Crystal ballin'
OAKLAND, Sept. 2, 2009 -- Ryan Sweeney was in the No. 3 spot for the A's today, and while he's got a lot to prove about his ability to drive the ball before he actually gets moved into a run-production spot full-time, the fact that he's in there shows he's making progress.
With that in mind, I started toying with various lineup permutations today, factoring in free agency, arbitration, potential non-tenders, etc., before coming up with what I think is a fairly realistic lineup for 2010.
"Realistic," with all due respect to Eric Chavez, eliminates him from consideration. Free agency takes Adam Kennedy out of the mix, and arbitration says see ya to Jack Cust and Scott Hairston. Everyone else in the organization is in play, and here's what I came up with.
I think the A's brass might like it. It's cheap as all get-out. But the fans should like it, too. At the very least, it holds promise.
1) Rajai Davis, CF. First prototypical leadoff man since ... who? Rickey? He wasn't really a prototype. He was a freak. Rajai doesn't have that kind of pop, but he's the most exciting baserunner the A's have had in years, and were it not for him, the 2009 team would be a stone-cold bore half the time.
2) Mark Ellis, 2B. Selfless, handles the bat well, bunts well, good plate discipline, decent pop. That's about all you need in a No. 2 hitter.
3) Ryan Sweeney, RF. This, admittedly, is a major stretch. Sweeney only recently has shown signs of the power many people within the game -- including Frank Thomas -- have long said Sweeney will develop with time. But let's not forget the dude's only 24. And if he works on a power stroke during the winter and pops a handful of balls out in the desert at Spring Training, it might be worth seeing how he responds to the role. There's nobody else on the roster with enough big league experience (the possible exception being Kurt Suzuki) even remotely suited for it.
4) Landon Powell, DH. Another stretch, but like with Sweeney, the stretch is in the lineup spot, not that he's in the lineup. Get another catcher. Powell's too good of a hitter to sit as much as he does, and his health is such that he'll never be a regular in the field. Cleanup's not ideal, but nobody said this was going to be an ideal lineup. And ideal lineup would have a healthy Eric Chavez in this spot and playing third, right?
5) Chris Carter LF. I'm still not convinced he'll be a big league outfielder, mostly because I've only seem him out there three times in person, but there are better defensive options at first base, and let's be honest: Carter can't possibly be worse on defense than Jeremy Giambi or Emil Brown or some of the other stiffs who have manned the position in recent years, and if you can stick with him through the inevitable struggled of April and May, you'll probably see his track record of June-September monstrosity come to life on the big stage.
6) Suzuki, C. Maybe the best No. 6 hitter this side of the Bronx, bringing pop and balance to the lower half of the order.
7) Sean Doolittle, 1B. Scouts are as high on this kid as they are on Carter, but Doolittle has been hurt a lot. He's a solid defender and a power bat on the come. If he doesn't pan out, there's always Daric Barton, who looks a million times more comfortable at the plate these days and has turned himself into a plus defender. He won't kill you in the No. 7 spot, that's for sure.
8) Brett Wallace, 3B. Chavez would be nice, but again, you have to be realistic. Wallace is never going to be the glove man that Chavez has been, but the boy can rake, and with Chavez serving as something of a mentor, you never know. Bottom line, the fans want to see the guy, and there's no better option at the posotion. Time to start the clock.
9) Cliff Pennington, SS. If the power at the corners pans out, you can put up with a defense-first shortstop, and that's how i see Pennington at this point. He makes all the plays. Nothing spectacular, but solid, with a solid partner up the middle in Ellis. And with Pennington's speed in front of Davis, an element the A's have been sorely lacking for years will be in play.
Feel free to mock, debate, argue and come up with something better. That's what this forum is for. I can poke a million holes in this lineup myself, but unless you go to free agency, I don't think the A's have many more attractive options.
And if you think a legit free agency doesn't see Oakland as a graveyard for veterans right now, come sit on poppa bear's lap. I'll explain it all to you.
By the way, bid a fond farewell to 20-year-old Adam Loberstein, who did a heckuva job covering the team as my associate reporter this summer. I'm sticking the bulk of today's game coverage on him today, because if A's-Royals in September doesn't say, "Nice work, Chachi," what does?
Peace, lightly salted cashews and Saliva's "Click Click Boom" to all ...
--Mychael Urban
This is a really interesting lineup, and it is a lineup that most A's fans can be excited about. I really like your move of Powell to the DH spot. I have been wanting the A's to do this the whole year. I think either Galarraga or Munson could be called up, and both of them could become reliable backup catchers. I also like the move of Doolittle to first base. After spring training, I was sure that Doolittle would see some in the big leagues if the A's were to struggle. The A's have struggled, and, as you noted, Doolittle has been hurt this year. I think it would be really exciting to see him up in the big leagues. Every A's fan wants to see Carter and Wallace starting for the A's next year, so it was good that you fit them into the starting lineup even though that meant making Wallace play in the outfield. I will be sad to see Kennedy and Hairston go, but they do not really fit into the A's longterm plans. The departure of Cust will come as a sigh of relief. I do not get excited when comes to bat, and, as you mentioned in a previous entry, Everidge is a younger, cheaper version of Cust. I am also curious as to what you think the A's starting rotation will be next year. I think it would be a good move, albeit radical, to see the A's start the season with a six man rotation. I think that Duchscherer will be healthy next year, so I would to see a rotation that goes Braden, Anderson, Duchscherer, Cahill, Outman , Mazzaro. I think that Outman has earned the opportunity to be in the starting rotation next year. I think it would be beneficial to the A's for them to start the season with this rotation and if the pitchers are struggling then they can move the pitcher that is doing the worst to the bullpen. A six man rotation would give the pitchers more rest, and pitchers like Bret Anderson have done very well with an extra day of rest.
Report any abuse or spam
I'm inclined to agree with you on the 2010 lineup, but I wonder if the fans will come out to see that group of young relative unknowns. I know I will--I'll come to see whoever they put on the field, as I've been an A's fan since I was a kid and living in KC in 1955 (I've just dated myself).
The Oakland fans are so fickle and they tend not to be baseball fans to their core. If there is no celebrity in the line up, they just don't show up. So how can we get the proverbial butts in the seats with the lineup you propose?
To get people to come to the concrete bowl on 66th, I'm afraid that we will need to pick up a free agent. Who, is where it gets dicey. Someone mentioned the possibility of Bad Vlad or Miggy, and a handful of others, but Miggy is the only one that I can see that might voluntarily come to the Coliseum, as he's been here before.
So unless the A's ownership are willing to spend some money on making the Coliseum a better fan experience (there are some things that could accomplish that for not a lot of money) orreduce the foul territory by adding more on the field seats and/ or bring in the fences to attract a slugger, getting a decent free agent hitter may not be in the cards. Players just don't want to play in our ballpark for 80 games. It doesn't make them look good. It's a real dilemma.
And then there is the issue of Bob Geren as manager. The blogosphere scorches nightly with criticism of his handling of the team. The biggest thing that might get fans to come out more often would be to give Geren his walking papers. Fat chance with Billy Beane calling the shots. This team, regardless of who the players are, is going nowhere with him as manager.
So I will stick with the lineup you propose and keep my fingers crossed that the team can survive with 10-12,000 fans in the stadium most nights. The young guys just might fool us and come out of the box hot and win a bunch of games, but that might get the attendance up to 15,000/game.
I didn’t think I'd ever get so pessimistic about my A's, Mychael, but there it is. Thanks for proposing the 2010 lineup. At least I’ll enjoy watching them play.
Bee Hylinski
http://contractyear.mlblogs.com
Report any abuse or spam
That team would be pretty good defensively. Case can be made Oakland has four (Ellis, Suzuki, Sweeney, Davis) potenial gold glove candidates in house right now. Davis plays as if he is the entire outfield, takig fly outs with more frequncy than my radio gets, so Carter's main priority would be the line and everything behind him; Ellis made two errors in '07, when polanco and his 143-game error less streak edged him out. Everything out of Sac and BA says Doolittle could be a shoe-maker, making that five above-avg defenders. They could be a speedy bunch as well, excluding Wallace and Powell. Sorry, Urb's fluffy twins. Overall, very nice blend of veteran, barely llegal and virgins baseballers on that team. What I like most: No more JACK-OF-ALL-K's
Report any abuse or spam
That team would be pretty good defensively. Case can be made Oakland has four (Ellis, Suzuki, Sweeney, Davis) potenial gold glove candidates in house right now. Davis plays as if he is the entire outfield, takig fly outs with more frequncy than my radio gets, so Carter's main priority would be the line and everything behind him; Ellis made two errors in '07, when polanco and his 143-game error less streak edged him out. Everything out of Sac and BA says Doolittle could be a shoe-maker, making that five above-avg defenders. They could be a speedy bunch as well, excluding Wallace and Powell. Sorry, Urb's fluffy twins. Overall, very nice blend of veteran, barely llegal and virgins baseballers on that team. What I like most: No more JACK-OF-ALL-K's
Report any abuse or spam
Interesting lineup, i'm just not sure any of those prospect hitters will be ready by late 2010 at the earliest
Its amazing just 2 yrs ago, Barton and Buck were hyped as the future stars of this offense, now they were barely worth a mention
Where's Cunningham? He's done nothing but produce at every milb level. The hairston pickup is looking a bit questionable now w/ his continued injuries and being that it isnt too difficult to find a corner OF especially when buck/cunningham will be stuck in AAA again possibly, they could even throw patterson in LF at worst. Plus prospects like desme/brown/spencer/sulentic are later options
Report any abuse or spam
See ya to Hairston and Cust? with two more years of team control? doubt it
4-4.5 million a year for Cust, who is having a down year for sure but still easyly leads the A's in HR's, (again for the third year in a row) 2nd in RBI's and will probably end up first, again for the third year in a row, first in runs, and basically tied in for the OBP lead on the team. So he hits .240, what does that matter? Any team would love to have someone lead their team in those stats for 4 million.
Hairston will probably make no more than 3 million (1.2 mill last year) and I doubt the A's give up on him so soon (45 games in A.L.) and sell low after giving up three young pitchers for him.
It's not like the A's need to dump relativly cheap salary's with about 35-37 million in payroll next year (19 mill for guarenteed contracts, 16-18 mill for Arb and min salary guys.
Report any abuse or spam
Carter, Wallace, Doolittle, even Pennington and Powell: who knows what they can really do? This lineup will be interesting until no runs are scored and the A's are in last place. I think the A's will at least have to bring back Cust. What did Hairston show? Not much. Wolff and Fisher are busts as owners. Does BB have any real say?
Report any abuse or spam