The Athletics played 21 rookies last year, which help explains there 75-86 record. However, trades of Dan Haren, Rich Harden, Joe Blanton, Nick Swisher, Marco Scutaro, Mark Kotsay, and Chad Gaudin probably serve as the main explanation. General Manager Billy Beane seems to run his team like a fantasy GM, pawning off players as often as Madonna adopts African babies, so until the team gets some consistency it'll probably be more of the same. David Buona previews the 2009 Oakland A's.

2008 Recap:

The Athletics played 21 rookies last year, which help explains there 75-86 record. However, trades of Dan Haren, Rich Harden, Joe Blanton, Nick Swisher, Marco Scutaro, Mark Kotsay, and Chad Gaudin probably serve as the main explanation. General Manager Billy Beane seems to run his team like a fantasy GM, pawning off players as often as Madonna adopts African babies, so until the team gets some consistency it'll probably be more of the same.   

2009 Outlook:

The A's went out and signed two veterans at the end of their careers and one whose free agent money expectations took a severe hit thanks to our tanking economy. Nomar Garciaparra and Jason Giambi are both on the wrong side of 30, but may have enough in the tank to put up some numbers while they mentor the A's young bucks. Shortstop Orlando Cabrera was expecting a $10 million dollar a year pay day after hitting .281 and stealing 19 bases last year, but he had to settle for one year and $4 million, so expect big things for him this season as he prays that Obama's bailouts work. The Athletics offense will be improved with those three, but the pitching will probably be downright awful as ace Justin Duchscherer heals following a hip injury and elbow surgery. The only starter in the opening rotation with more than eleven career starts is Dana Eveland, so expect some sore necks on the mound in Oakland.  

Hello: SS Orlando Cabrera, INF Nomar Garciaparra, 1B Jason Giambi, OF Matt Holliday, RHP Russ Springer 

Goodbye: OF Emil Brown, OF Carlos Gonzalez, RHP Greg Smith, RHP Huston Street, 1B Mike Sweeney 

If the Oakland Athletics Were an 80's Movie They'd Be:

Red Dawn. Easily my favorite movie growing up, it's about a bunch of high school kids who are thrown into World War III when the Cubans and Soviets team up to bring down the U.S. The high schoolers create a rag-tag outlaw group of renegades called the Wolverines (named after the high school mascot) and commit guerrilla attacks on the Commies in their now occupied hometown. I can see Nomar and Giambi combining to play the role of Lt. Col. Tanner (Powers Boothe), teaching these green rookies the tricks of the trade and survival tactics. But like Red Dawn, there probably won't be too much celebrating at the conclusion of the season. All but two of the Wolverines end up dead, but some valuable lessons in pride and tenacity were learned. That's pretty much what '09 will be like for Oakland. 

The 2009 Projected Lineup:

CF Ryan Sweeney / Rajai Davis
SS  Orlando Cabrera
1B Jason Giambi
LF  Matt Hollliday
3B Eric Chavez / Nomar Garciaparra
DH Jack Cust
C  Kurt Suzuki
2B Mark Ellis
RF Travis Buck 

The A's had a severe power shortage last year, as DH Jack Cust led the team with 33 home runs, with former A's outfielder Emil Brown second with 13. The solution: vets and trades, which is nothing new for Billy Beane (Frank Thomas ring a bell?). The jewel of the off-season has to be Matt Holliday, who may miss the comfy confines of Coors Field. Even if you tweak his stats a little bit though, no matter how you slice it a career .319 average and 26 HRs a year isn't too shabby. He also stole 28 bases last year, which I'm pretty sure you can do in the thin air of Colorado or in the smoggy pollution of California.  

Jason Giambi would like to prove that you can home again, and after seven years in New York with the Yankees and all the drama that surrounded his steroid use, it may be just what his psyche needs to relocate his stroke. Last year he clubbed 32 home runs, but he hasn't smelled a .300 batting average since his first year in NYC seven years ago, batting only .247 last year. Fellow vet Nomar Garciaparra will struggle to find at bats, but his versatility throughout the infield will help, as will his .314 career average.  

Catcher Kurt Suzuki was the closest thing the A's had to Ichiro Suzuki last year, as he won the team's batting crowd with a weak .279 average. If not for Holliday he may have been the favorite to win it again, as fellow starters Travis Buck, Ryan Sweeney, and Mark Ellis are nothing to write home about, and are average major league starters at best.  

The only two other interesting people in the A's lineup are third baseman Eric Chavez and platoon centerfielder Rajai Davis. Chavez's perennially bad back only let him hit two homers in 89 at bats last year, but between 2000 and 2006 he was averaging 28 home runs a year. He's only 31 so he really is a fantasy baseball wild card, because if he's healthy 30 dingers would be no surprise. Davis is a speed guy that stole 25 bases in 196 at bats. His on-base percentage was a dreadful .288, so while you can't blame the A's for not giving him the lead off job, you can only wonder what type of numbers he could put up if he only learned to patient enough to hear the words "ball four." 

The 2009 Projected Rotation and Closer: 

LHP  Dana Eveland
LHP  Dallas Braden
LHP  Brett Anderson
RHP  Trevor Cahill
LHP  Josh Outman 

RHP  Brad Ziegler 

The Athletics can be described with an adjective befitting their team's tradition: green. Dana Eveland will be the ace of the staff while Justin Duchscherer heals up on the DL, but both pitchers have only started in the majors for one season so innings and health will be items of concern all year. The only other starter with experience is Dallas Braden, who started ten games last year and ended up with five wins and a 4.14 ERA.  

The rest of the staff will be made up of true blue rookies Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, and Josh Outman. Outman started four games last year, but Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill will be making their major leagues debut the first time they toe the rubber this season. Not much should or will be expected of them, which is why the A's fans shouldn't start saving for those playoff tickets anytime soon.  

Closer Brad Ziegler might offer the A's fans their only pitching excitement, especially if he can build upon his record setting rookie season. Last year Ziegler went 39 innings before giving up his first earned run, posting a 1.06 ERA and earning 11 saves in the process. He doesn't strike out a ton (4.5 Ks per 9), but he's a groundball fanatic. Fellow reliever and one time favorite for the closing job Joey Devine had a sensational rookie season of his own, throwing 45 innings and earning a 0.59 ERA. He struck out 49 batters too, but his hard throwing ways may have caught up with him and have left this current season in doubt. Last week he heard the worst nine words a pitcher can hear: "You are going to have to see Dr. Andrews." 

So Magic Eight Ball, will baseball "genius" Billy Beane's Athletics make a run at the AL West and the playoffs? "Very doubtful."