Oakland Athletics 2017 Team Preview
By Jason Burke
2017 Outlook
If you’re an optimist like myself, you’re going to look at the depth in both the bullpen and the rotation and see that the A’s have enough to keep them in plenty of ballgames. At the same time, they didn’t do a whole lot to improve upon their defense, which was horrific last year, and they lack the offensive firepower to compete with teams like the Astros and Mariners in their own division, let alone the Red Sox and Indians.
Here is likely who we’re looking at in the rotation:
If Gray returns to form and Manaea continues to improve, they have a solid one-two punch in the rotation. Graveman is a solid starter, though unspectacular, and both Triggs and Cotton have a lot of upside. If someone gets injured or falters, there are other options available like Frankie Montas, Jesse Hahn, and down the line Chris Bassitt, depending on how his recovery from Tommy John progresses.
Each of those eight has plenty of upside and should be one of the strengths of the club this season. The other strength will be having four closers on the roster. Granted, none of them is a top-end closer, but Ryan Madson, Sean Doolittle, John Axford and Casilla all have plenty of experience in the ninth and give manager Bob Melvin plenty of options to close out a game.
The offense will be a bit tougher to piece together with so many moving parts. True to Oakland Athletics form, they’ll be utilizing a number of players in different positions on a daily basis. Healy could man first, third or DH on any given day, but Alonso, Plouffe and Stephen Vogt will be in each of those spots as well, so finding playing time for everyone will be tricky.
How well the team performs overall will depend on the pitching staff, particularly the starters. If Sonny Gray bounces back and the A’s are out of it, do the Red Sox come knocking with an apparent need for another starter? Do the A’s make him available and potentially waste some of the newfound goodwill within the fan base?
Predictions: I’m going to put the A’s at 76 wins this season, but if they can stay relatively healthy I’ll tack a few more to that total to get them to .500. They won’t make the playoffs either way, but seeing some of the younger players develop is almost more important for the upcoming year. There is a chance that they could end up in third place in the AL West if the Angels don’t get a full season out of Garrett Richards and the Rangers prove to be an apparition after all of their one-run wins a year ago. A’s fans may finally get a look at Franklin Barreto in Oakland this year, too. He’s the guy that sent Josh Donaldson to Toronto in essence, so no pressure young man.