Fantasy Baseball: 2015 Oakland Athletics Fantasy Outlook

Apr 2, 2015; San Francisco, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics designated hitter Billy Butler (16) crosses the plate after hitting a homer during the ninth inning against the San Francisco Giants in a preseason game at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports

Spring Training is in full swing (pun intended), and the regular season is right around the corner. That means that our fantasy drafts are as well.

2015 Oakland Athletics Projected Starting Lineup:

C: Stephen Vogt (.279, 9HR, 35RBI, 1SB in 84 games)
1B: Ike Davis (.233, 11HR, 51RBI with Mets/Pirates)
2B: Ben Zobrist (.272, 10HR, 52RBI, 10SB with Rays)
SS: Marcus Semien (.234, 6HR, 28RBI, 3SB in 64 games with White Sox)
3B: Brett Lawrie (.247, 12HR, 38RBI, 0SB in 70 games with Blue Jays)
LF: Coco Crisp (.246, 9HR, 47RBI, 19SB)
CF: Sam Fuld (.239, 4HR, 36RBI, 21 SB in 113 games with A’s/Twins)
RF: Josh Reddick (.264, 12HR, 54RBI, 1SB in 109 games)
DH: Billy Butler (.271, 9HR, 66RBI, 0SB with Royals)

If you are an A’s fan, you don’t even recognize the roster this year. They made a ton of changes, but will they help the team or the fantasy outlooks of these players? Let’s take a look.

Vogt now has the catcher slot all to himself after fighting for at bats with Derek Norris and John Jaso last year. Over a full season, Vogt could come close to 20 homers, and should get between 70-80 RBI. If he can sustain the average, he will be a steal where he is going in drafts. If you want to wait on a catcher, you can snag Vogt in the middle to late rounds of a standard league draft, and still get solid production.

Davis has never been a high average hitter, but he still manages to post a pretty good OBP (.336 over his career). However, unless your fantasy league counts OBP, Davis is better left for deep leagues. He hit 32 homers with the Mets in 2012, but has a grand total of 31 in 389 games since that season. The power isn’t likely to magically reappear, especially in the cavernous Coliseum.

Zobrist, like most of the rest of the Rays, had a disappointing 2014 season. Then again, his final numbers weren’t that far off of his career norms. He probably won’t hit 20 homers or steal 20 bases in a season again. but he should reach double digits in both with a solid average. He is slightly more valuable in leagues that only have three bench slots because of his multi-position eligibility. Still, he is being overdrafted. He should be taken no earlier than the 12 round, but he is off of almost every draft board by then.

Semien has decent power and decent speed, but he likely won’t be able to hit much over .250 in the major leagues. He hit .272 in the minors, so don’t expect great things. Over a full season, he is a 20-20 threat, which makes him a nice middle to late round pick at shortstop.

If only Lawrie can stay healthy. That has been the mantra of Jays fans since 2011. He has played just 345 games over four seasons, and has shown some flashes of what he is capable of, but after so many injuries, what is his ceiling now? He had a 20 homer and 30 steal season in the minors, but those seem like eons ago in prospect time. His average has dipped in each of his four seasons, but he did hit 12 homers in only 70 games last year. That projects to 26 over a full season, but will you actually get a full season out of him? I would take him late in your standard league and maybe you will get a good return on your investment. Just don’t hold your breath. His speed is all but gone.

Coco Crisp will start the season on the DL, so either Craig Gentry (.254, 0HR, 12RBI, 20SB in 94 games) or Billy Burns (.397, 8RBI, 4SB in 78 spring at bats) will take over in center field and move Fuld to left. Gentry has a little fantasy value in deep leagues because of his speed. Burns is a hard-nosed player who has stolen 128 bases over the last two minor league seasons. That could make him worth a late round pick in standard leagues if he wins a job.

Crisp is still worth drafting in the later rounds to stash on your DL. He will still swipe 20 or more bags and should come close to ten homers, all without hurting your average.

Fuld was a disaster in Oakland last year before being traded to the Twins in May. He played well enough with the Twins that the A’s brought him back. Will he fare better in Oakland this year? If not, Burns could stick in the majors early. Fuld could be worth a look if you need steals in deeper leagues, but he won’t help you in standard leagues.

Reddick clubbed 32 home runs in 2012, but has hit only 24 in 223 games since. His average has improved a little to the point where he is worth gambling on late in leagues of 12 or more teams. Stay away from him in standard leagues unless he gets hot.

Butler had a poor season by his standards even though the Royals made the World Series. He posted his worst batting average of his career, his lowest homer total since his 92 game rookie year of 2007, and his lowest RBI total since 2008. But, he gets on base. Which makes him a Billy Beane favorite. Butler is a career .295 hitter and has a career .359 on base percentage. I tend to think that he won’t be as bad as last year, but I doubt he hits 20 homers either. Still, his ability to hit and drive in runs makes him worth a later round pick in standard leagues. I would be very surprised if he hit below .280, had less than 10 homers, and drove in less than 80 runs this year. He could be a good bargain for you.

The A’s are loaded with positional prospects, but Burns is the only one that is major league ready. A lot of fans are still disappointed that they traded Addison Russell, and that will only get worse if he sticks with the Cubs early in the year and has a nice season.

Next: How Does The Rotation Look?

Mar 27, 2015; Mesa, AZ, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Jesse Hahn (32) throws during the fourth inning against the Texas Rangers at HoHoKam Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

2015 Oakland Athletics Projected Starting Rotation:

Sonny Gray (14-10, 3.08 ERA, 183K)
Scott Kazmir (15-9, 3.55 ERA, 164K)
Jesse Hahn (7-4, 3.07 ERA, 70K in 12 starts)
Kendall Graveman (3-0, 0.42 ERA, 11K in five spring starts)
Drew Pomeranz (5-4, 2.35 ERA, 64K in ten starts)
Jarrod Parker (12-8, 3.97 ERA, 134K in 2013)
Tyler Clippard (7-4, 2.18 ERA, 82K in 75 appearances with Washington)
Sean Doolittle (2-4, 2.73 ERA, 89K, 22/26 saves)

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Gray is the unquestioned ace of this staff. As good as he is though, he is not quite a fantasy ace. He is a very good number two starter on your fantasy team, and is worth a seventh round pick or so.

Kazmir has been a great comeback story over the last two years. He provides good enough numbers to be of use near the back of your mixed league rotation. A 3.50 ERA and 160K may be his ceiling, but I doubt his numbers get much worse than that.

Hahn was very good last year, posting nearly a strikeout per inning and an ERA right around 3. While he may not be able to sustain that kind of success over a full season, there is reason to believe that he can still be a solid standard league option. He posted a 2.26 ERA in his minor league career, so there is no reason to believe that he can’t keep it low in the majors as well. The only thing that I may have a question about is his ability to maintain his current strikeout rate. I would still be happy with him near the back of my standard league rotation.

Graveman had a stellar spring and it earned him a rotation spot. I would stay away in standard leagues until he does something to prove himself, but he is certainly worth a look in deeper leagues, and could turn out to be quite a steal.

If Pomeranz struggles, there is a chance that the A’s could bring up Sean Nolin. He looks like he is ready to make an impact in the majors, but he would mostly just be a fill-in until Jarrod Parker can come back from Tommy John surgery. Any of those three could be worth a look in deeper leagues.

Sean Doolittle is without a timetable for return, which means that Tyler Clippard is a nice late roun pick in standard leagues, and he could end up keeping the closer role for a while. He has experience as a closer. He saved 32 games for the Nationals in 2012. Doolittle is a risky pick anywhere in the draft right now. It could be a big reward, but I wouldn’t take him too early.

Stay tuned to Fantasy CPR as our team by team rundown continues!

Next: Is Bryce Harper A Top Ten Outfielder?

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