The new year is supposed to bring people hopes of something new. The year is supposed to give us reasons to celebrate. For the past month or so, I have been letting you all know how one Major League Baseball team has nothing to look forward to. That team is the New York Mets. Today, I give them a reprieve and look west. I look all the way to San Jose. I mean Oakland.
In 2011, the Oakland A’s finished in 3rd place in the American League West, with a 74-88 record. They scored 645 runs as a team and allowed 679. They also finished dead last in American League attendance, with just under 1.5 million fans attending games at the cavernous Oakland-Alameda Coliseum.
The Oakland A’s featured a couple of players while at bat. Left fielder Josh Willingham led the team with 29 home runs and 98 runs batted in. Center fielder Coco Crisp had 49 steals. Veteran Hideki Matsui hit 12 home runs and drove in over 70 runs. The remaining outfielder, David DeJesus scored 60 runs, hit 10 home runs and drove in 46 runs. Those four players accounted for 256 runs (40% of team), 496 hits (37% of team), 101 doubles (36% of team), 59 home runs (52% of team), 270 runs batted in (44% of team) and 58 stolen bases (50% of team).
Why am I focusing on these four players? All were free agents after the 2011 season. Willingham has signed with the Twins and DeJesus signed with the Cubs. Matsui and Crisp are still free agents. In 2011, these four players earned $21.25 million in salary. As of now, they will earn zero from the Oakland A’s.
In 2011, the A’s had good young pitching. 23-year old Trevor Cahill was 12-14, a 4.16 ERA, pitching 208 innings and striking out 147. 25-year old Gio Gonzalez was 16-12, a 3.12 ERA, pitching 202 innings and striking out 197. 29-year old veteran Rich Harden made his 2011 season debut on July 1, started 15 games for the A’s and finished 4-4, a 5.12 ERA, striking out 91 in 83 innings pitched. Closer Andrew Bailey saved 24 games in 2011, taking over the closer role after Brian Fuentes failed in the role. Bailey is 27-years old.
Why am I focusing on these four players? As you can imagine, they are no longer on the A’s for 2012. Cahill, Gonzalez and Bailey were traded. Harden was not offered arbitration, therefore making him a free agent. Gonzalez, Cahill and Bailey were all arbitration eligible and expecting big paydays. Harden’s salary for 2011 was $1.5 million and could have expected a larger salary through arbitration.
Cahill has signed a long-term contract with the Diamondbacks and will earn $3.5 million in 2012. Bailey and Gonzalez have not had salary updates as of yet and will both have increases over 2011.
Where does this leave the A’s for 2012? The basement. In 2011, the A’s payroll was just over $67 million. Currently, the payroll is at $23 million, without players going through arbitration and signing free agents. It is estimated that the A’s will have a payroll in the bottom three in the majors.
On December 9, the A’s traded Cahill and pitcher Craig Breslow (and cash!) to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Ryan Cook, Colin Cowgill and Jarrod Parker. Cook, a right-handed reliever, has a career record under .500 in the minor leagues and pitched in 12 games in the majors in 2011. Cowgill batted .239 in 36 games as an outfielder in the majors and was a .299 hitter in his minor league career. Parker, the 9th overall selection in the 2007 draft started one game for the Diamondbacks in 2011 and has a winning percentage close to .600 in his minor league career. Parker is the top prospect the A’s received, under team control for two more seasons.
On December 23, the A’s traded Gonzalez and pitcher Robert Gillam to the Washington Nationals for A.J. Cole, Brad Peacock, Derek Norris and Tom Milone. Cole, drafted in the 4th round of the 2010 draft has pitched in only 21 games in his minor league career, with a career ERA of 4.00. Norris, a catcher in the Nationals minor league system since 2007 has a career minor league batting average of .249. Milone was a top pitching prospect for the Nationals, winning 12 games in each of the past three seasons in High A, Double A and Triple A levels. His career ERA in the minor leagues was 3.05. Peacock, a former 41st round pick in 2006 had blossomed of late in the minor leagues, having a combined record of 15-3 with a 2.39 ERA in 2011. The A’s got at least two potential major league pitchers and two other prospects in return for an excellent young arbitration eligible pitcher.
Lastly, on December 28th, the A’s traded closer Andrew Bailey and outfielder Ryan Sweeney to the Boston Red Sox for outfielder Josh Reddick, first baseman Miles Head and pitcher Raul Alcantra. Reddick, turning 25 before the beginning of the 2012 season, batted .280 in half a season for the Red Sox in 2011, with 7 home runs and 28 runs batted in. He is considered the top player received in return for Bailey. Alcantra is a 19-year old pitcher who is 6-7 in 1-plus seasons in the minor leagues with a 2.72 ERA. He is considered a long-term project considering his age and ability to throw between 90 and 95 mph. Head is another young prospect with power potential. In 2011, he batted .299 with 22 home runs and 82 runs batted in while playing at Low A and High A levels in the Red Sox system.
After all of this, what do the A’s have to compete in 2012? To be honest…not much. Look at their competition in the American League West. They compete against the Angels who has recently signed Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson and a new television deal with Fox Sports that will pay the team $3 billion over the next 20 years ($150 million per seasons). They compete against the Rangers, who have appeared in the past two World Series and have improved by signing closer Joe Nathan and are rumored to be trying to sign Prince Fielder after posting a record $51.7 million for the rights to speak to Yu Darvish. The Rangers also have a television deal that pays them approximately $80 million per season. The Mariners have a television deal for $45 million per season. The Mariners have also been rumored to have enough cash to make a contract offer to Prince Fielder. The A’s have nothing.
Despite a low payroll of under $70 million in 2011, the A’s lost money even though they received $30 million in revenue sharing. Therefore, to make a profit (assuming 1.5 million fans attend games once again), the A’s lowered payroll and gave up on the 2012 season. Instead of trying to compete, the A’s gave up. Anyway you say it or look at it, the season is already over in Oakland. It is a team of Triple A players playing at the major league level.
Expect further trades of players with value. Kurt Suzuki will be traded if someone is willing to pay a catcher $5 million after batting .237 in 2011 and a 25% of runners thrown out. Dallas Braden will be paid $3.35 after arbitration was avoided for a pitcher who had season ending surgery last May. Will someone be willing to take him away from the A’s. Could Brandon McCarthy be next? However, after earning only $1 million is 2011, he is one player on the A’s worth more than his value. However, he is arbitration eligible for 2012.
Will Billy Beane be a genius in 2013, 2014 or 2015? Only time will tell. However, for 2012 it is widely accepted that he has cleaned off the shelves.
As a fan of the A’s growing up and fondly recalling the dynasty years of the early 70′s, it has pained me to see this franchise in free fall over the last several years. Dallas writer Tim Cowlishaw recently commented how odd it would be for Brad Pitt to be accepting an Oscar for playing Billy Beane in “Moneyball” while Beane prepares to field the worst team in baseball for 2012. Enjoyed this read, but certainly am not enjoying this reality check.