Countdown to Opening Day: #17 Oakland A's

By Andrew Marcus
Sportswriter for Lansdale Reporter

Follow me on Twitter @amarcus515

#17 Oakland A's: Beane 2.0 - Platooning & Instagrooming

PROJECTED LINEUP
CF Coco Crisp
2B Jed Lowrie
LF Yoenis Cespedes
RF Josh Reddick
1B Brandon Moss
DH Seth Smith
C John Jaso
3B Josh Donaldson
SS Hiro Nakajima

PROJECTED ROTATION

Brett Anderson
Jarrod Parker
A.J. Griffin
Tom Milone
Dan Straily

**Bartolo Colon has 5 games left on suspension

PROJECTED BULLPEN

Closer: Grant Balfour

Set-up: Ryan Cook

Top Prospect: Addison Russell (SS)

What a great movie Moneyball was for the casual baseball fan. For the more knowledgeable baseball fan - still a good movie, but a lot subplots that rubbed me the wrong way. Like, let's not mention the AL MVP Miguel Tejada or the trio of aces in Zito, Hudson, and Mulder that were still staffed that season. Scott Hatteberg barely played a important role and beyond all that - they still did not win anything. They have not win a World Series since Billy Beane played for the A's in 1989.

Yoenis Cespedes

And Beane has made some adjustments to his sabremetric mind since the early 2000s. He has grown in favor of the stole base as long as it is at a high percentage. That is where Coco Crisp come into play. He has decided if we are going to pay starters when their rookie contract expires lets make the most of our rookies. There is no such thing as a innings limit with Jarrod Parker and Brett Anderson. Some players get hurt (Anderson), some struggle with the jump from the minors (Vin Mazzaro), and others give Oakland 2-or-3 good seasons (Gio Gonzalez and Parker next) before they are traded and let go with big money on the deals cusp.
His newest trick is platooning at nearly every position. Instead of spending big money on the one star player, he grabs two cheap players - one that handles lefty pitchers and one that handles righties. The best example comes from behind the plate. John Jaso has 19 of his 20 career homers and a .270 batting average against righties and a .164 batting average against lefties. Derek Norris will do the catching against the lefties.
A lot has to go right and players have to come out of nowhere for Beane's strategy to work. Last year it was Josh Reddick and Yoenis Cespedes. The big question is can they do it again?

Jarrod Parker

THEY CALL ME MR. SUNSHINE - If the A's were to stand pat with last year's division title team they probably would have been exposed the second time around the league. But once again the organization went deep into the calcualtions and came away with cheap depth that will help them win games. Chris Young, John Jaso and Jed Lowrie all come over via trades and put up excellent numbers in their platoon situation. Together Reddick and Young's numbers look like Giancarlos Stanton's and the A's repeat as division champs.

REAL TALK - Let's see how the league reacts to Yoenis Cespdes the second time around. Any other year he would have been Rookie of the Year (Mike Trout won), but the Cuban Moose is bound to battle slumps this season and it will be interesting to see of he can shake them off and carry on at a high caliber. The young staff, including the bullpen, also has gaudy numbers to live up to. In my mind this team is more likely to be trading Coco Crisp and Grant Balfour at the deadline rather than sinking their teeth into another title run.

Breakout: Jarrod Parker

Bust: Josh Reddick

Fantasy Baseball Sleeper: Ryan Cook 

LAST YEAR'S RECORD: 94-68 (1st in AL West)

PROJECTED 2013 FINISH: 83-79 (3rd in AL West)

**Check back tomorrow for the Arizona Diamondbacks**