30 In 30 Part 5: Oakland Athletics

This man will be Oakland's ace this season
and contrary to popular belief, that isn't a bad thing.

As a baseball fan, I really hope the A's move to San Jose.  Then we can see Billy Beane at his best.

Also, I would have a hell of a lot of fun calling this team the "San JosA's," but that's besides the point.

San Jose or Oakland, the biggest issue facing Oakland is that injuries decimated their pitching staff in 2011.  Brett Anderson underwent Tommy John surgery in July and is not expected to return to the rotation until August. Of course if his return doesn't go well, I have a feeling he would make a great video guy.  Dallas "Get Off My Mound" Braden was also bitten by the injury bug, when he suffered a shoulder injury last season that limited him to three starts.

After Anderson, I see a roster full of Oakland's identify crisis between being buyers and sellers.  Oh, and of after 50 games there's Manny Ramirez.  Beane has made moves to pick up players such as Brian Fuentes, Grant Balfour and Matt Holliday over recent seasons in hopes to make a run at the pennant.  On the other hand, the remnants of trades of popular players constitute a healthy portion of the roster.

At the beginning of last season, Beane was the architect of a rotation that could make one cry at the beauty of.  Four young arms with ace potential.  Two of those four arms, as I mentioned earlier, are on the mend and the other two are out of town.  Trevor Cahill is a Diamondback and Gio Gonzalez is a National.  Gio was an All-Star last year and before last season, I considered him the A's fourth best pitcher.  

This is where Billy Beane's genius comes into effect.  Two words.  Brandon McCarthy.

As a Sox fan, I was happy with the result of trading him to Texas and having John Danks as a return on that trade.  However, the 2011 leader in FIP may be the best pitcher on this Oakland staff until Brett Anderson comes back from the DL.  In 2011, McCarthy went 9-9 with a 3.32 ERA and 123 Strikeouts in 25 starts.  

I like the team speed they have with Jemile Weeks, Coco Crisp, Scott Sizemore and Cliff Pennington.  Aside from that, they lineup is very underwhelming.  Perhaps Beane can finally strike international gold with Yoenis Cespedes.

Like the Padres in SoCal, the A's are also struggling with a loss of multiple All-Star caliber players after losing Cahill, Andrew Bailey and Gonzalez.  If Braden and McCarthy can't anchor the rotation, the A's are well on their way to losing 100 games.  With the way things have been going for Beane and the A's, I would not be the least surprised if that happened.

X-FACTORS:

Rotation: Brandon McCarthy.  I could just as easily say Dallas Braden, but Brandon has shown a lot last season.  If he can keep it up this season, it will go a long way toward elevating the A's into respectability.

Lineup: Jemile Weeks.  This kid is an explosive baseball player.  He has the potential to be the best player in the A's lineup this season.  While that may not be enough to carry the club, it will give the rotation a little more room for error.

Bullpen: Grant Balfour AND Brian Fuentes.  They A's need these two to be a lethal setup/closer combination for this team to even think about any success.  

The Kids: Yoenis Cespedes.  I know age-wise, it would make sense for me to switch Cespedes with Weeks, but Weeks is more of a sure thing for the opening day lineup.  If Beane can finally hit a home run in with an international player in Cespedes, the A's will have a solid nucleus to build the lineup around.

ROYAL LIST:

#14 OF Yoenis Cespedes.  Billy Beane needs to say his prayers with this Cuban import.

#26 RHP Jarrod Parker.  The A's reward for parting with Trevor Cahill

#36 RHP Brad Peacock.  The A's reward for parting with Gio Gonzalez

#57 RHP A.J. Cole.  Also the A's reward for parting with Gio Gonzalez

#65 RHP Sonny Gray.  So much pitching on this list.  Kudos to Billy on beefing up the pitching staff that he takes to San Jose.

#80 OF Michael Choice.  Mark Reynolds-esque prospect only gives you three choices when he steps up to the plate.

PROJECTION: 4th Place AL West

This team will have some bad breaks this season.  They will struggle to the finish and Beane will have at least one more person to add to his Royal list.  If Billy Beane moves to San Jose, the A's and the Royals will be two of the top teams in the AL comes 2016.