In general, the A’s need their pitching to be strong, as they do not have a particularly explosive offense. The infield is a tale in contrasts. Defensively it is fantastic: Eric Chavez is a six-time gold glove winner, Mark Ellis led major league second basemen in fielding percentage, and shortstop Bobby Crosby has great range.  On the flipside, no Oakland infielder hit over .250 last season.

The A’s are a team that values on-base percentage over batting average, the philosophy being that a higher on-base percentage makes the inning longer and tires the opposing pitcher out.  Still, even here the A’s were notably bad last season, as Crosby (who has shown absolutely no pop and little of the offensive potential that he is said to possess), got on base less than 30 percent of the time last year.

The one bright spot in terms of offensive production should come from Eric Chavez.  Chavez suffered through a season-long slump in 2006, hitting .241 with just 22 homers, but his past stardom makes it unlikely he won’t bounce back. 

In the outfield, Nick Swisher exploded out of the gate last season, batting .305 over the first two months.  In only his third year though Swisher could not keep his ferocious pace up all season, ending the year with a 254 batting average, but he still swatted 35 home runs.  The A’s like what they see and Swisher has perhaps more potential and upside than any batter in the organization but hasn’t shown the patience for which Oakland batters are typically known. Swisher struck out 152 times last season, and is very susceptible to swinging at low pitches.

Mark Kotsay and Milton Bradley are both solid fielders and hitters, but they will often not give you anything more than a single, although Bradley has a little power. That is where Swisher comes in, but one area in which Swisher is a little weak is fielding, as he doesn’t always do a good job tracking the ball, and is weak in terms of speed.  For that reason alone, and as a great backup policy in case someone gets injured, the signing of Shannon Stewart by the A’s was very smart.  Stewart will probably replace Swisher late in games on defense, and he is a guy with years of experience who also provides speed off the bench.

At catcher, Jason Kendall hits for a good average and calls a good game, but don’t expect many extra base hits.  Mike Piazza was Oakland’s biggest free-agent signing, and if he can get anywhere near the 39 homers Thomas hit last season as the team’s DH, the team would be ecstatic. Piazza showed he still has power, hitting 22 homers, last year with the Padres, but expecting him to approach 40 is probably too much to ask.

Before last season, when the A’s signed Frank at a bargain price, who could have expected the type of season he had?  The A’s will certainly miss his unexpected production, and the defection of Zito to the crosstown Giants weakens the pitching staff. Regardless, the A’s still have the formula down pat to wear other teams out. 

What Oakland does well is use a deep pitching staff to keep games close, letting their patient hitters wear down opposing pitchers. It’s a formula they have used since Billy Beane took over as GM, and one that has led to their recent run of success. Last year was the first time in recent history the team got past the first round of the playoffs, and they should make a return trip to the postseason this year. Oakland fans should expect another AL West crown, but don’t make World Series plans just yet.

2006: 93-69 (1st in AL West, lost to Detroit in ALCS)