Yoenis Céspedes, New Acquisitions Make Oakland A's Worth Watching

With Spring Training 2012 in its infancy, a surprising story is developing. The Oakland A’s are actually a team to pay attention to. After Billy Beane and company cleaned house by shipping out Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill and Andrew Bailey for two fistfuls of prospects, the A’s future appeared bleak.

While the A’s ability to compete is still very much in question, their appeal has skyrocketed. The A’s shocked the baseball world by signing highly talented, but extremely risky, Cuban sensation Yoenis Céspedes to a four-year contract worth $36 million.

The A’s came out of nowhere to grab the player who was widely believed to be headed to the Miami Marlins. The A’s made Céspedes an offer he couldn’t refuse. He will now be the face of the franchise as the A’s highest paid player and presumably their starting center fielder come March 28th.

Céspedes undoubtedly has talent, but he’s yet to play an American professional game. His spring will certainly determine if the A’s made the right gamble with his massive contract. In the 2010-2011 Cuban baseball season, Céspedes hit .333 with 33 home runs and 99 RBIs in just 90 games.

Even if Céspedes only performs at half the level of his production in Cuba, a full major league season should see him hit 20 home runs and drive in 80 runs. In addition to his on-field production, the move to acquire Céspedes will make the national media pay attention to the A’s for once.

Whether Céspedes is boom or bust, people will be following the A’s, a first for quite some time.

The other part of the equation for the 2012 season is their glut of players. The A’s currently have 13 players fighting for five starting positions. The A’s are set at catcher with Kurt Suzuki, the hot corner will be manned by Scott Sizemore, Cliff Pennington will be at short and Jemile Weeks will be at second.

Céspedes, Coco Crisp, Josh Reddick, Collin Cowgill, Seth Smith, Michael Taylor, Chris Carter, Jermaine Mitchell and Jonny Gomes will all fight for time in the outfield or at DH. In addition, Carter, Gomes, Daric Barton, Brandon Allen and Kila Ka'aihue are all looking for time at first base.

Obviously, not all of these players will make the opening day roster. Given their salaries, Crisp and Céspedes will take two of the outfield spots, with Josh Reddick a slight favorite over the others for the starting right field position.

At first, it’s impossible to predict, but Brandon Allen might have the edge due his performance at the tail end of 2011. All of this could be completely moot if the A’s sign Manny Ramirez. His suspension, plus his necessity to play only the DH position, could really throw the A’s roster into an unpredictable flux.

The A’s are flush with capable position players, but for the first time in a long time, their starting rotation is filled with question marks. Brandon McCarthy will be the opening day starter, and recently signed veteran Bartolo Colon will also have a spot in the rotation. A third spot will be taken by Dallas Braden, assuming he has no setbacks between now and the middle of April.

The remaining two slots in the rotation are up for grabs between Tyson Ross, Graham Godfrey and newly acquired pitchers Tommy Milone, Brad Peacock and Jarrod Parker.

Milone is regarded as a favorite for one spot, and if Ross can return to his form of early 2011 he could take the other one. Most of the A’s starters are probably one more year away from really being MLB-ready, but now is as good a time as any, considering the A’s predicament.

No matter how good or bad the A’s are in 2012, they are certainly going to be a much more exciting team to watch. With so many questions surrounding them, the highs and lows of the upcoming season are certain to both entertain and terrify diehard fan.