 30 innings, while striking out 23 batters. If there’s anyone who the Athletics should put their trust in for 2017, this is the guy.

There were other positives in 2016, as well:

Ryon Healy:

Third baseman Ryon Healy made a name for himself after making his major league debut this season, including earning Rookie of the Month honors in September. Healy batted .305/.337/.524 in 72 games with the A’s, making just over 280 plate appearances.

The rookie third baseman also slugged 13 home runs – the fifth highest total among A’s players – despite playing only half as many games as the players ahead of him. He finished the year with the best OPS on the team. It was a strong first impression for the 24-year-old, who should be back next season as the everyday third baseman.

Sean Manaea:

Manaea didn’t blow the league away in his rookie season, but let’s be serious: no one thought the left-hander was going to be in the big leagues until at least mid-season, and probably later. Instead, the 24-year-old was thrust into the front of the rotation when the A’s desperately needed pitching help early in the year. Altogether, he made 25 appearances this season, including 24 starts.

Manaea held his own despite the early jump to the majors, posting a 3.86 ERA and striking out 124 – not bad for a rookie on a losing team. With a year of experience under his belt, Manaea is sure to be an asset to the A’s next season. His composure on the mound and his ability to make the leap to the majors ahead of schedule were impressive traits.

Ryan Dull:

There were points in the season where Ryan Dull deserved reliever-of-the-year consideration. In just over 74 innings, the right-hander owned a 2.42 ERA. He allowed 20 runs all season, and struck out 73 batters. His 2.42 ERA in 70 appearances was tops in the A’s bullpen by far.

In July, Dull set a major league record by stranding the first 36 runners he inherited this season. In his next outing, his streak was snapped when a runner scored on a much-needed double-play ball. If there’s a good way to end a streak like that, it’s certainly by preserving a win for your team. Dull should be one of the keys to the bullpen in 2017, and his performance this year was truly memorable.

Rich Hill:

Writers (this one included) widely panned the Hill signing over the winter. A bad reliever, given a guaranteed rotation spot based on four September outings against mostly bad teams? No thanks, Billy Beane. Yet, the Hill signing proved to be a great one for the A’s. Before hitting the DL with a blister problem, Hill earned a 2.25 ERA and struck out 90 batters in 76 innings.

It was enough to pique the interest of teams around the league at the deadline, and Hill helped the A’s to acquire three players who will give the team a boost for years to come. This is one gamble that definitely paid off for the A’s front office.

Khris Davis:

Davis proved that he’s still good at slugging home runs, even in the pitcher-friendly confines of the Oakland Coliseum. The outfielder smashed 42 homers, and consequently was the only Athletic to knock in more than 100 RBIs. He was also the first A’s player to hit 40 home runs since Jason Giambi did so in 2000.

Heading into next season, Davis is the only Oakland Athletics’ outfielder with a guaranteed everyday job, and rightfully so. The A’s have found a true cleanup hitter, even if he did strike out 166 times. Davis provided a big boost in a lineup that was often very limited when it came to scoring runs.

The Decision To Ditch Billy Butler:

As mentioned earlier, the Athletics released Butler shortly after his clubhouse altercation with Valencia. In addition to his off-field antics, his performance at the plate had been disappointing over the past two seasons.

The A’s still have to pay up for the remaining year on his contract, but they certainly are better off without Butler on the team. Not only do they get the 25th spot on the roster back; they don’t have to worry about him clogging up the base paths anymore. Butler consistently ranked at the bottom of the league in terms of base-running ability, and never really provided the kind of extra base power one would expect from a player with no defensive abilities.

This was likely a hard decision, but a great move on the part of Beane.

The Bad

The Oakland Athletics’ injury woes were undoubtedly the worst part of their season. Beginning with Jarrod Parker, who reinjured his elbow in Spring Training and missed his third consecutive season, the A’s players were consistently battling injuries.

For some of those injured Athletics, this was likely their last season in an A’s uniform. Outfielder Sam Fuld missed the year after undergoing rotator cuff surgery in April. Off-season acquisition Henderson Alvarez never pitched a game due to continuing shoulder problems, although he did pitch 33 innings of rehab work in the minors. It’s unlikely that either will return next season, as Alvarez has already been outrighted to Triple-A.

Both Chris Bassitt and Felix Doubront underwent Tommy John surgery to start the season, although Bassitt made five starts before his injury. Bassitt will be back next year, but Doubront is likely to elect free agency.

Former Rule 5 pick Mark Canha played 27 games before the A’s lost him to season-ending hip surgery, and Eric Sogard also missed the 2016 campaign after he underwent knee surgery in April. Sogard was outrighted this week as well, so he too may also elect free agency over returning to the A’s next season.

Aside from the disabled list, there were quite a few other disappointments:

Sonny Gray:

Gray nearly took home the Cy Young in 2015, but his performance this season was far from award-worthy. In 22 starts, Gray went 5-11 with a 5.69 ERA. He walked 42 batters and struck out just 94, over 117 innings.

In addition to posting abysmal numbers for an ace, Gray had a pair of disabled list stints. It simply wasn’t a good season for the young right-hander. At 26 years old, it’s important to remember that there are still plenty of seasons left in Gray’s future. If he was going to have a poor year, this was certainly the best time for it, given the rest of the team’s performance.

The A’s are hoping he’ll bounce back in 2017, and there’s no reason to think he won’t. A pitcher who has been as consistently good as Gray has been in his career doesn’t just fall off the radar like this. Hopefully, he can put all of his struggles this year in the rearview mirror prior to Spring Traing.

The Whole Pitching Staff:

Overall, it was a disappointing year for most of the A’s hurlers. The team had the second-worst ERA in the AL, behind only the Minnesota Twins. Opposing hitters batted .263 against them, which ranked 13th among AL clubs.

While Sean Manaea held his own in the majors, the A’s would be lying if they tried to say he was ready for a big league job at the time he debuted. However, the alternatives to Manaea included pitchers like Ross Detwiler, Eric Surkamp, and Daniel Coulombe – players who are perhaps better suited to a long-relief role than a starting job. Oakland felt that they had no choice but to call Manaea up, rushing his development.

Unfortunately for the A’s, the injuries to their starters continued to pile up, and they ended up needing those less-than-top-tier arms as well. Kendall Graveman underperformed at times, as well. The combination of these factors made the Athletics pitching staff one of the weakest points of their roster, despite some interesting debuts by top pitching prospects like Daniel Mengden and Jharel Cotton.

The Use of Andrew Triggs

Let’s say you manage to acquire a career reliever with the talent to be a top-notch bullpen arm. Then, due to a lack of options, you have him throw 76 pitches in a relief outing before forcing him into a new role as a spot-starter.

That’s a pretty irresponsible way to manage a young and potentially-useful reliever. Despite the fact that Triggs pitched pretty well, for what he was asked to do – a 4.31 ERA in 56 innings – this was a disappointing decision. Triggs ended his season early, after being pulled from a start with a back injury.

As a closer for Baltimore’s Double-A club last season, Triggs posted a 1.03 ERA and struck out 70 batters in 61 innings. Since being drafted in 2012, Triggs had never earned an ERA over 2.90 – but that was as a reliever.

Beane seems to think that this experiment with Triggs was successful, and that he might be a potential starter next season – but in the future, the A’s should refrain from using quality relievers in potentially-damaging situations.

The Entire Offense (Except Healy and Davis)

The A’s did not meet expectations at the plate in 2016, struggling with everything from power to contact. Among AL teams, the A’s ranked 14th in batting average (.246), 14th in stolen bases (50) and last in OPS (just .699). They also only ranked 12th in home runs.

Those numbers are atrocious, especially considering that the A’s had Khris Davis and his 42 homers on their side. There were two MLB players who had more individual stolen bases than the A’s did as a team.

The A’s have to hope that Stephen Vogt, who was an All-Star in the first half but fell off after the break, will get things turned around heading into next season. Young players like Ryon Healy and even Joey Wendle could help the club to turn things around offensively if given a full season in the big leagues.

The A’s have a lot of room for improvement offensively, so Billy Beane and David Forst will need to be on the lookout for some reliable bats over the winter.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the Athletics were a tough team to watch in 2016. They solidly owned last place in the AL West, posting a 69-93 record. The division-winning Texas Rangers were 26 games ahead by the end of the season.

However, the A’s have some interesting names for next season. The rotation should be back in order, led by Sonny Gray. Sean Manaea, Jharel Cotton, and Kendall Graveman will give the A’s solid starts. If the Athletics learned one lesson this season, it would likely be the importance of starting pitching depth. Look for Beane and Forst to target starters over the winter.

To be successful next year, the Athletics must decide whether their window for contention is open or closed. The front office cannot make the same mistakes as they have done the last two winters. Signing an expensive designated hitter like Billy Butler while simultaneously dealing Josh Donaldson sends mixed signals to the fans and the players.

Next: Atlanta Braves: A Look Back at 2016

The A’s don’t need to spend big to win, but they do need to focus on improving their offense and giving their young players the veteran clubhouse leadership they need to be successful. If Beane isn’t willing to change his strategy this winter, the A’s will have a hard time getting things back on track next season.