Systems Audit: Oakland Athletics
October 30, 2006
Systems Audit:
Oakland Athletics
1. Daric Barton, 1B, AAA. Though Barton's '06 campaign was cut short due to injury, the future first baseman showed why Oakland committed to him in the first place. He has a tremendous ability to get on base and will likely hit 20 home runs in the big leagues. He projects to hit .280/.400/.460 with relative consistency.
2. Travis Buck, OF, AA. A great defensive left fielder who's quickly turning heads in Oakland and around baseball. Buck can take the ball to the opposite field and can rack up extra base hits which is a pretty good indication of future home run potential. He doesn't draw the walks Oakland usually covets and he strikes out a little too much but he's done well to correct that this year and might be indicitive of a transforation.
3. Matt Sulentic, LF, A. Sulentic had a solid first season of professional baseball in 2006. He cruised through low A ball in Vancouver and moved to A ball in Kane County. His numbers dipped with the advancement but he still put together a fine season. He has a good ability to take walks and even has some signs of power. The 19 year old is still learning in the outfield and at the plate but once he cuts down on his mental mistakes defensively and cuts down on his strike outs he'll be a productive major league player.
4. Kevin Melillo, 2B, AA. His power numbers decreased significantly this year but his average and OBP remained strong. Defense will be the only thing that keeps him from being a major league caliber second baseman and if he can't find a way to improve he'll find himself switching positions and becoming an average at best OF. He has some speed on the bases but he is very smart so he can utilize his speed very well.
5. Javier Herrera, OF, AAA. Herrera is athletic enough to play CF and has a good enough arm to play RF. He's an above average defensive player with the potential to be great. He has a tremendous ability to get on base (surprised?) and is a decent hitter. He has some power and could develop even more but he needs to cut down on his strikeouts in order to really be an effective batter. He has speed on the bases doesn't get caught too often. His biggest weakness is the strikeout and when he overcomes that there'll be a spot for him in Oakland.
6. Jason Windsor, RHP, MLB. Windsor tasted the big leagues this year and had a rough go around. He spent the majority of the season in AAA and excelled, for the most part. He has a dominant changeup and a plus fastball. However, he needs to develop another plus pitch before he can be an effective major league player. He is too hittable now but maintains good control and good K/9 and BB/9 numbers. If he can add another plus pitch and become less hittable he'll quickly find himself in Oakland.
7. Santiago Casilla, RHP, MLB. The pitcher formerly known as Jairo Garcia got his feet wet in the bigs late in the year after a successful campaign at AAA. He has a tremendous slider and a decent fastball. He has excellent movement and his stuff is great overall. He struggles at times with walks and can be erratic and give up too many hits. He is a relief pitcher who could make an impact as the setup man soon. He overpowers hitters and has incredible K/9 rates.
8. Kurt Suzuki, C, AA. Suzuki has great OBP skills (tired of that yet?) and doesn't strikeout too much. He is a serviceable catcher defensively and is moderately above average at the plate. He really had an up and down season ths year and needs to work on consistency in order to move through the system.
9. Craig Italiano, RHP, A. Italiano has a tremendous fastball and a good change. He can overpower hitters but also can be rocked as a result of some control issues. He projects better as a reliever than a starter.
10. Danny Putnam, RF, AA. Putnam doesn't excel at any "tool" but instead is marginally above average, for his age/position, at everything. He's got some power, some OBP skills, can hit for a moderate average and plays good defense. He won't be a full time starting OF but would make a good 4th OF capable of playing all 3 OF positions and could even backup at 1B.
Flier. Cliff Pennington, SS, Rk. Pennington spent most of the '06 season in A+ but was sent to Rk ball after hitting a measly .203/.302/.277. He's a great defensive player and one of the top defensive SS in all of minor league baseball. He just can't hit. He has always shown tremendous plate discipline and doesn't make too many mental mistakes at the plate, his are physical. He'll be 23 next June and needs to make a step forward in order to maintain his status on the Oakland radar.
Future Lineup (arrival date)
C: Kurt Suzuki (2008)
1B: Daric Barton (late 2007)
2B: Kevin Melillo (2008)
3B: Eric Chavez
SS: Marco Scutaro
LF: Travis Buck (2008)
CF: Javier Herrera (2008)
RF: Matt Sulentic (2008)
DH: Nick Swisher
Pitching Staff
1. Barry Zito
2. Dan Haren
3. Joe Blanton
4. Jason Windsor (2007)
5. Brad Halsey
And I'll give one more because Zito might not be there: Rich Harden
Bullpen
Closer: Huston Street
Setup: Santiago Casilla (2007), Kiko Calero, Justin Duchscherer
Middle Relief: Kirk Sarloos, Craig Italiano (2009)
The Oakland Athletics methodology has been well documented in print and television and either praised as innovative or criticized for its lack of postseason results. The story has been played out time and time again with Billy Beane and young players. The system has long been heralded as one of baseball's best but for 2007 the system is fairly barren. There are plenty of position players but most are works in progress and none really project to be great players. Undoubtedly guys like Barton and Buck are going to make impacts in the near future but they don't have the big time heavily coveted prospects that have made Oakland the success story they have been.
System Grade: C+
Posted by Koby Schellenger: Oct 30 at 10:51 AM
Fantasy Baseball 
Everything looks about right on - their system is loaded with talent but they have the OBP guys they covet.
Everything looks about right on - their system is loaded with talent but they have the OBP guys they covet.
Kurt Suzuki is going to be better than Jeremy Brown in my opinion. I don't think the Jeremy Brown experiment is going to be successful, though he'll be the most famous flopped draft pick thanks to Moneyball.
Everything looks about right on - their system is loaded with talent but they have the OBP guys they covet.
Kurt Suzuki is going to be better than Jeremy Brown in my opinion. I don't think the Jeremy Brown experiment is going to be successful, though he'll be the most famous flopped draft pick thanks to Moneyball.
Yeah so far it's been years of waiting for the day when he busts out. He still has the tools but can't piece them together. It doesn't help that he's stuck behind Kendall and the crowd at firstbase. At least he got some major-league at-bats this season.
Harden's 24, Haren 26, Loaiza's locked up for two more years, Joe Kennedy's 28, and Saarloos is 27? (Zito's gone.)
Harden's 24, Haren 26, Loaiza's locked up for two more years, Joe Kennedy's 28, and Saarloos is 27? (Zito's gone.)
You're right. The only problem is that Harden and Haren are locked up through '08 and '09 (they might both have options though) and Kennedy and Sarloos are approaching arbitration. For the A's that generally means a departure. It isn't a terrible situation, but injuries, age and arbitration are concerns for their current rotation's long term status in Oakland and unlike the last time there was a great migration, there isn't anything to replace it with at the moment. (Which means in the June 2007 draft Oakland will be drafting primarily college pitchers)