Oakland Athletics 2017 Team Preview
By Jason Burke
Key Additions
The Oakland Athletics made some under-the-radar signings, as well as bringing back some players that they are already familiar with this offseason. It’s doubtful that the front office set out this offseason to bring back 2008 nostalgia, but that is in essence what they’ve done by adding Santiago Casilla, Rajai Davis and Adam Rosales.
Casilla had a rough time across the bay in 2016, getting a large portion of the blame for the Giants bullpen woes, and then basically being shown the door after winning three championships with the club. When he was still available on the market come January, the A’s figured why not and signed him to a two-year deal. In desperate need for a centerfielder, the team took a similar tact with Davis to a one year deal.
Rosales will be a bench player that can fill in and do the job anywhere on the infield, which will be a nice boost if Jed Lowrie misses time again.
The other two additions that the A’s made were signing Trevor Plouffe to man third base and Matt Joyce to play right field. Plouffe has 20 homer potential if he gets the playing time. Joyce only hit .242 last season, but his OBP was a selling point for Oakland at .403. With Joyce and Khris Davis on either side of Rajai Davis, the hope is that Rajai can cover a little extra ground to help compensate for any defensive shortcomings on the corners.
Arguably the biggest offseason addition that Oakland made however didn’t come on the field. Dave Kaval, the team’s new president, takes over for Lew Wolff, who was not terribly beloved in the bay area.
Kaval has brought excitement to the fan base, expressing a desire to stay in Oakland with a new “Rooted in Oakland” marketing campaign that really hits home since both the Golden State Warriors and Oakland Raiders (presumably) are on their way out of the city. He has been holding office hours every Tuesday to get input from the fans and has added more food options to the ballpark menu outside of the Coliseum’s usual hot dogs and burgers.
Kaval has reignited the fan base and hopes to have a new ballpark location picked out by the end of the year. After a decade and a half, we may have some resolution to this whole fiasco, and that is why Kaval has been such a big addition to the A’s.