AL Wild Card Series 2020: White Sox vs. Athletics Odds and Fantasy Picks

There was a point in September when the Chicago White Sox and Oakland Athletics could have constituted a dream American League Championship Series matchup.

After the White Sox plummeted down the AL Central standings in the final week of the regular season, the two franchises will face each other in the wild-card round. 

The White Sox lost seven of their last eight games to drop out of the top two positions in the AL Central and into the first wild-card spot. 

Oakland lost two of its final three games to the Seattle Mariners, but its final week results can't be analyzed too much since it had the divisional crown locked up. 

The Athletics have more postseason experience as a team, but they have not been able to get out of the wild-card round. 

Oakland lost three straight wild-card appearances, and it has not won a playoff series since it advanced to the 2006 ALCS. The White Sox are in their first playoff series since 2008.

Odds

To Win World Series

Chicago White Sox (+1500)

Oakland (+1000)

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Fantasy Picks

Jose Abreu, 1B, Chicago White Sox

It is best to not overcomplicate the best fantasy pick on the Chicago White Sox roster.

Jose Abreu finished the regular season with 19 home runs, 60 RBI, 76 hits and a .987 OPS. 

The power hitter has been most productive when leadoff man Tim Anderson reaches base. Abreu drove in Anderson on 19 occasions. 

Abreu finished the regular season with four hitless games, but he did have a pair of base knocks Saturday against the Chicago Cubs. 

The recent form should not deter you from selecting Abreu, who could be the top game-changer in the series because of his instant power. 

The American League Most Valuable Player candidate had better totals across the board on the road than at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Abreu split with a .328 batting average, .385 on-base percentage, .672 slugging percentage and 1.057 OPS in White Sox road games. 

He also has decent numbers against Oakland in his career, with nine home runs and a .829 OPS in 39 games. 

Every metric suggests Abreu will have some type of success over two or three games in Oakland, which makes him an ideal cornerstone for daily fantasy lineups.

Sean Murphy, C, Oakland

Since you can't place every heavy hitter into fantasy lineups, you need value players like Sean Murphy to round out squads. 

Murphy had a .821 OPS with 27 hits and 21 runs over 60 games. He finished the regular season with three runs against Seattle. 

In September, the Oakland catcher recorded a trio of multi-hit games and crossed home plate two or more times on three occasions.

Murphy could be a vital asset at the bottom of the order if he gets on base. That would set up Marcus Semien and others with run-scoring opportunities at the plate. 

Murphy's biggest advantage could come against right-handed pitchers, including White Sox Game 1 starter Lucas Giolito.

The backstop had 19 hits, five home runs and a .846 OPS in right-on-right matchups in the regular season. 

If Murphy has a decent-sized salary attached to him, he could be worth pairing with Semien or Matt Olson, who will be in the best positions to plate him.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90

Statistics obtained from Baseball Reference