2015 Roster

[Isaiah4110]

His spring ERA is pretty good, but I don't like how high his WHIP has been. As always, you can't really rely on spring stats, as pitchers often go an entire outing trying to focus on sharpening one specific pitch.

I really want to know what the plan is for the rotation right now. I would love to see Gray-Kazmir-Graveman-Pomeranz/Chavez-Zito to start the season with either Pomeranz or Chavez (whoever isn't in the rotation) filling the long relief role.

 

[ratenstein]

Good point Isaiah4110.

 

[ratenstein]

Now they say Crisp is out for a while.

 

[Isaiah4110]

And I'm reading that the rotation is "set" and there is no room for Zito. I really wish I knew where Jane Lee is getting this information because I haven't seen anyone quoting Melvin or Beane stating they have decided on an opening day rotation.


As much as I hate to see Crisp out of the lineup, his injury is really going to provide an interesting/nice opportunity for Billy Burns. So Opening day likely looks something like this:

Disabled List:
SP Jarrod Parker
SP A.J. Griffin
RP Sean Doolittle
CF Coco Crisp
RF Josh Reddick

Starters
C - Stephen Vogt
1B - Ike Davis
2B - Ben Zobrist
3B - Brett Lawrie
SS - Marcus Semien
LF - Sam Fuld
CF - Billy Burns
RF - Craig Gentry
DH - Billy Butler

Bench
C - Josh Phegley
UTIL - (?)Tyler Ladendorf/Nate Frieman(?)
1B - Mark Canha
UTIL - Eric Sogard


Rotation
1 - Scott Kazmir
2 - Sonny Gray
3 - Jesse Hahn
4 - Kendall Graveman
5 - Drew Pomeranz

(other #5 options)
Jesse Chavez, Barry Zito, Chris Bassitt

Bullpen
CL - Tyler Clippard
SU - Eric O'Flaherty
SU - Fernando Abad
MR - R.J. Alvarez
MR - (?)Evan Scribner(?)
MR - (?)Dan Otero(?)
LR - Jesse Chavez

(other Bullpen options)
Jesse Hahn, Chris Bassitt, Pat Venditte



It seems a little strange to me, but this is how it looks from the way Jane Lee has been talking. Looks like Venditte isn't even on the 40-man roster, but I imagine the A's could make room if they wanted to by putting Parker on the 60-day DL.

 

[BeaverShaver]

can't wait. I always crack up this time of year looking at the roster, cuz I'm like, yep Billy did it again...filled the roster with new names.

but I have faith in Mr Beane, and I hope this year is another good one.

 

[Isaiah4110]

We have a ridiculous .700 winning percentage in spring training, and a lot of those games were early blowouts. I'm really excited to see how this performance translates once opening day hits. I'm also excited to see how Billy Burns performs in regular season MLB games.

 

[ratenstein]

Yes, I also saw the same starting rotation listed.
Maybe the Cactus League hitters helped our pitchers look good at times this spring, but so will the home field once the season starts. As long as nobody pulls a Jim Johnson and forgets how to wipe his ass, hopefully the pitching will be pretty good this season.

 

[GenJac]

This is a classic example of how you can't just rate a player based on statistics. Clippard will never be a closer but Beane thinks his numbers suggest he can do it. The eye test does matter at some point and that's why the concept of Moneyball being the correct way to assess players is bunk. It's designed to create a competitive team at a cheap cost. A team can never win a championship doing it.

 

[Isaiah4110]

Clippard was not signed to be a closer. He was signed to be a set up man, but Doolittle is injured and Clippard is the next best option as a closer.