Oakland Athletics

2023 document: 50-112 (.309)

Fifth Place, AL West

Team ERA: 5.48 (twenty ninth)

Team OPS: .668 (thirtieth)

What Went Right

Not a lot, of us. The poisonous mixture of a late-April media leak facilitating a rushed announcement of the franchise’s impending relocation to Las Vegas led on to a complete season of backlash and protesting from loyal Oakland followers directing their ire in direction of Athletics proprietor John Fisher. It actually didn’t assist the rebuilding membership’s on-field efficiency as their lineup persistently struggled to generate runs, with Yankees starter Domingo German’s good sport on June 28 serving as a microcosm of their offensive ineptitude. While the offense lacked any semblance of firepower, rating dead-last in runs scored throughout a calamitous 2023 marketing campaign, Oakland’s pitching workers additionally wound up ending among the many worst in baseball from a run-prevention standpoint this season, with solely the Rockies permitting extra runs to cross the plate. Despite the organizational chaos, the franchise did handle to uncover a couple of potential constructing blocks in burgeoning energy/velocity menace Zack Gelof and hard-throwing right-hander Mason Miller. The tandem confirmed some immense potential of their somewhat transient time within the majors and are simply the 2 greatest vibrant spots in an in any other case dismal 2023 season. From a pure fantasy perspective, speedster Esteury Ruiz’s success on the basepaths additionally qualifies as successful from an organizational standpoint.

What Went Wrong

We’ve coated Oakland’s offensive ineptitude and lack of ability to stop opposing groups from tearing their pitching workers aside, but it surely’s the entire lack of productive middle-of-the-order threats that sunk the Athletics’ lineup this season. Veterans like Ramón Laureano, Aledmys Díaz, Jace Peterson, Seth Brown and Jesús Aguilar both struggled to remain wholesome, or struggled to the purpose that they had been in the end jettisoned from the roster altogether within the circumstances of Laureano, Peterson and Aguilar. The emergence of late-blooming slugger Brent Rooker, who posted an .817 OPS with a career-high 30 homers after being wolfed up off waivers final offseason from the Royals, managed to salvage what would’ve in any other case graded out as a historically-inept lineup. While rookies like JP Sears, Ken Waldichuk, Luis Medina and Kyle Muller confirmed they might be serviceable mid-rotation innings-eaters on the huge league stage, none of them posted a sub-4.50 ERA of their Oakland debut this season. Veterans like Paul Blackburn and James Kaprielian battled accidents and struggled even after they had been wholesome sufficient to take the ball. Finally, Oakland’s bullpen was an unmitigated catastrophe this season with accidents and inconsistency destroying any semblance of continuity they may’ve had getting into the 12 months. Last 12 months’s major closing choices Dany Jiménez and Zach Jackson had been restricted to simply 44 appearances mixed this season attributable to damage. Veteran high-leverage specialist Trevor May largely took care of enterprise when save alternatives introduced themselves, however the remainder of Oakland’s bullpen was a multitude.

Fantasy Slants

** Zack Gelof was one in every of simply six hitters (Ronald Acuña Jr., Bobby Witt Jr., Nolan Jones, Julio Rodríguez and Kyle Tucker) to eclipse 14 homers and 14 steals within the second half of the 2023 season after being known as up from Triple-A Las Vegas. The 23-year-old rookie second baseman’s energy/velocity mixture is strictly the kind of profile fantasy managers are on the lookout for and his plate expertise are strong sufficient that his second-half surge doesn’t look like a complete mirage. He’s shortly emerged because the Athletics’ top-of-the-order catalyst and a possible mid-round choice in fantasy drafts subsequent spring. He has an opportunity to be a possible franchise cornerstone for the Athletics shifting ahead.

** Flame-throwing rookie right-hander Mason Miller confirmed immense potential in a quartet of stellar early-season begins within the majors earlier than lacking 4 months attributable to a UCL sprain in his proper elbow. He made it again to Oakland’s pitching combine in mid-September for a fast cup of espresso, making 5 appearances (two begins) earlier than the season wrapped up. The dynamic 25-year-old righty, who routinely touches triple digits together with his fastball, has the uncooked stuff required to dominate on the highest stage. There are sufficient sturdiness and workload considerations to restrict his potential upside heading into the 2024 marketing campaign, however he’s going to be a particularly common late-round sleeper candidate in fantasy drafts subsequent spring.

** Considering there have been severe query marks concerning whether or not Esteury Ruiz would make sufficient contact to outlive on the highest stage following final offseason’s commerce from the Brewers, his full-season debut actually qualifies as successful. The 24-year-old speedster registered a good .254/.309/.345 triple-slash line with 47 runs scored, 5 homers, 47 RBI and an American League-leading 67 stolen bases throughout 497 plate appearances in 132 video games. He doesn’t provide sufficient from an on-base or over-the-fence energy standpoint, a minimum of at this juncture, to function a top-of-the-order table-setter, however his game-changing velocity matches properly on the backside of Oakland’s lineup. He’s a menace to proceed simply eclipsing the 50-steal threshold for years to come back, which makes him fantasy-relevant as a mid-to-late spherical choice in drafts subsequent spring.

** The Athletics want the highest prospect tandem of Shea Langeliers and Tyler Soderstrom to emerge as high quality huge league regulars in the event that they’re going to take a step ahead. Oakland’s entrance workplace has seemingly hinged their rebuilding effort on the pair of slugging backstop’s capacity to supply on the dish, but it surely hasn’t fairly occurred but, particularly within the majors. Soderstrom posted a lackluster .472 OPS in 138 plate appearances over 45 video games within the huge leagues earlier than being shipped again to the minors, whereas Langeliers compiled a extra respectable .681 OPS with 22 homers in 490 plate appearances over 135 video games. If the pair attain their appreciable offensive ceilings, they’ll emerge as affect contributors for fantasy managers on the relatively-barren catcher place, and function the first catalysts for Oakland’s lineup for years to come back.

** After changing 21 of 24 save alternatives this season to accompany a strong 3.28 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and 40/29 Ok/BB ratio throughout 46 2/3 innings (49 appearances), Trevor May figures to money in someplace this offseason as a free agent. It’s throughout the realm of risk that he’ll elect to return to Oakland, the place he would enter spring coaching as their undisputed major nearer, however there’ll more than likely be extra profitable presents on the market for his companies. His impending departure creates a large gap on the back-end of Oakland’s bullpen heading into the 2024 marketing campaign.