2019 Pre-Season Profile: Oakland Athletics

#10

The Oakland A's were the biggest surprise of the 2018 season, working their way all the way up to a Wild Card spot.  Can the A's repeat the success of last year?

2018 Predictions

5th in AL West

Khris Davis will be the starting DH for the AL in the All Star Game.

2018 Results

97-65, 2nd in AL West, WILD CARD, lost in Wild Card Game

I was way off on the A's, but I can't quite say it is surprising.  Every time I count the A's out, they end up making the playoffs.  If I predict they do well, they end up in the cellar.  The A's are just out to mess up me and my Mariners.  Oakland once again put everything together in a way no other organization can and took a roster of no namers and resurrection projects and turned it into a 97 win team.  That's a ton of wins!  I correctly predicted the breakout year for Khris Davis, however I didn't count on J.D. Martinez almost winning an MVP as a DH.

Additions / Subtractions

The Athletics stayed consistent with who they are and made some minor moves that have the potential of having a major impact.  The biggest move the A's made was trade for Jurickson Profar to replace Jed Lowrie at second base.  Then they brought in Robbie Grossman, a very underrated hitter, to add some outfield depth.  Marco Estrada becomes the latest starter they bring in to try and resurrect some past glory.  No move wows you, but all the moves both make sense and will work out.

Most Important Hitter

Matt Chapman

This might be possibly the biggest star in baseball that no one has still heard of.  Matt Chapman took his first full season in the big leagues in 2018 and tallied a 6 win season in terms of WAR.  He had a 136 OPS+, won a Gold Glove at the very competitive third base, and finished 7th in AL MVP voting.  He showed he can be a big time star, and the A's are going to need him to repeat last year's great performance if they want to maintain the success of last season.  It feels like the team's success is pretty closely tied to Chapman's success.

Most Important Pitcher

Frankie Montas

The A's always seem to cobble together a rotation of veterans looking for a rebirth on their careers.  This year is no different with their rotation starting with Mike Fiers (better than advertised, but a journeyman), Marco Estrada, and Brett Anderson at the top.  There aren't many young guns facotring into their rotation right now, especially with Jharel Cotton and no-hit boy Sean Manaea starting the season on the injured list as they continue to recover from injuries they sustained last season.  The best pitcher in their Opening Day rotation under the age of 30 is Frankie Montas.  Montas came to the A's in the Rich Hill deal with the Dodgers a few seasons ago, and they are still waiting for him to break out.  He had decent success last year in 65 innings with the A's.  Now he needs to establish himself as a real starting pitcher in this league to help provide some promise for the future in the rotation.  If he does, their rotation will be scary once Manaea and Cotton are healthy and top prospects Jesus Luzardo and A.J. Puk join the team at some point in the next season or two.

Prospect to Watch

Sean Murphy

One underrated subtraction from the A's that might have quite an impact in 2019 is Jonathan Lucroy leaving to sign with the Angels.  He was an important part of handling the pitching staff last season.  However, one of the reasons they let him go was the anticipation of Sean Murphy making his debut at some point in 2019.  He is a solid hitter but will make the most impact as a defender behind the plate.  The A's have a couple veterans filling in at catcher this season waiting for Murphy to be ready.

2019 Prediction

2nd in AL West, WILD CARD, lose in Wild Card Game

I think the A's have everything in place to make another big run and make the postseason.  Seeing how good the top of the American League is, they don't have much of a chance getting further.  It will still be quite the feat if they are able to make back-to-back runs to the postseason.

Fearless Prediction

Blake Treinen will lead the American League in saves in 2019.

Blake Treinen was another huge surprise for the A's last season.  Ending the season with 38 saves, Treinen ended the year with a 0.78 ERA.  He only gave up 7 earned runs all year!  The guy was a stud, and he will repeat that production on another postseason run for the A's.  A team built on pitching, especially their elite bullpen, will be in a lot of close games giving Treinen a lot of opportunities to tally a league-leading amount of saves.