Oakland Athletics

Off-season Overview:

There is no way to sugarcoat this...the Oakland Athletics will be bad this year. They don't have the salary to make any big moves and so they did what they always do and traded a good chunk of their assets in search for gold. They lost Cole Irvin, Sean Murphy, Chad Pinder and a few other smaller names while not really adding anyone of great value. However, they do have a few players that will be fun to watch. On the pitching side, long-time Braves prospect Kyle Muller should be afforded every opportunity to live up to his hype. Add Paul Blackburn and top prospect Ken Waldichuk to the mix and maybe you have three arms to tune in for. Offensively, however, Oakland has some guys that will be worth the watch. Ramon Laureano and Seth Brown will serve as their "veterans", Jesus Aguilar could provide some additional pop in the lineup if Oakland's Coliseum wasn't so pitcher-friendly, and the young guys Shea Langliers and Esteury Ruiz show a lot of promise. Ruiz, especially, could be the next player to steal 50 bases and he'll have to if Oakland wants to sell out at least one game this year. Overall, I expect this team to be tough to watch.

Ceiling:

They do what the Athletics have done for a while with their Moneyball mentality. They surprise. I still think their ceiling is a 4th place AL West finish. That's more of a testament to the AL West then it is a knock on Oakland . I just don't see a world where the A's do anything more than that this year.

Floor:

They have more of a basement than a floor. The A's could end up with the worst record in baseball this year with 100+ losses. They don't have the depth. All it takes is a couple of key injuries and poor performances from some of their young guys who they will need to rely on.

My Prediction:

They finish 5th in a tough AL West and continue to trade assets for the "future". It's no secret they are the next team to either get a new stadium or move out of Oakland altogether. They will continue to cut costs until an official plan is announced. Bottom line, it won't be a fun year to watch baseball in Oakland. Oh, and Vegas will get a new team.

-- Cyrus Beermann