OAKLAND ATHLETICS
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The Athletics had a great year, and also an unexpected one. Tim Hudson,
who started the year in Double-A, was awesome, and Art Howe also got a big
year out of Gil Heredia (??). Jason Giambi was great, so were Matt Stairs
and John Jaha, and some kids were good. It was a terrific performance by
all. As for 2000... well, I still love Tim Hudson, and also Ben Grieve and Eric Chavez, and I also think that Jeremy Giambi can be outstanding. The veterans are solid, and Kevin Appier might be improved. Teams that take a big leap forward one year usually take a step backward the next season, and I suspect that will happen to Oakland... but the Mariners, Rangers, and Angels are all in a mess, so the Athletics might be able to squeak into the playoffs. |
| KEVIN APPIER (32, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 KC 9 13 34 34 4 1 0 236 215 74 196 340 1998 KC 1 2 3 3 0 0 0 15 21 5 9 780 1999 KC-OAK 16 14 34 34 1 0 0 209 230 84 131 517 |
| He was up and down all year, but was fairly good on the whole, especially for a guy who missed a full year recovering from major surgery. Appier is still fairly young, and seemed to have pretty good stuff last year; my guess is that if he stays healthy, he will have better years in the future. |
| ERIC CHAVEZ (3B, 22, L) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 A 133 520 141 30 3 18 67 100 37 91 271 321 444 13 7 1998 AA-AAA 135 529 173 45 1 33 104 126 54 93 327 388 603 14 7 |
| Chavez had a good rookie year at age 21, which is all you need to know about him. Before that, he tore up the minor leagues. He is an outstanding young player, with tremendous power potential. Will be an All-Star within three years. |
| RYAN CHRISTENSON (CF, 26, R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 AA-AAA 45 169 58 11 5 4 51 23 35 34 343 459 538 7 4 |
| Christenson got a glorious opportunity with Oakland last year, and laid a giant egg in centre field. Now has 638 career at bats; he has neither power nor speed, and is a career .237 hitter. He has no chance now of being a regular, and I doubt that he does enough things well to have a long career as a backup. |
| JASON GIAMBI (1B, 29, L) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 OAK 142 519 152 41 2 20 66 81 55 89 293 362 495 0 1 1998 OAK 153 562 166 28 0 27 92 110 81 102 295 384 489 2 2 1999 OAK 158 575 181 36 1 33 115 123 105 106 315 422 553 1 1 |
| Was he the best first baseman in the American League last year? Vaughn and Thomas had off-years; Thome, McGriff, and Delgado were good, but not as good as Giambi. Palmeiro was a DH most of the season. I guess Giambi was The Man. He is in the middle of his prime years, and is still improving; expect him to play at or near the same level in 2000. |
| JEREMY GIAMBI (1B, 26, L) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 AA 74 268 86 15 1 11 50 52 44 47 321 422 507 4 4 1998 AAA 96 325 121 21 2 20 68 66 57 64 372 469 634 8 5 1999 AAA 35 127 44 5 1 12 31 28 31 30 346 472 685 1 1 |
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Giambi is Jason's younger brother; he has shot the lights out in the
minor leagues, and I'm not quite sure what is taking so long for him to
get a regular job with the Royals. He got some at bats last year, and hit
well; his future looks very bright. ADDENDUM: Giambi has been dealt to Oakland, where he will play with his brother. There is no obvious place for him to play unless Jaha gets hurt; I still think he is going to be good. |
| BEN GRIEVE (LF, 24, L) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 OAK 24 93 29 6 0 3 12 24 13 25 312 402 473 0 0 1998 OAK 155 583 168 41 2 18 94 89 85 123 288 386 458 2 2 1999 OAK 148 486 129 21 0 28 80 86 63 108 265 358 481 4 0 |
| He began the year with the Mother of all sophomore slumps, but came alive the second half of the season. His main problem was a .156 average vs left-handers. Grieve is still very young, and is among the more valuable young players in the game. My guess is that he will be the Athletics' best player in 2000. |
| CHAD HARVILLE (23, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 A 1 0 17 0 0 0 0 24 28 16 30 456 1998 A 4 3 24 7 0 0 4 69 59 31 76 300 1999 AA-AAA 3 0 39 0 0 0 18 48 37 20 71 187 |
| Harville rocketed through the Athletics' system, and had an adventurous debut with the big club. He appears to be a brilliant young talent; he is very young, and might need to spend more time at Triple-A, but I think he will be pitching in Oakland's bullpen by mid-season. Looks very good for the near future. |
| GIL HEREDIA (34, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 TEX 1 0 10 0 0 0 0 20 14 16 8 320 1998 OAK 3 3 8 6 0 0 0 42 43 3 27 274 1999 OAK 13 8 33 33 1 0 0 200 228 34 117 481 |
| Entering the season, he was not a good candidate to pile up 200 innings of work, but surprise, surprise. Heredia doesn't have great stuff, but his control was fantastic, and he was an invaluable member of the Oakland staff. I would expect him to pitch well for at least one more year, before age catches up to him. |
| RAMON HERNANDEZ (CA, 24, R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 A 86 332 120 21 2 15 57 85 35 47 361 427 572 2 4 1998 AA 127 479 142 24 1 15 83 98 57 61 296 389 445 4 5 1999 AAA 77 291 76 11 3 13 38 55 23 37 261 336 454 1 2 |
| Hernandez is a good young catcher who played well with Oakland last season. I think the Athletics would prefer to play Hinch at catcher, but he has badly underachieved the past two seasons. Hernandez might grab the starting job, and not let go. He does an exceptional job of getting hit by pitchers. |
| A.J. HINCH (CA, 26, R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 A 95 333 103 25 3 20 70 73 42 68 309 400 583 8 3 1997 AAA 39 125 47 7 0 4 23 24 20 13 376 473 528 2 0 |
| Hinch was a great prospect when he joined the Athletics, but has played badly the past two seasons. He is still young enough to turn things around and have a good career. But if he starts slowly he will probably lose his job. His future hangs in the balance; I'm curious to see what he will do. |
| TIM HUDSON (25, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 A 3 1 8 4 0 0 0 29 12 15 37 251 1998 AA 10 9 22 22 2 0 0 135 136 71 104 454 1999 AA-AAA 7 0 11 11 0 0 0 67 47 24 79 175 |
| For my money, Hudson was Rookie Of The Year, and to heck what the writers think. He began the season pitching brilliantly at Midland, and continued to pitch brilliantly in Vancouver and Oakland. When he was on the mound, Hudson was better than anyone in the league except Pedro Martinez. If he stays healthy, I would expect him to have an outstanding career. |
| JASON ISRINGHAUSEN (28, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 NYM 2 2 6 6 0 0 0 30 40 22 25 758 1999 NYM-OAK 1 4 33 5 0 0 9 65 64 34 51 473 |
| After a brilliant start to his career, he has had numerous injuries, and was making no progress with the Mets. The Athletics, for some reason, decided to make him their closer; in the year in which Oakland could do little wrong, he pitched very well. Isringhausen has ability, but I wouldn't count on him; the chances are slim that he will be both effective and healthy next year. |
| JOHN JAHA (DH, 34, R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 MIL 46 162 40 7 0 11 25 26 25 40 247 354 494 1 0 1998 MIL 73 216 45 6 1 7 29 38 49 66 208 366 343 1 3 1999 OAK 142 457 126 23 0 35 93 111 101 129 276 414 556 2 0 |
| Jaha rebounded from two injury-plagued seasons to have a monster year with Oakland. He is getting older and he is injury prone and he tailed off the second half of the season. I'll be surprised if he ever drives in 100 runs again, but he might have one more good year before he is forced into a platoon role. |
| DOUG JONES (43, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 MIL 6 6 75 0 0 0 36 80 62 9 82 202 1998 MIL-CLE 4 6 69 0 0 0 13 85 99 17 71 455 1999 OAK 5 5 70 0 0 0 10 104 106 24 63 355 |
| Jones is the oldest of old fogies, but was still one of the best relievers in the AL last year. His age is working against him, but aside from that there is nothing in his record that suggests he is about to decline. |
| TERRENCE LONG (OF, 24, L) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 A 126 470 118 29 7 8 52 61 40 102 251 310 394 24 8 1998 AA 130 455 135 20 10 16 69 58 62 105 297 380 490 23 11 1999 AAA 118 458 137 26 6 9 57 68 33 70 300 348 441 21 10 |
| Long is a young player whom the Athletics acquired from the Mets in mid-season. He is improving at the plate, and looks like he will be a good player. With any luck, he can play centre field, and could be a regular by next season. Not much star potential. |
| MIKE MAGNANTE (35, L) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 HOU 3 1 40 0 0 0 1 48 39 11 43 227 1998 HOU 4 7 48 0 0 0 2 51 56 26 39 488 1999 ANA 5 2 53 0 0 0 0 69 68 29 44 338 |
| Like most left-handed relievers, Magnante bounces up and down from year to year. Last year was a good one; next year, who knows? Probably has 2-3 years left of similar performance; with any luck, a good team will take an interest in him. |
| RON MAHAY (29, L) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 BOS 3 0 28 0 0 0 0 25 19 11 22 252 1998 BOS 1 1 29 0 0 0 1 26 26 15 14 346 1999 OAK 2 0 6 1 0 0 1 19 8 3 15 186 |
| Mahay pitched fairly well for Boston in 1997-98, but last year was back in the minors. There doesn't seem to be much point of Mahay starting games anymore; if he has a future, it will be as a lefty in the bullpen. He should hook on with some team this season; he doesn't have a great future ahead of him, but he might hang around a few seasons. |
| T.J. MATHEWS (30, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 STL-OAK 10 6 64 0 0 0 3 76 75 30 70 301 1998 OAK 7 4 66 0 0 0 1 72 71 29 53 458 1999 OAK 9 5 50 0 0 0 3 59 46 20 42 381 |
| The Athletics got him in the McGwire trade, and he has pitched very well for them the past three years. One of the better middle relievers in the league, I would expect him to return to that role, and continue to pitch well. |
| FRANK MENECHINO (IF, 29, R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 AA 90 318 95 28 4 12 78 60 79 77 299 447 525 7 3 1998 AAA 106 378 105 11 7 10 72 40 70 75 278 403 423 9 10 1999 AAA 130 501 155 31 9 15 103 88 73 97 309 403 497 4 5 |
| It took a long time, but Menechino finally made his major league debut, with the Athletics. He is almost 30, and doesn't have great things ahead of him; but he can get on base and hit for power and play all of the infield positions, and that should make him valuable to somebody. |
| OMAR OLIVARES (33, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 DET-SEA 6 10 32 31 3 2 0 177 191 81 103 497 1998 ANA 9 9 37 26 1 0 0 183 189 91 112 403 1999 ANA-OAK 15 11 32 32 4 0 0 206 217 81 85 416 |
| He seems to get better every year, which is strange because there is nothing impressive about him; if anything, he should be getting worse. His control is nothing special and he rarely gets strikeouts... my guess is that he will pitch badly this year, but he has fooled us before. |
| BO PORTER (OF, 28, R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 A 122 440 135 20 6 17 87 65 61 115 307 393 495 23 13 1998 AA 125 464 134 26 11 10 91 68 82 117 289 399 457 50 17 1999 AAA 111 414 121 24 2 27 86 64 65 121 292 396 556 15 17 |
| Porter is an outfielder with the Cubs; he is too old to be considered a prospect, but he has hit very well the last three seasons, and had a big year at Iowa in 1999. He has little chance to be a regular, but his power and speed and his ability to draw a walk should make him valuable to somebody as a bench player. |
| OLMEDO SAENZ (1B/3B, 29, R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1998 AAA 124 466 146 29 0 29 89 102 45 49 313 394 562 3 3 |
| Saenz is a veteran minor leaguer; he missed the entire 1997 season with injury, but has hit up a storm ever since his return. He played very well last year with Oakland; it is unlikely that he will ever be a regular, but he should remain a forceful presence on the bench for several years. |
| SCOTT SERVICE (33, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 CIN-KC 0 3 16 0 0 0 0 22 28 6 22 645 1998 KC 6 4 73 0 0 0 4 82 70 34 95 348 1999 KC 5 5 68 0 0 0 8 75 87 42 68 609 |
| Service pitched very well for the Royals in 1998, but was pretty stinky last year. His walks went way up, and the strikeouts were way down. I will be surprised if he pitches well in 2000. |
| MATT STAIRS (RF, 32, L) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 OAK 133 352 105 19 0 27 62 73 50 60 298 386 582 3 2 1998 OAK 149 523 154 33 1 26 88 106 59 93 294 370 511 8 3 1999 OAK 146 531 137 26 3 38 94 102 89 124 258 366 533 2 7 |
| His average was down, but his walks and home runs were way up, and he was again a very valuable player. I think Stairs has at least a couple of good years left as a regular; expect a small drop in home runs, and a rise in his batting average next year. |
| MIGUEL TEJADA (SS, 24, R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 OAK 26 99 20 3 2 2 10 10 2 22 202 240 333 2 0 1998 OAK 105 365 85 20 1 11 53 45 28 86 233 298 384 5 6 1999 OAK 159 593 149 33 4 21 93 84 57 94 251 325 427 8 7 |
| Tejada has been overshadowed by all the other good young shortstops, but he appears to be a decent player. He is very young, and made significant improvements last year. His strikeouts were down, everything else was up. I expect he will continue to improve as a hitter, and one day will probably make the All-Star team. |
| JORGE VELANDIA (IF, 25, R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1997 AAA 114 405 110 15 2 3 46 35 29 62 272 326 341 13 3 1998 AAA 128 488 140 35 1 6 64 57 37 52 287 341 400 8 6 |
| Velandia had a solid year at Edmonton, and got into a few games with Oakland as a defensive replacement. At the moment he would be a solid utility infielder, probably does not hit well enough to play every day, and is not likely ever to be a regular. |
| RANDY VELARDE (2B, 37, R) |
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YEAR TM GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB SO AVG OBA SLU SB CS 1998 ANA 51 188 49 13 1 4 29 26 34 42 261 375 404 7 2 1999 ANA-OAK 156 631 200 25 7 16 105 76 70 98 317 390 455 24 8 |
| Velarde was a terrific hitter for the Yankees when he was a part of their bench in the early part of the decade. When he got his shot at being a regular in Anaheim he got hurt, badly, but last year he was healthy and had a career year. He's a good player, and I wish him well in the future, but he will turn 37 next year, and chances are that he is going to get hurt again. |
| LUIS VIZCAINO (23, R) |
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YEAR TEAM WN LS GP GS CG SH SV IP HIT BB SO ERA 1997 A 1 6 22 5 0 0 0 48 62 27 42 793 1998 A 6 3 23 16 0 0 0 102 72 43 108 274 1999 AA 8 7 25 19 0 0 0 105 120 48 88 585 |
| Vizcaino pitched in one game with Oakland, after a poor season at Midland. Vizcaino is very young, and appears to have some talent; he has yet to pitch well above A-ball, however, so we will likely have to wait a couple of years before he arrives. |