The most popular World Series picks entering the 2014 MLB season were the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays. It was a juicy matchup featuring two teams on opposite ends of the spectrum. The National League's Dodgers had the biggest payroll in baseball. They played in one of the largest markets in the country and were set to have a plethora of nationally televised games. They had arguably the most talented roster in the league, with stars like Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Hanley Ramirez, Matt Kemp, and Yasiel Puig. The American League's Rays, on the other hand, had one of the lowest payrolls. But they had a tremendous front office which developed and acquired young talent. Joe Maddon was recognized as one of the best managers in the game, known for his analytical approach, but also his wacky antics to maintain a fun and loose clubhouse. The Rays didn't have a terrific offense, but they consistently had some of the best pitching and defense in baseball. This was supposed to be the year they would return to the Fall Classic. Most predicted talent to prevail and had the Dodgers winning it all. And if pundits weren't picking either of those teams to win it all, they were going with the Washington Nationals or the Detroit Tigers. Almost everyone agreed the talented Nationals had significantly underachieved the previous year. And the Tigers had consistently been one of the best teams in baseball over the last few seasons. Surely, they would find a way to translate their regular season success into a championship one of these years. But as we get closer to the All-Star break, the two teams that have separated themselves from the pack don't include any of the clubs mentioned above. The best baseball is coming out of the Bay Area, where both the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics have made their presence felt.
Coming into the 2014 season, the Oakland A's had one objective in mind: add depth and keep building around the core of players they already had. The A's won back to back AL West Division championships with a shoestring budget but fell short against the Detroit Tigers (aka: Justin Verlander) in the ALCS both years. The first year, it didn't hurt as bad since it was nothing short of a miracle that the same Oakland A's that had traded away Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, and Andrew Bailey won the AL West which included two extremely talented teams in the Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The second time around, it stung because the A's lost to a very familiar nemesis in a very similar fashion. The team was not due for a major overhaul, but Billy Beane saw it necessary to add depth wherever he could for the A's to be a contender for a 3rd straight year.
Oakland added Luke Gregerson and Jim Johnson after losing Jerry Blevins in a trade and Grant Balfour, who elected to become a free agent. They went on to trade Micheal Choice for Craig Gentry and also acquired Nick Punto from the Dodgers. At that point, the A's starting rotation and their bullpen looked like it had the most depth of any pitching staff in the majors. Before the season started however, Jarrod Parker succumbed to Tommy John surgery and AJ Griffin followed soon after. The "ace" from last year, Bartolo Colon was also not part of the team anymore as he joined the Mets in order to amuse the baseball world with his amazing batting skills. It was up to rookie sensation Sonny Gray to step up and take up the perennial role as the ace of the franchise. However, it was quite obvious that he could not alone carry such a huge task. That is where the genius of Billy Beane came in again with the signing of Scott Kazmir. After falling to land Tim Hudson who promptly went to the Giants instead, Kazmir was signed up by the Oakland A's for a 2 year, $22 million contract. The A's also went on to acquire Drew Pomeranz for organizational depth by dealing away the talented but injury prone Brett Anderson (he is on the 60 day DL as we speak: surprise, surprise). Pomeranz, who was a former first round pick by the Indians, was one of the major pieces in the deal that sent Ubaldo Jimenez to the Indians from the Rockies. Coors Field was never kind to him which made him prone to miss his spots and lose confidence in the strike zone. Jesse Chavez, who owned a Major League career 4.08 ERA before coming to Oakland, was planned to be stretched out as a starter once again after being part of the A's bullpen a year ago. Well how exactly did all of this pan out?
The Oakland A's as of June 26th, 2014 are second in the league when it comes to team ERA (3.14), 1st in WHIP (1.16), 3rd in QS (50), and 2nd in BAA (.231). Scott Kazmir has been nothing short of spectacular and has rejuvenated himself and come a long way from his days as an independent league pitcher with the Sugarland Skeeters. What nobody noticed was how Kazmir was 5th in the league when it came to his xFIP during the second half of the season with the Cleveland Indians. While the confines of O.co does come into play, Kazmirs home and road splits have been very much identical and he is a proud owner of a sub 2 ERA. Sonny Gray showed the baseball world that he was not a flash in the pan after his stellar performance in game 2 of the ALDS, where he went neck to neck against Verlander. His command has improved, his slider is straight filthy, and he owns a 7-3 win-loss record to go along with a 2.93 ERA and 86 K's. Drew Pomeranz filled in for Dan Straily after he was sent to the minors and certainly impressed. Jesse Chavez never had sexy stuff that blew scouts away and was labelled as a major league journeyman in his MLB career. But as we speak, he sports a 2.71 ERA with 82 K's. I can't explain it either to be honest. However, Pomeranz is a case that can be explained quite simply. Before fracturing his non throwing hand due to antics and frustration after a disappointing start, Pomeranz was sporting a 2.91 ERA and pitching surprisingly well, showing the pedigree which had made him a touted prospect with Cleveland. Being a flyball pitcher is nothing short of suicidal in Colorado but is not a big problem in the larger confines of O.co. His walk rate has consequently gone down and the strikeouts are up: a sight that definitely pleases anyone rooting for Pomeranz.
As far as the Oakland A's bullpen goes, Jim Johnson has been a tremendous disappointment to say the least; he's been so bad that the A's are already trying to trade him away. However, the rest of the bullpen has been pretty solid. Sean Doolittle has done a great job after stepping in as the A's closer, Luke Gregerson has been an awesome setup man, Ryan Cooks been solid when healthy, and Dan Otero has carried on the surprising success that he had in 2013. Fernando Abad, who was recalled from AAA, also has done a decent job; seeing him throwing sliders is fun to watch. The bullpen was touted to be one of Major Leagues best and it has certainly lived up to that billing so far. But enough talk about the pitching, how about the Oakland A's hitting?
The A's lead the league when it comes to run differential, and it is by a huuuuuge margin. They own a +129 run differential and the team that comes closest to that are the Mariners with +42 (yes, you read that right). While pitching always wins you games, having some solid hitters never hurts a team. The batting lineup looked very similar to 2013 heading into 2014 for the Oakland A's, but the continued rise of Josh Donaldson and Brandon Moss has packed quite a solid 1-2-3 punch in the heart of the lineup along with Yoenis Cespedes. Donaldson is the favorite by a quite big margin to start 3B in the All Star game, and he has certainly earned the merits to do so. Leading the AL in WAR as we speak, Donaldson has excelled in both parts of the game from a defensive and an offensive standpoint. Brandon Moss, who has historically been sub par against lefties, has surprisingly seen a rise in his BA against lefties and has been making better contact all around resulting in more flyballs going out of the ballpark and becoming an RBI machine batting behind Crisp and Donaldson. And Cespedes has been the same player that we have accustomed to seeing: lots of power, not great plate discipline, but gets the job done. The A's are the only team this year that have fielded 3 catchers in the starting lineup in one game, and neither one of them has hurt the club's offense. While Vogt is pretty atrocious to watch in right field, his bat has certainly compensated for it (seriously though, put Reddick out there instead). John Jaso has also stepped in admirably whenever the A's needed a DH or when Norris had to sit out. The only weak spot in the offense has been in the middle infield with Eric Sogard, Alberto Callaspo, Jed Lowrie and Nick Punto being far from stellar. A trade before the deadline might be in the cards but one thing is for sure, this offense is no joke and is coming out to get you. Yu Darvish has learned it the hard way several times.
It has been another stellar season from the Oakland A's so far this year. If they do go on to make it to the playoffs, the expectation this year is they at least get out of the divisional round. The core of this franchise still has probably about 2 to 3 years left before the big money teams come sniffing around. And signing a 10 year lease extension to stay at the O.co coliseum will not help things for the future of this franchise either. However, this is why I maintain that Billy Beane is God. He has assembled a team with so much depth and has instilled a winning mentality inside a clubhouse that is filled with rejects from other teams due to minor flaws and with pieces that are surprising everyone in the baseball world today. To put his work into perspective, have a look at this. The Los Angeles Dodgers who have a payroll of an excess of $235 million, have a record of 45-36 with a run differential of +42 and are second in the NL West behind the Giants. The Oakland A's with a payroll of $75 million are 48-30 with a +128 run differential and are first in the AL West. The team that he has assembled has made A's fans like yours truly feel proud of rooting for a franchise with a shoe string budget. Its moneyball all over again, and I hope that some of the regular season success finally translates in the postseason.
Coming into the 2014 season, the Oakland A's had one objective in mind: add depth and keep building around the core of players they already had. The A's won back to back AL West Division championships with a shoestring budget but fell short against the Detroit Tigers (aka: Justin Verlander) in the ALCS both years. The first year, it didn't hurt as bad since it was nothing short of a miracle that the same Oakland A's that had traded away Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, and Andrew Bailey won the AL West which included two extremely talented teams in the Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The second time around, it stung because the A's lost to a very familiar nemesis in a very similar fashion. The team was not due for a major overhaul, but Billy Beane saw it necessary to add depth wherever he could for the A's to be a contender for a 3rd straight year.
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| Kazmir has proven to be a steal for Oakland |
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| Sonny Gray has been a true ace this season |
As far as the Oakland A's bullpen goes, Jim Johnson has been a tremendous disappointment to say the least; he's been so bad that the A's are already trying to trade him away. However, the rest of the bullpen has been pretty solid. Sean Doolittle has done a great job after stepping in as the A's closer, Luke Gregerson has been an awesome setup man, Ryan Cooks been solid when healthy, and Dan Otero has carried on the surprising success that he had in 2013. Fernando Abad, who was recalled from AAA, also has done a decent job; seeing him throwing sliders is fun to watch. The bullpen was touted to be one of Major Leagues best and it has certainly lived up to that billing so far. But enough talk about the pitching, how about the Oakland A's hitting?
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| The 1-2-3 punch of Moss, Donaldson and Cespedes has been stellar this year |
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| Billy Beane is God |
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