Playing Pepper 2009: Oakland Athletics

As the players start getting themselves ready for another season, I thought it'd be a good idea to do the same. I contacted a blogger for each major league team and posted them five questions. This is the result. You can find the tentative schedule of teams here, and today's main post is right here.

For a while there in the mid-'90s, when Tony LaRussa was fresh in the managing chair in St. Louis, it was like Oakland East under the Arch. LaRussa brought a number of coaches and players with him that had worn the green and gold and that helped him have early success in the Midwest.

The most recent dealing with the A's, though, has been decidedly less in favor of the Redbirds, as we all remember the calamitous Mark Mulder for Dan Haren, Kiko Calero, and Daric Barton trade. Long will it live in infamy.

To see how the current Oakland squad is doing, I turned to Arin of Arin It Out, another Blogs By Fans site.

C70: There was a lot of consternation when Daric Barton was included in that Mark Mulder trade a few years ago. What's the forecast for him now?

AIO: Personally, I feel that he can still be that .320 hitter that was projected for him when he first came to Oakland. However, I think more realistically, he will top out around the .270 or .280 range in this offense. Also, I really haven't seen a whole lot of power progression from him, so that makes me worry as well. I'd like to see him hit the 25HR range, but that might be asking for too much right now.

C70: What was the general consensus regarding the Matt Holliday trade?

AIO: Mass confusion! 

I still don't really understand that trade for the short or long-term thinking. Billy Beane traded away three assets for Holliday, and if he is just a rental, then we will only get two players out of him in the draft. If he is traded, then he would fetch more than two players, but I'm really not sure what Beane will do. I just hope he hits .330 with about 40HRs this season; that way it will all be worth the confusion! Wishful thinking, I know.

C70: This was a busy offseason for the A's. What grade would you give it?

AIO: I'm going to have to give it a D right now. Getting rid of Greg Smith, Carlos Gonzalez, and Huston Street for Matt Holliday was a tough blow, but then the signing of Jason Giambi really pushed me over the cliff. I don't see the point in Giambi being on the team since Jack Cust and Giambi are basically the same player.

If Billy Beane wanted to spend money this offseason, he should have gone after some starting pitching. I'll stop here or I'll go on for an hour.

C70: Has Billy Beane tinkered with his Moneyball philosophy the last couple of years?

AIO: The principle is still there in the philosophy of waiting for players to develop and then trading them off, but Beane really threw a curveball by trading off Greg Smith and Carlos Gonzalez when he just picked them up last season. I think he could have gotten a lot more out of those two down the road.

I feel like I'm whining right now, but I would have rather lost with younger players. At the very least, they would be developing for the future and thus creating more appeal on the trade market.

C70: What will the makeup of the starting rotation be?

AIO: Right now, I have to go with Justin Duchscherer, Dana Eveland, Gio Gonzalez, Sean Gallagher, and Dallas Braden. However, with so many young arms in the minors, I could see someone like Henry Rodriguez, Josh Outman, or even Brett Anderson in the rotation. I like the future of the staff, but this year could be a rough one for sure!

Thanks to Arin for those comments. The A's play in a weak division, which does help them in their quest for contention. But it sounds like that might still be a bit beyond them in '09.