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Spring training is officially underway, which means that it's time to get ready for your fantasy baseball drafts. As part of RotoBaller's ongoing effort to help you win your leagues, we're previewing all 30 MLB teams. In these articles, we discuss each team's offseason moves, as well as their hitters, pitchers, and prospects.
Today's installment covers the 2017 Oakland Athletics Team Outlook, and previews their potential fantasy baseball contributions.
Editor's note: for even more draft prep, visit our awesome 2017 fantasy baseball rankings dashboard. It has lots of in-depth staff rankings and draft strategy columns. You will find tiered rankings for every position, 2017 impact rookie rankings, AL/NL only league ranks and lots more. Bookmark the page, and win your drafts.
Offseason Moves
There was little turnover of significance with the A’s roster this offseason. Danny Valencia is the most notable departure, and he was a non-tender candidate who got flipped to a division rival for a pitching prospect. The A’s signed a number of veteran free agents: outfielders Rajai Davis and Matt Joyce, infielders Trevor Plouffe and Adam Rosales, and reliever Santiago Casilla. Rajai Davis is probably the only fantasy relevant acquisition here with his speed, but Casilla could become a fantasy factor if he finds himself in the A’s closer role at some point.
Hitting Overview
Fantasy owners aren’t going to find many top tier offensive pieces on the Athletics’ roster, though Khris Davis will be bringing his elite power into his age 29 season. Last season, with a career high 42 bombs and 102 RBI in his first season with Oakland, he proved that one of the majors’ most pitcher friendly parks can’t even contain his power. Still, hitting 40+ for the second year in a row could be a tall order for him but he probably will be the highest drafted Oakland A position player in fantasy drafts, and could be a good value in the 8th to 10th round in 12-team leagues.
As for other Athletics, Marcus Semien could continue to get some fantasy love as a power-hitting shortstop, though he’ll always hit for low average and isn’t an on-base guy, last season he got the bulk of his at-bats in the lower third of the order, which limited his RBI chances. Even if he is capable of another 20+ HR season, he’s not going to be anyone’s number one shortstop, though with durability to go with the power, he’s a solid backup.
Last season’s rookie breakout third baseman, Ryon Healy, will have some sleeper potential, but fantasy owners expecting a repeat of .305/.337/.524 slash line will likely be disappointed. He hit 13 homers in 72 big league games last season, but was never a big power hitter in the minors and will have to contend with a league that will have had time to learn how to pitch to him. However, with the addition of Plouffe to play third base at least part of the time, Healy is expected to add positional eligibly at first base this season, which can be a nice bonus in deep leagues.
Other fantasy relevant position players for the A’s include two-time All Star Stephen Vogt and veteran speedster Rajai Davis. Vogt could see some time at DH as he loses some time behind the dish to youngster Bruce Maxwell, but as long as he hangs onto eligibility at catcher, he’s still a quality backup and good late-round grab. Rajai Davis swiped an A.L.-leading 43 bases last season and he should get the playing time in Oakland to steal a bunch of bags again this year. Speed is pretty much the only thing he brings to the table from a fantasy perspective, however, but it’s good enough to make him a solid grab as a backup outfielder at the end of drafts.
Pitching Overview
The A’s are always a pitching first team – they play in one of baseball’s best pitching parks, after all. This team often can provide fantasy owners with a number of quality under-the-radar types as late-round or waiver wire grabs. But first we must begin at the top and that top man, even after a dismal 2016 season, is Sonny Gray. The 27-year-old righty was one of the best young pitchers in the game before the train went off the tracks in 2016, and he spent time on the disabled list as well, and was limited to only 22 starts. His home run rate skyrocketed from a 0.7 HR/9 in 2015 to a 1.4 HR/9 in 2016. He also saw his walks allowed increase, from 2.6 BB/9 to 3.2 BB/9, though his strikeout rate remained about the same. Some of that could be attributed to the injury, but fantasy owners should remain cautious with Gray this year and not go on name recognition alone when placing expectations on him for a bounce-back season. RotoBaller ranks him just out of the top 50 for starting pitchers, so fantasy owners who want to limit risk should hold off on Gray until the mid to late rounds.
The A’s rotation features a few more intriguing arms. Sean Manaea was a mixed bag in his rookie season in 2016 but the young left hander seemed to find his groove in the second half of the season, posting a 4-4 record with a 2.67 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 69 strikeouts in 13 second half games (12 starts). Jharel Cotton, 25, was brilliant in a September call-up with the A’s, posting a 2.15 ERA and 0.82 WHIP in five starts. It was no doubt a dazzling handful of starts for Cotton, but he was aided by some unsustainable BABIP (.198). Fantasy owners who draft Cotton will be hopeful that they can get their hands on a Rookie of the Year contender for 2017, but they should keep expectations realistic and not rely on him as more than a depth starter.
Prospects Overview
The A’s saw a number of youngsters come up to the bigs last season and contribute, but there are more guys in the farm system that we could see this season. Matt Chapman gets accolades for his cannon arm and defensive skills at third base, but he’s got a big bat as well and could make a similar impact that we saw from Healy last season. Chapman hit .237/.328/.519 with 36 HR and 96 RBI between Double-A and Triple-A in 2016. Another infielder, Franklin Barreto, is only 20 years old, but he was added to the 40-man roster this offseason and reached Triple-A at the end of last season, after playing most of the season at Double-A. He slashed .284/.342/.422 on the season and, with a good start to 2017, could find himself in the bigs as well sometime this season.
Conclusion
The A’s are coming off their second straight season finishing in the A.L. West cellar, and all expectations are that it will be more of the same in 2017. A bounce-back from Gray and another monster power season from Khris Davis are the best that fantasy owners can hope for from the A’s, but as the young players get more seasoning, there could be a few under-the-radar surprises and sleepers here.
