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Oakland Athletics: Five Off-Season Goals

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 2:44 p.m. ET

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The Oakland Athletics have a lot of work to do this off-season. What changes must they make to get back in contention?

The 2016 season was a rough one for the Oakland Athletics. Instead of contending, the A’s spent the second half of the year setting themselves up for the future.

The team’s poor start meant that buyer-seller debate at the trade deadline was an easy decision. The Athletics dealt starter Rich Hill and outfielder Josh Reddick to the Dodgers in July. They received a trio of young right-handers in exchange. That move should bolster their rotation for years to come.

Next season, Sonny Gray will almost certainly reprise his role as the team’s ace, putting 2016 firmly in the rearview mirror. Kendall Graveman is set to return, as are prospects Sean Manaea, Jharel Cotton and Daniel Mengden. Even starter Chris Bassitt, who missed most of the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery, should be back mid-season to shore up the A’s pitching staff.

So what do the Oakland Athletics’ need to do this winter?

General manager David Forst will answer that question, presumably with some heavy input from Billy Beane. The A’s have already started their roster revamp, by outrighting a dozen players to Triple-A this week. Many of those players will find major league jobs elsewhere, leaving the A’s with a lot of work to do.

In addition to dealing Reddick and Hill at the deadline, the A’s lost several other key players this season. They released their designated hitter, Billy Butler, and dealt long-time outfielder Coco Crisp to the Cleveland Indians.

Butler may not have been much of an asset to the Athletics, but he does leave a roster spot to fill. Crisp, who has been nagged by injuries the last season, still provided plenty of value to the A’s when healthy.

The A’s minor league system is stocked, but not well-stocked enough to replace all of those players without a little help from the free agent market.

It’s sure to be a busy off-season for the Oakland front office, but what are the five biggest needs right now?

Starting Pitchers

Yes, the A’s have starters, but they don’t have enough starters. That’s the line of thinking that has hurt the A’s in both of their previous two season.

Jarrod Parker is an excellent pitcher, and no one has worked harder than he has to make a comeback. But realistically, the A’s cannot afford to count on him as depth. That’s partially why he was outrighted earlier this week, along with left-hander Felix Doubront.

The A’s have a good young rotation, but they need to add some depth.

There aren’t a lot of big-name starters on the free agent list this season, but the Athletics don’t need someone to lead their pitching staff. They just need to make sure they aren’t encountering the same situation in 2017 as they have the past two seasons.

That situation includes not being able to fill the rotation slots, period, when the injury bug strikes. The A’s weren’t just forced to use below-average starters. They’ve had to turn to relievers or not-quite-ready prospects just to get someone on the mound every day.

While those pitchers have performed admirably, small market teams can’t afford to risk ruining the development of quality arms just to fill a short-term need.

Brett Anderson will be available this winter, as will Travis Wood. Both are likely to require a moderate financial commitment, given how shallow the starting pitching talent pool is. However, they could provide some veteran guidance on a pitching staff filled with rookies.

Anderson spent most of the season on the disabled list in 2016 and has not performed well in his 11 innings of work. However, he averaged a 3.54 ERA over the prior two seasons. With Anderson, injuries are always a concern, but he could be a high-reward signing if the price is right.

Wood has posted a 2.95 ERA as a reliever for the Chicago Cubs this season, but he was previously a starter and could transition back to the rotation on a new team.

When the Oakland Athletics head to Spring Training, they need to have the option to let their prospects earn rotation spots. Signing a veteran arm would give them the option to send a struggling pitcher to the minors if necessary. That’s a luxury they didn’t have in 2016.

Outfielders

Heading into 2016, the Oakland Athletics only have one everyday outfielder: Khris Davis. They have no true center fielder, and right field is a mystery as well. Prospect Matt Olson didn’t make much of an impression, and neither did Jake Smolinski.

Unfortunately, the free agent class is pretty weak in the outfield department, as well. Most of the players are either out of the A’s price range or no better than their current options.

However, a prime target for the Athletics would be Nori Aoki. With the Mariners this season, Aoki batted .283/.349/.388. He’s a contact hitter who fares especially well against right-handers. Seattle has expressed interest in re-signing Aoki, but if not, the A’s should absolutely make him an offer.

Another possibility for the A’s is to target a top-rated outfielder who has fallen on hard times: Carlos Gomez. Gomez was considered one of the best outfielders in the game just a short while ago, but was released outright by the Astros before the end of the season. If he could turn things around, he could add some significant offense to the A’s center field position for a fairly low cost.

Plenty of former and current A’s are on the free agent list, including Josh Reddick, who will be well out of Oakland’s price range. With no minor league outfield prospects having distinguished themselves in the Oakland system yet, the A’s need to find their outfield bats elsewhere.

Relief Help

The Athletics will lose John Axford as they head into next year, leaving an opening in a bullpen that already needed help. They also (somewhat inexplicably) outrighted Francisco Rodriguez earlier this week.

Last winter, the Athletics completely revamped their bullpen. Only Rodriguez, Sean Doolittle and Ryan Dull reprised their roles as go-to relief pitchers. The A’s signed several free agents and traded for other relievers.

That won’t be necessary this season, as the A’s already have Ryan Madson in addition to Dull and Doolittle, and Liam Hendricks will be back next year as well. Hopefully, the A’s will also return Andrew Triggs to the bullpen after he was forced into a spot-starter role this season.

That still leaves plenty of openings for additional relief help.

There is no guarantee that the A’s will contend in 2017, so Beane and Forst may be reluctant to pay much for relievers this year. This is especially true, given that they’re already paying a significant amount for Ryan Madson.

Relievers are actually fairly plentiful in this year’s free agent class, and if the A’s are willing to spend money, they could build an outstanding bullpen. But for now, let’s assume that the A’s will continue to have a very limited payroll.

In that case, the most interesting name for the A’s might be Drew Storen. Storen ended the year with the Mariners, after being dealt by the Blue Jays mid-season. He would be an interesting low-risk, high-reward name.

Earlier in his career, Storen was an outstanding closer for the Washington Nationals. That is largely forgotten even in Washington, where he’s primarily know for blowing a save in Game 5 of the 2012 NLDS. Storen has seemingly struggled ever since that fateful ending to the Nationals’ season, but the talent is still there.

A pitcher with a similar career trajectory is John Axford, who was an outstanding closer for the Brewers before inexplicably struggling for several seasons. Overall, Axford did a nice job for the A’s this season, and Storen could do the same next year.

Storen is likely to be inexpensive, given that the Blue Jays were willing to deal him to the Mariners for almost nothing this season, so he could be a steal for the A’s.

A Bat for the Middle of the Lineup

The one place that the A’s should be willing to spend money is on a big bat. They desperately need more offense for the middle of their lineup.

Billy Butler didn’t provide much for the Athletics in the way of offense during his two years with the team. However, his release prior to the end of the season leaves the Athletics with a hole to fill on the roster.

This signing was an interesting one when it happened, since the A’s value versatility. Butler’s inability to play defense made him a strange free agent target. Instead of replacing him with another offense-only player, the A’s need someone who can be utilized in the field as well.

One option would be a player like Mike Napoli, who will be a free agent this winter.

The Indians signed him to a one year deal last off-season. He crushed 34 homers as he led their young team to the playoffs. Napoli will certainly come at a price, but so did Butler.

The Indians have expressed interested in re-signing the veteran slugger. If they do, they will likely allow Carlos Santana to walk away. His inconsistency over the last few years may keep him in the A’s price range if that happens. Neither player is an outstanding defender according to metrics, but both are capable of being an everyday first baseman.

Either way, the Athletics need to look for some offense because Reddick and Crisp aren’t coming back. The A’s ranked last or in the bottom-five in most offensive categories. The bottom of the lineup lacks the kind of threat that a contending team needs.

Adding a big bat to the middle of the lineup would revamp the entire feel of the offense. If the A’s don’t want to spend Napoli or Santana money, there’s a more familiar option available: Brandon Moss. Regardless of which specific players the A’s target, this should be a top priority.

A Versatile Utility Player

The Oakland Athletics outrighted utility man Eric Sogard earlier this week. Due to his service time, he can seek another major league job, so the A’s may need to replace him.

They also outrighted Tyler Ladendorf, another utility man. Ladendorf really missed his shot to make himself a valuable asset to the A’s in 2016. There is little reason to believe that he’ll be a key part of next year’s roster at this point.

This leaves the A’s with a fairly depleted bench situation, although Joey Wendle and Chad Pinder could fight for a backup infielder job.

There aren’t many versatile options on the free agent market, but one possibility is Chris Coghlan. The A’s briefly had Coghlan on the roster this season, dealing pitcher Aaron Brooks for him over the winter before exchanging him for Arismendy Alcantara prior to the trade deadline.

Coghlan can play both infield and outfield, but has a surprising amount of pop in his bat. If the Cubs don’t re-sign him in the winter, the A’s should consider whether Coghlan would be a good fit now that Butler and (hopefully) Valencia are gone.

The A’s may be better off to restock their bench via trade, but Coghlan’s .779 OPS with the Cubs in the second half should encourage the A’s to take a second look.

Sorry, Oakland Athletics fans – there’s not a scenario where Josh Reddick returns to lead the team back to the playoffs. Unless the A’s make some major changes to their payroll, Beane and Forst will not be able to afford signings of that caliber. The A’s can contend if they address these areas, but it will be interesting to see how they do it on a budget.

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