Headlines

  • Astros Promote Brice Matthews
  • Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow
  • Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers
  • Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help
  • Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays
  • Yankees Release DJ LeMahieu
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Offseason Outlook: Oakland Athletics

By Tim Dierkes | September 16, 2008 at 3:15pm CDT

Next up in the Offseason Outlook series, the A’s.  Here’s how they might line up in 2009:

C – Kurt Suzuki -$400K
C – Rob Bowen – $410K+
1B – Daric Barton – $400K
2B – Eric Patterson – $400K
SS – Bobby Crosby – $5.25MM
3B – Eric Chavez – $11MM
IF – Jack Hannahan – $400K
IF – Cliff Pennington – $400K
LF – Aaron Cunningham – $400K
CF – Carlos Gonzalez – $400K
RF – Ryan Sweeney – $400K
OF – Rajai Davis – $400K
DH – Jack Cust – $410K+

SP – Justin Duchscherer – $1.2MM+
SP – Greg Smith – $400K
SP – Sean Gallagher – $400K
SP – Dana Eveland – $400K
SP – Dallas Braden – $400K

RP – Huston Street – $3.3MM+
RP – Brad Ziegler – $400K
RP – Joey Devine – $400K
RP – Santiago Casilla – $400K
RP – Andrew Brown – $400K
RP – Jerry Blevins – $400K
RP – Josh Outman – $400K

Other outfielders: Travis Buck – $400K, Chris Denorfia – $400K, Matt Murton – $400K

Other starters: Gio Gonzalez – $400K, Dan Meyer – $400K, Vince Mazzaro – $400K, Trevor Cahill – $400K, Brett Anderson – $400K

The A’s opened the ’08 season with a $48MM payroll, down $31MM from the year before.  They have roughly $29MM committed for ’09, plus arbitration raises to Bowen, Cust, Duchscherer, and Street.  They’ll surely come in under $40MM, and could trade Duke or Street.

Oakland’s pitching has been strong once again, and their fourth-ranked ERA holds up even after you subtract Rich Harden, Joe Blanton, and Chad Gaudin.   Lack of offense is the problem – the A’s are dead last in baseball in OBP, SLG, and runs scored.

Cust and Suzuki made positive contributions offensively; Sweeney was OK.  The infield could be an area to upgrade this winter (second base would require a stopgap solution due to the minor league depth).  Chavez will figure in if he can come back from shoulder surgery, but he may be incapable of playing third base.  The A’s have tons of outfielders, but no real trade surplus.  Given Billy Beane’s success developing and finding pitching, that’s the surplus.  He could deal Duchscherer or Street or attempt to swap young pitching for young hitting.

The A’s could target third basemen such as Edwin Encarnacion or Kevin Kouzmanoff, though neither player is an offensive monster.  Young shortstops are more difficult to find via trade.  Dan Uggla could be an interesting target for second or third base.  The A’s probably aren’t in the market for a first baseman, though Prince Fielder might be available.  That’d make for an amusing story.  Mike Jacobs could be a more feasible target.

Shrewd free agent signings might be a better and more likely path – Jason Giambi, Rafael Furcal, and Casey Blake could help.  The outfield market is strong, if the A’s don’t mind pushing various youngsters further down the depth chart.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Oakland Athletics Offseason Outlook

Odds and Ends: Alvarez, Williams, Tazawa
Main
Blue Jays To Retain Barajas, Not Zaun
View Comments (0)
Post a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Astros Promote Brice Matthews

    Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow

    Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers

    Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help

    Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays

    Yankees Release DJ LeMahieu

    Trevor Williams To Undergo UCL Surgery

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Rangers Option Josh Jung

    Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

    Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Recent

    Angels Option Jack Kochanowicz

    Trade Deadline Outlook: New York Mets

    Sergio Alcántara Elects Free Agency

    Blue Jays Select Tommy Nance

    Tyler Callihan Likely Done For The Year

    Pirates Select Yohan Ramírez, Designate Matt Gorski For Assignment

    Astros Promote Brice Matthews

    Rays Place Brandon Lowe On Injured List

    Mets Designate Rico Garcia For Assignment

    Latest On Braves’ Deadline Approach

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version