Oakland Athletics
78-77, 2nd AL West, 1 GB
1972 Outlook: The A's had just almost succeeded in the impossible: in spite of being outscored all year, they finished with 90 wins and gave the eventual World Series Champion Red Sox a real run for their money in the ALCS, eventually losing 3-2. After, well, an entire lifetime of losing in Philadelphia and Kansas City and a rocky start to their time in Oakland with consecutive 100-loss seasons, it sure looked like, for the first time ever, this team was legitimately going to contend for playoff berths.
1972 In Review: The A's got off to a strong start with an 8-3 April but even by the end of May they were sitting at 20-17 and 3rd in the division behind Twins and Angels teams who just plain looked more put together. June saw more of the same, but a hot 19-12 July coupled with a complete collapse by the Twins saw them rise into 2nd and just 3 games out by the end of the month. There was all kinds of hope at that point; sadly the team finished just 25-33 the rest of the way. Even that was very, very nearly enough to steal the pennant from the Angels: after losing 2 of 3 to the last-place Royals, all the A's had to do to force a playoff was sweep the Angels in a 2-game series. They won game 1 but couldn't put together any kind of offense in game 2 and lost the season 1-0.
1973 Outlook: Over the past couple years the A's have mortgaged their future to push into and possibly through the playoffs and now they no longer have a team that's young everywhere. The new mix of youngsters and veterans still has some big holes, and while the pitching staff did lead the AL in strikeouts, 104 of those came from the since-departed Roberto Ortiz. If this team was in the East, I'd write them off from Day One. They aren't in the East so, you know, hope springs eternal and all that.
Pitching
Vince Akright
RHP No. 2
SR, 5'9" 183 lbs.
Born 1943-06-06 in East Lake-Orient Park, FL
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO
1970 DET MLB 11 14 0 3.61 34 34 5 241.2 223 109 97 99 173
1971 WAS MLB 18 13 0 2.25 37 37 13 295.1 234 88 74 86 195
1972 OAK MLB 14 17 0 2.95 35 35 10 256.0 220 88 84 91 201
Akright, nicknamed "the Stone" for how heavy his fastball plays, pitched for his 3rd team in 3 years with the A's and emerged as the staff ace. He threw a career high 201 strikeouts, completed 10 games, and if he had a losing record it was more due to poor support (2.4 RS/G), especially down the stretch. Akright sat at 14-12, 2.85 on September 12 but went 0-5 the rest of the way in spite of still pitching the same as he'd ever been.
He throws 4 pitches for strikes and only sometimes clears 90 on his fastball but in spite of that he has a deceptive delivery that makes his stuff very hard to track. He also keeps the ball down and works mainly by locating his pitches and changing the speed on his pitches. His 17 HRs were also, it should be noted, a career high, although of course 17 is still not at all "high".
It's a little unbelievable, if I'm being honest, that Akright got snubbed from the All-Star Game. He's easily one of the top 3 or 4 pitchers in the West.
Lee Barnard
LHP No. 10
LL, 6'2" 202 lbs.
Born 1943-07-19 in Dothan, AL
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO
1970 IOW AAA 1 1 2 3.85 5 3 0 18.2 22 8 8 4 19
1970 OAK MLB 11 10 0 3.53 27 26 4 180.2 183 78 71 59 106
1971 OAK MLB 11 13 0 3.45 35 35 8 250.0 240 112 96 80 150
1972 OAK MLB 15 12 0 2.61 35 35 6 255.0 207 79 74 67 153
Even though "Batty" Barnard throws some heeeeeeat - he can reach the mid-90s with his cut fastball - his stuff has never had a lot of bat-fooling movement in the major leagues and so the former #57 prospect has had to learn to actually pitch. In 1972 he had a career-best 2.4 BB/9, good for 9th in the AL, which also led to a 10th best 2.28 K/W ratio. As a result of this, nobody was more consistently good on the season - 91.4% of his starts were of the quality variety - than Barnard was.
The pitching renaissance could not have come at a better time, as Barnard, who was one of those guys who got a roster spot in large part due to the '69 expansion, was at a bit of a crossroads. He'd been only an average starter for the A's before; now, instead of fighting for a job in the back of the rotation, Barnard is projected as a solid #2 man behind Akright.
Carlos Torres
LHP No. 6
LL, 6'6" 201 lbs.
Born 1938-06-07 in Esperanza, DOM
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO
1970 PIT MLB 13 7 0 3.75 30 23 4 177.1 176 87 74 54 127
1971 PIT MLB 0 1 1 4.67 17 0 0 17.1 22 10 9 12 12
1971 OAK MLB 3 0 0 4.50 13 1 0 18.0 23 13 9 4 11
1972 IOW AAA 10 5 0 3.85 16 16 8 126.0 127 56 54 27 88
1972 OAK MLB 6 9 0 3.32 20 19 7 146.1 121 60 54 40 91
There's that saying that politics made strange bedfellows; well, how about pitching staffs? The A's had purchase Carlos Torres, a 13 game winner with the Pirates in 1970, from the Bucs for a pittance, as he was not working out for them as a middle innings guy. He didn't any better for the A's and nobody claimed him when the team put him through waivers in the offseason. Then. somehow, he was actually effective in the minors and the A's, now short on quality pitching, brought him up. Wins and losses aside, Torres was roughly a league average pitcher last season, which is pretty OK for a back of the rotation guy.
You can see why on paper he'd be effective as reliever: he's a lefty with good pop to his fastball and a devastating slider. In practice, he seems to be a guy who needs to read and react to the hitters as much as they do to him. This is a common refrain, but... he's going to enjoy not having to hit next year. Torres went 4-40 with 21 Ks and even that's better than his lifetime .081 batting average. Torres will be in a better spot to lead from the back if he's not asked to look foolish in 2-3 at-bats per game.
Torres is 34 and so can't have that many years ahead of him. Still, he seems like a safe enough bet for the A's rotation in 1973.
Chris Wilson
RHP No. 22
RR, 6'1" 200 lbs.
Born 1936-07-08 in St. Louis, MI
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO
1970 NYY MLB 5 3 0 2.86 31 11 2 100.2 85 38 32 42 78
1971 OAK MLB 6 0 4 1.69 43 4 0 85.0 54 18 16 40 68
1972 OAK MLB 9 9 1 3.95 39 16 1 136.2 119 61 60 74 80
Wilson was called upon to do the same spot starter / long reliever work he'd been doing so effectively the previous 2 seasons with the Yankees and A's but the wildness, which had long been an issue in his past, came back to haunt him and now the A's are left wondering if the 36 year old has a role on the team at all going forward.
Even though Wilson's bread and butter is a circle change, he still has a pretty pronounced split - lefties managed to hit .265 off of him compared to a .212 against righties. Maybe that was the underlying issue? The A's used him 23 times as a relief pitcher and he was only kind of effective with a 3.73 ERA. If we're looking for blame here, we should also not that he had a 3.68 ERA as late as August 28 before a 1-3, 5.66 September - 3 starts, 4 appearances in relief - did him in. In case there wasn't enough to be worried about, Wilson's HR total climed to double digits for the first time since 1968.
Wilson has stuck around in the league for a long, long time, first as a staff ace for a less than great Braves team in the 60s - he went 73-40 over a 5-year span from 1963-67 - and now as that enigmatic swimgman. He's surely got another year left in him. Will it be with the A's?
Willis Chavez
LHP No. 25
LL, 6'1" 199 lbs.
Born 1939-01-04 in Juan Griego, VEN
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO
1970 WAS MLB 3 10 20 2.48 62 0 0 83.1 81 30 23 46 44
1971 WAS MLB 1 0 3 0.00 7 0 0 10.0 7 1 0 3 7
1971 OAK MLB 10 5 18 2.33 56 0 0 77.0 70 27 20 36 34
1972 OAK MLB 7 4 27 2.74 67 0 0 95.0 86 34 29 45 66
If you want to know why the A's are overachieving in terms of wins and losses, look no further than their closer Willis Chavez. In slightly under 2 years as the team's closer, Chavez has saved 45 games in 56 chances with a 17-9 record in relief and a 2.56 ERA. In 1971 it seemed like sometimes he was effective almost in spite of a shaky command of the strike zone. Last year he got hitters to swing and miss at his 12-to-6 curve a whole lot more and the results were straight up legit.
And in terms of legitimacy, how much more legit do you want than a league-leading 67 games in relief and 27 saves? Maybe 33 shutdowns vs only 12 meltdowns will do it for you? You expect a closer to come in and blow people away, which isn't really Chavez' style: he's more of a guy who's going to fool you, where you think you're going to hit him only to look up and see that he's pitched 3 innings of shutout ball against you.
Chavez of course will return as the closer in 1973. At 33, he's found his home.
Ben Lamar
RHP No. 20
RR, 5'12" 189 lbs.
Born 1947-07-12 in Provo, UT
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO
1970 TUC AAA 4 0 5 0.00 17 0 0 25.1 15 1 0 7 29
1970 CHW MLB 2 1 9 3.32 35 0 0 43.1 33 17 16 23 40
1971 CHW MLB 3 4 4 2.51 51 0 0 64.1 51 22 18 25 59
1972 OAK MLB 6 1 6 2.42 53 1 0 78.0 49 21 21 30 56
The historical cheapness of the White Sox organization really served to help the A's out with Lamar. During the 2-week strike, Lamar, the Sox' representative, had worked really hard to keep the players in line with the union. Chicago reportedly did not like that one bit and the first thing they did when the strike ended was release him. Lamar was almost immediately swiped up by the A's and he picked up right where he left off in 1971, serving as the rignthand man to the closer Chavez and even filling in for him on nights when he was too tired to work.
Lamar's a pure two-pitch guy - a low to mid 90s fastball and a change that drops bats dead - who shouldn't ever be called on to start except in absolute emergencies. Those pitches are strong and they get outs but to even thinmk about moving into the rotation he'd have to pick up a breaking pitch. Since he's doing just fine as it is, this feels like it'd be meddling with a good thing, something something the golden goose. Eventually Lamar might succeed Chavez as the closer on this team; that seems more his speed.
Rick Shelton
RHP No. 16
LR, 5'11" 185 lbs.
Born 1940-12-09 in San Diego, CA
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO
1970 OAK MLB 13 17 0 3.88 35 35 7 247.2 219 126 107 141 180
1971 OAK MLB 15 15 0 3.71 36 36 6 259.1 227 125 107 144 174
1972 OAK MLB 5 6 1 4.43 35 15 0 130.0 124 66 64 62 94
Shelton's kind of a personal favorite of mine. He was a AAA star - a 5-3 lifetime record in the major leagues - who was drafted by the Pilots and wound up being their best pitcher until they shipped him off to Oakland for two now-forgotten pieces. Since coming to Oakland he was a solid middle-of-the-rotation guy with the stuff to be more than that if he could ever tame his control. You wanted more but even so, what you got was a .500ish starter and that's nothing to sneeze at.
Then last year happened. Shelton didn't make the rotation out of the gate thanks to a really bad spring training (1-3, 7.11) but instead played in long relief instead. He didn't do well at all: through the end of June he was 1-3, 5.98 with 13 relief appearances and 2 starts. He did calm down in the second half and even got a lot more starts in the second half of the year, including 6 in September, but he never got things quite right.
Shelton throws a low to mid 90s fastball that is hard enough to hit when he's on and couples that with a plus slider and split-fingered fastball. By the numbers his control actually improved; in practice, batters just started getting singles and doubles off of him instead of walks.
I haven't said this for a few teams so I'll say it now: this is a CROSSROADS year for Rick Shelton. He could right the ship and stick around for another few years or this could be the end. It all depends on what he does about the single-itis.
Infield
Josh Lewis
C No. 5
SR, 6'4" 199 lbs.
Born 1948-08-23 in Houston, TX
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 IOW AAA .362 120 389 69 141 28 2 13 62 68 35 3
1970 OAK MLB .198 26 96 5 19 1 0 0 4 6 15 0
1971 OAK MLB .293 128 508 62 149 31 1 14 66 35 49 0
1972 OAK MLB .288 119 480 58 138 19 1 18 73 39 32 3
Nothing to see here, just Texas Josh Lewis proving that he was worth all the hype of the #1 overall pick in 1971. Lewis spent the whole year as the A's starting catcher and #3 hitter, made his second All-Star Game, and finished in the top 10 in the AL in HRs (7th - yeah, I know), RBIs (8th), and average (.287). In a normal year he'd be a .300-20-100 guy even as a catcher. Lewis puts the ball in play like a good #3 man should. Will he hit .362 in the majors the way he did with Iowa in '70? Maybe not but I wouldn't count him out.
Lewis is not fast for a catcher but gets out of the batter's box quickly enough and even stole 3 bases last year. He doesn't exactly have the profile you'd really expect from a top-flight defensive catcher but a. he's still learning, and b. he sure does like throwing runners out. He finished 2nd in the AL In both runners thrown out percentage (39.5%, riiight behind Andres Gamez of the Rangers) and assists at catcher (67, 2nd to Gamez). He's a bit on the bland side and probably won't be leading parades any time soon (well, not on purpose - he's the kind of ballplayer who might accidentally start one on his own just walking down the street - but I digress) but the pitching staff has no complaints.
Lewis is 24 years old and looks like he'll be the A's man for the next decade, easily. It's way too early to say this is a Hall of Fame career in the making, but... well.
Ramiro Gonzalez
C No. 23
SR, 5'12" 201 lbs.
Born 1940-03-14 in Santiago, DOM
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 WAS MLB .205 37 127 13 26 7 0 1 9 19 27 0
1971 DEN AAA .277 26 83 13 23 5 0 0 7 16 13 0
1971 WAS MLB .250 5 16 0 4 2 0 0 2 3 2 0
1971 OAK MLB .211 20 57 8 12 1 1 1 2 13 11 0
1972 IOW AAA .216 28 88 8 19 4 0 1 10 12 22 0
1972 OAK MLB .238 37 122 12 29 4 0 0 9 20 31 0
Gonzalez is a good, solid complementary player to Lewis. He isn't anything super great as a hitter - he's a backup catcher - but he is competent enough and a good defensive guy who allowed the A's to use Lewis the way you'd like to use a normal catcher and not, like, overuse him and wear him out at the age of 24. The one thing Gonzalez doesn't have is a great arm: it's fair, and he doesn't miss the bag a lot, but he only threw out 27.8% of runners last year, in sharp contrast to what Lewis accomplished with the same group of guys.
He's 32 now and his career got off to a pretty late start - he's yet another guy who took advantage of newly opened roster spots with the 1969 expansion. These kinds of players still have good value on a team and if you told me Ramiro Gonzalez was still suiting up in 1977 I would not be surprised.
Alex Canales
1B/3B/LF No. 38
SR, 6'1" 201 lbs.
Born 1945-03-01 in Guayama, PUR
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 SLC AAA .333 12 36 7 12 1 0 1 10 11 4 0
1970 SD MLB .256 48 172 24 44 10 0 6 25 19 37 0
1971 SD MLB .260 144 572 73 149 24 0 14 72 43 79 0
1972 SD MLB .296 23 81 11 24 2 0 3 7 6 8 0
1972 OAK MLB .263 120 422 35 111 18 7 7 54 51 46 2
The A's acquired the slick-fielding Canales last year in late June after their main guy Ray Hawkinson went down and he kept a hold of hte job all season long. That's sort of his thing: you don't necessarily go into the season expecting him to be a middle of the order hitter and first baseman every day but he does his job and pretty soon, boom, he's your man. Canales is a career .271 hitter and cut way down on his strikeouts last season, leading one to believe that maybe he can take another step forward as he enters the prime years of his career. He's got good gap power and last year maybe fell victim of the BABIP monster with the A's.
Canales won 3 Gold Gloves between 1968 and 1970 in the NL at first base, including one for a year he played in only 48 games Sure, say "Rafael Palmeiro" all you want (who?) but he's that good at first base. Last year he was worth almost 10 runs via ZR and also played a good chunk of 3rd and left field, where he's better able to use his arm. Canales is not fast by any stretch of the imagination; if he was, he'd probably be playing second or shortstop. He's a really solid bet to win his 4th GG this year.
The A's have a logjam at this position now with the return of Ray Hawkinson but what do you know about that, they have a new position they can stick a hitter. Canales is way too valuable in the field to go there but at least there should be no doubts about playing time.
Ray Hawkinson
1B No. 36
LR, 5'12" 199 lbs.
Born 1942-10-03 in Lewisville, TX
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 RIC AAA .328 85 125 17 41 7 1 5 24 9 23 3
1971 MIL MLB .333 26 45 4 15 4 0 0 4 2 5 0
1971 OAK MLB .369 51 179 28 66 11 5 7 33 11 24 3
1972 OAK MLB .250 66 132 11 33 3 3 2 15 9 19 0
A longtime member of the Braves organization, the 30 year old Hawkinson never had a problem hitting; his issue was more that he pretty much only plays first base and Atlanta had a guy there already in Dante Chairez. The Brewers extracted him in December 1970 from Atlanta in a trade of minor league non-prospects (Atlanta got 3 guys back, only 1 of them is still playing) and, 26 games into his Brew Crew career the A's purchased him. Hawkinson was an absolute beast for the A's down the stretch and it looked like a shrewd move.
Unfortunately, Hawkinson's sophomore season with the Athletics did not go as planned. He sprained his knee at the end of April and missed almost all of May and June. By the time he came back the A's had acquired and installed Canales at the position and Hawkinson was mostly used as a pinch-hitter in the second half: 51 games played, only 13 starts. He did pretty well, all told, in that role - 10-34 - but anyone hoping he's hit .370 or even .300 for them were disappointed.
Hawkinson really ought to hit around .300 if he's able to play. He's got a long, long history of knee and back injuries and so, aside from the fact that he's a "meh" fielder at first, a move to DH might be what's best for him. He's a guy who needs to hit for average in order to benefit a club though: his career high in HRs in the minors was 18 and he's got that Bill Buckner (who?) never-walk, never-fan profile. Like Buckner (who?) he'll never let it be doubted where he stands on issues like playing time and so on. I guess to be fair TOOO BEEEE FAAAAAAAAIR to him he seemed OK in the pinch-hitting role as long was for a good cause.
Like I've been saying in there, look for Hawkinson to DH next year, perhaps as part of a platoon situation, perhaps not.
Israel Gaytan
2B No. 12
RR, 5'11" 175 lbs.
Born 1947-07-16 in Santo Domingo, DOM
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 WH A .356 60 219 31 78 8 1 2 21 20 9 2
1970 GRN A .325 67 265 50 86 7 3 4 39 15 9 5
1971 OAK MLB .291 147 602 67 175 34 2 6 51 15 56 1
1972 OAK MLB .292 111 421 45 123 12 0 7 47 19 30 1
The scouts are pretty down on the 25 year old Gaytan: he doesn't move well around the bag like a middle infielder should, he'll sometimes lose concentration and make some wild throw to first, and unlike a lot of great second basemen he's not one of those guys who will yell and motivate a team into giving their all. But, to paraphrase President Lincoln on General Grant: the man hits. He hit .291 in 1971, hit .311 and .337 in April and May before a weak June and first half of July led the A's to trade for Tyler Knight, and then hit .390 in September once Oakland came to their senses and gave him his job back (by scooting Knight to short).
Gaytan's a slap hitter who's gap power went way, way down in 1972, but look for that to go back up. He'd have finished 6th in the AL in hitting if he'd had the at-bats to qualify. Like Hawkinson he has a gigantic strike zone and he makes contact with everything, if not the first time he sees it then the second time for sure.
You might look at the average and think Gaytan's a speedster but nope, that's not him. The game tools puts his best comp for his age at Tom Depew, who was not good this year but was, before this point, a fine guy to have on your team. Your shortstop will need to cover for Gaytan a bit more than Depew's man will but otherwise, I don't care what the scouts say, this man is a gamer. He is the Jose Lopez (who?) of the Thriftlon Reports, only (hopefully) without the sudden loss of ability.
Tyler Knight
IF No. 44
RR, 5'10" 194 lbs.
Born 1941-08-12 in Los Angeles, CA
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 TEX MLB .173 79 231 13 40 4 0 1 18 21 49 2
1971 TEX MLB .266 149 482 53 128 21 0 6 69 57 89 4
1972 OAK MLB .194 62 222 17 43 3 1 1 15 26 43 2
1972 TEX MLB .231 54 173 19 40 5 0 3 14 16 41 1
Knight played 60 games at second base, 40 at 3rd, and 14 at shortstop (most of that in September). Yeah. "Infield" is the best descriptor of his positions. He's a three-time Gold Glover, although all of those awards were at second base and as the league begins to regroup after the low-hitting 60s, Knight's bat hasn't picked up with it, so he's most valuable at short. He's still a plus fielder there and you don't have to ask as many questions about the way he'll go after high and inside fastballs he has no business chasing.
Knight with Gaytan make a very lowkey middle infield: neither of them are captains but neither are exactly clubhouse laywers either. They both just kind of keep to themselves. Also Knight went to the University of Washington which immediately makes him AWESOME GO HUSKIES FOREVER PAC 12 CHAMPS
Chase Jones
3B No. 17
RR, 5'11" 200 lbs.
Born 1942-10-09 in Brooklyn, OH
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 OAK MLB .240 117 445 56 107 20 3 17 69 57 98 2
1971 OAK MLB .268 153 567 80 152 15 2 31 83 66 102 0
1972 OAK MLB .199 119 422 25 84 9 1 11 39 49 68 0
What in the freaking heck happened to Chase Jones? Maybe we shouldn't have expected a repeat of the 31-HR, 83 RBI 1971 but he lost all of his gains and more. He fell into a huge slump to open the year 9-45 in April and never really snapped out of it. He didn't hit over .200 until August (.233), by which time the A's had mostly moved on to David Salinas or Alex Canales at the position.
Salinas does strike out too much but he struck out too much in 1971, too. The big difference there was that high fastball that he was able to golf out of the Oakland Coliseum now landed all too often in the mitts of left fielders. Was it just psychology or did he lose bat speed? Only time will tell. Jones won the Gold Glove last year and committed only 1 error this season - high-ass fielding percentages or no, that's incredibly good. You could theoretically slot him into the position even if he kept hitting like this if he kept that up.
Jones is 30 and wasn't been this bad as a hitter since 1966. He'll get another shot in 1973 for sure. The hook might be a bit quicker this time though.
David Salinas
3B/1B No. 45
RR, 6'0" 201 lbs.
Born 1935-08-05 in Jimaní, DOM
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 DET MLB .273 114 373 40 102 10 4 3 23 32 30 12
1971 WAS MLB .292 88 312 41 91 12 3 3 32 26 37 6
1972 TEX MLB .202 62 188 12 38 5 3 1 11 12 29 5
1972 OAK MLB .269 35 93 8 25 3 0 2 12 10 10 4
Salinas was never given the shot he deserved early in his career - he didn't take over the 3rd base gig with the Yankees until he was 27 - and so it's understandable that he's not quite ready to give it up now. Happily for him, where 1972 was looking like a swan song, he resurrected it with a solid 35 games in August and September for his new team.
Salinas still wants to start. If Jones continues to not hit, he might get his wish. Even if he does, he could slip in as the right-handed half of a DH platoon. The latter might be better for his long-term career, as Salinas' back is a good bet to keep him out of a lot of games even if handed a starting job. He's also not near the quality of fielder he was when he won 2 Gold Gloves in the 60s. His arm is still as good as ever but he's no longer able to move to his left as well and if his back is flaring up he won't dive for balls at all.
In the best of times, Salinas was a .320s hitter who hit for a .320 average worth of singles and, occasionally, triples. Now, you're hoping for something closer to .290 and without a lot of gap power at all. He's progressed from being a naturally fast baserunner who was prone to making mistakes in the field to a guy who will steal often enough to keep pitchers holding him but not enough to create outs on the bases. He was a combined 9/12 on thefts in 1972, including 4/5 with his new team.
Does this old dog have new tricks? I mean... no. Can he still be productive in a particular role or other? Sure, maybe, why not?
Jon Reid
SSS No. 27
RR, 6'0" 191 lbs.
Born 1945-07-11 in Escondido, CA
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 RIC AAA .295 68 261 26 77 16 2 3 19 15 87 2
1970 ATL MLB .249 56 197 14 49 10 0 2 14 16 61 0
1971 ATL MLB .267 145 559 62 149 27 1 6 63 35 99 0
1972 IOW AAA .222 11 36 2 8 3 0 0 5 3 6 0
1972 ATL MLB .204 55 167 13 34 8 0 1 12 15 28 0
1972 OAK MLB .230 57 178 16 41 8 0 3 13 16 39 0
Well, you can't blame the A's for trying. Maybe you can blame them for trying too hard. Jon Reid came over from Atlanta in exchange for fireballer / wild man Roberto Ortiz in late June. He failed to do the one thing he'd done in abundance in Atlanta in 1971, which is hit, and by September the team had moved on to using Tyler Knight out there.
Strikeouts were always going to keep Reid from being a top-flight contact guy but in '71 at least it looked like the Calfornian had started to hit the ball a bit more squarely than he had in the past, producing not necessarily homers, although the 6 he hit that year were the 2nd highest total of his professional career, but lots and lots of doubles and hard singles. He hit the ball into the ground an awful lot in 1972, at least when he wasn't striking out.
Reid lacks the foot speed to leg out a lot of infield singles and as a baserunner just doesn't do much other than advance one base at a time. He's got good range at short that's negated to an extent by a scattershot arm. Last year he missed time in spring training with a strained back that he never really took time out to recover from; though that had't been an issue in the past, he seemed affected by it his entire time in Oakland.
Reid is in the mix for the starting job, at least. The A's gave up too much for him to not give him at least one more extended look.
Matt Evenson
SS/2B No. 11
RR, 6'2" 202 lbs.
Born 1946-02-21 in Edmonton, CAN
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 BIR AA .105 6 19 2 2 1 0 0 1 1 2 0
1970 IOW AAA .267 63 165 21 44 11 2 0 22 25 49 0
1970 OAK MLB .219 71 224 24 49 10 0 3 12 32 50 0
1971 OAK MLB .257 125 381 23 98 17 0 5 44 41 76 0
1972 IOW AAA .250 10 32 6 8 2 0 1 4 2 7 0
1972 OAK MLB .271 41 96 6 26 5 1 2 12 13 18 0
Evanson was the team's starter in 1971 but had two major strikes against him: for one, he's a known Canadian - what do these people do, rub beaver juice on their mitts? - and for two, he was pretty bad in the field in both 1970 and 1971. So after he tore ligaments in his ankle at the end of May, the team began to look elsewhere, mostly outside of the organization, for help. As of this writing it looks like Tyler Knight has the inside track to take over at short with Brian Wilcox right behind him. That puts Evenson as the 3rd best SS on the team at best. Even when he came back, Evenson played in 22 games with just 9 starts from August on.
Scouts insist he's got skills to be an "acceptable" starter at short but I think he looks more like a future backup middle infielder. If he can hit as well as he has the past 2 years - season and a half - maybe I'll change my mind about that.
Brian Wilcox
SS No. 3
RR, 5'10" 185 lbs.
Born 1942-03-15 in Wichita, KS
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 NYM MLB .228 47 136 19 31 5 0 4 16 13 32 6
1971 NYM MLB .230 110 365 36 84 8 2 8 31 31 67 5
1972 STL MLB .182 109 302 24 55 5 5 4 26 29 50 8
1972 OAK MLB .093 22 43 1 4 0 0 0 1 4 10 1
Wilcox is a singular fielder, probably the 2nd best shortstop behind John Timonen in the National League when the A's acquired him. That said, he was available as he was so late in the year because he's a lifetime .212 hitter who's beginning to look like his best hitting days are behind him. Wilcox hit a combined .171 betwen both teams with just 14 extra-base hits to go with a .243 on-base percentage. I was surprised to find that his most comparable player isn't Timonen but Orioles shorstop Jon "Lucky Number" Blevins. The profile is the same though.
Even though he was in an AL uniform from September onward, there is a decent chance that Wilcox will still win the NL Gold Glove at short. That would be his 3rd. Nobody has softer hands in all of baseball and he has no real weakness in the field. He's worth at least one highlight reel play a week. He's a decent threat to steal when he gets on the bases and tries to make the most out of his limited chances on base hits to the outfield.
Wilcox even hitting .230 would be an asset, perhaps even a starter. I give him around a 30% chance of hitting that well in 1973.
Outfield
Adam Groves
OF No. 21
RR, 6'3" 198 lbs. B
orn 1940-09-09 in El Paso, TX
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 CHC MLB .259 133 409 70 106 14 4 17 52 79 111 8
1971 CHC MLB .264 93 277 50 73 11 3 11 39 48 60 10
1971 OAK MLB .326 26 95 20 31 7 0 5 18 14 19 1
1972 OAK MLB .211 120 379 62 80 11 3 12 41 58 80 14
Scouts think Groves is a "premier left fielder". Are we looking at the same person??? He looked like one after the A's acquired him from the Cubs last August for CF Mike Schurke, sure, but how is a .211 average and 12 HRs elite anything? They rave about his eye. Well, guess what, scouts, eye is not a TOOL. Tell me more about TOOLS. All that eye does is make him clog the basepaths and avoid RBI opportunities (note: this is 1972 Syd Thrift speaking. To 2024 Syd Thrift, these kids of players are among his favorites).
Groves is a solid if not spectacular runner who only steals when he's sure of success. You could hit him leadoff and not kill yourself. He gets down the line quickly and that combined with all the Ks means he only grounded into 4 double plays last year. His arm is only average so he's a better fit in left than in right but he's not a disaster out there and even started 17 games at the "9" for the A's last season.
OKAY FINE I guess my biggest gripe is that Groves hit .211 last year. He'll be given the opportunity to hit better. He's a career .236 hitter; I think the .260s is probably a more accurate landing spot for his average.
Casey Satterfield
OF No. 39
RR, 5'12" 210 lbs.
Born 1946-02-24 in Westbrook, ME
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 STL MLB .264 149 572 75 151 22 3 17 73 54 105 1
1971 STL MLB .302 144 526 72 159 30 4 13 70 71 80 2
1972 STL MLB .270 110 440 57 119 14 0 18 56 45 53 0
1972 OAK MLB .219 34 128 12 28 3 1 2 9 19 22 0
With Groves doing what he was doing, the Cardinals brought in young Cardinals right-hander Casey Satterfield a few days before the Brian Wilcox move. This one cost them both Jah Lloyd, who started half the season for the A's in center field, and minor league pitcher Vince Rothacher; for that price, they needed him to produce. He did not. He did match his career high in HRs with 20 but only 2 of those were hit after he came to the AL. Perhaps he'll improve upon that as he learns the pitchers better.
A big part of what made him expendable even though he was still quite a productive player in the lineup and still only 26 years of age is that he's not a good outfielder, like, at all. The A's moved him into left after he spend the season in St. Louis in right; he posted a negative ZR at both positions. In fact, he was worth a combined -22.4 runs between 1970 and 1971, making him one of the worst defensive outfielders in the National League.
So it looks like a move to DH, right? Well, like you've seen now, the team already has Ray Hawkinson and David Salinas expecting at-bats there, not to mention pinch-hitting specialist Raul Bueno, who has flat out demanded a trade but could be convinced into staying if he DHes too. That's 4 bats for one position: good odds for the A's, not good odds for any one guy who wants playing time.
Raul Bueno
PH No. 8
RR, 6'3" 197 lbs.
Born 1938-06-18 in Turmero, VEN
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 OAK MLB .214 64 112 8 24 4 2 1 14 2 10 5
1971 OAK MLB .278 67 90 19 25 3 4 3 21 4 9 6
1972 OAK MLB .291 97 127 15 37 3 3 2 16 4 12 7
Bueno has been with the A's forever, going back to their time in Kansas City, and while it's understandable that the 34 year old Venezuelan would want to go somewhere where he might get a chance to start or at least not be the 15th option in left field, it's still a saddening turn of events.
Bueno has the profile of a good pinch-hitter: lots of singles, lots of balls in play. When he's been asked to fill in in the outfield or at first base in the past, he's proven to be a .280s+ hitter without a huge amount of power. That lack of power might prevent him from getting a lot of starting jobs elsewhere but if he's willing to pinch-hit with a new team, yessiree Bob. Bueno's got fantastic speed and in another world might be the Maury Wills (who?) of this save. As it stands, he'll steal early and often when he has first base open, a situation he's not often in with Oakland since he hits so much with runners already on base.
I'll do my best to send him where he think he's wanted. Raul, it's okay! You're wanted here!
Zackery Hadley
CF/LF No. 18
RR, 5'8" 196 lbs.
Born 1939-01-04 in Jonesborough, TN
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 SD MLB .240 113 459 53 110 10 6 1 36 40 87 38
1971 SD MLB .254 95 362 47 92 8 3 1 25 27 62 30
1972 SD MLB .273 67 176 22 48 1 3 2 10 15 32 19
1972 OAK MLB .385 9 26 6 10 0 1 1 5 3 6 8
The best thing about "Hoss" Hadley is that the A's gave up basically nothing at all for him: just the remainder of his salary plus an extra couple grand for expenses. Hadley led the league in steals 3 times in his career, including swiping a then-record 69 of them (nice!) for the expansion '69 Padres. Although Hadley'd been in the outfield mix with the Reds for several years before the Pads plucked him in the expansion draft, playing him daily and starting him in center was one of those odd experiments that expansion teams do. He also led the NL in strikeouts in '69 with 145 of them and let's just say that as a centerfielder, Hoss looked like a left fielder.
We're 4 years removed from that and at this point the 33 year old Hadley's ideal role is as a 4th or 5th outfielder and pinch-runner. He still has all of the speed and when he's able to get on base, as he did at a .351 clip last year, he's still a real threat at the top of a lineup. He hasn't been able to make consistent contact in the past and has absolutely no power whatsoever.
Really, my bet would be to ship Hoss off to someone who has a gaping hole in left field and who thinks Hadley can fill it. Hint: he can't.
David Mesa
CF No. 30
LL, 6'0" 192 lbs.
Born 1948-05-04 in San Antonio, TX
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1971 IOW AAA .333 7 27 4 9 2 0 0 1 1 3 1
1971 OAK MLB .282 67 252 32 71 18 2 1 25 16 45 9
1972 OAK MLB .231 100 407 46 94 21 1 4 17 23 66 14
Mesa, the A's 2nd round pick in the 1971 draft, moved up quiiiiiiick because they needed help in center. Just 7 games into his pro career he found himself donning Athletic kelly green and just a year later he's now a veteran with a full season of starts under his belt. There are hopes that now that he's here to stay, he'll work a bit more on his swing. Mesa, aka "Black Mesa" aka "Aperture Science" aka "Mister we do what we must because we can" has a worrying tendency to swing at anything that moves. So far it hasn't just held him to a low average, it's deprived him of on-base opportunities to utilize his 70 grade speed. He'll bunt his way aboard, which probably hurts his overall power numbers but any way he can get a hit is OK with us.
The reason why the team called him up is that every last bit of that speed translates into center field play. He was still adjusting to the role last year but made some incredible plays. He makes the nigh-impossible balls possible and the hard ones easy. He sometimes lost concentration on the easier ones but that will come in time.
Mesa's got a worrying reputation for loafing sometimes and isnt' the smartest guy out there. He'll need to be coached and closely watched, and to be reminded to keep on trying 'till we run out of cake.
Richard Berman
RF No. 9
RR, 5'10" 184 lbs.
Born 1945-10-22 in Cedartown, GA
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 MIL MLB .317 55 218 21 69 14 5 0 27 14 6 8
1970 OAK MLB .297 57 229 31 68 9 3 2 23 25 11 5
1971 OAK MLB .285 137 527 72 150 36 5 2 39 38 42 17
1972 OAK MLB .276 128 492 52 136 17 8 3 40 43 41 10
Man, the A's love them some low-strikeout slap hitters. Richard Berman is maybe not the ideal choice for a right fielder: he's got warning-track power and although he's got a nice arm, it's not accurate. What he brings to the A's, day in and day out is contact hitting. Berman finished 6th in the league in triples and somehow pitchers were scared enough of him in the 5 hole where he hit for most of the year that he was intentionally walked 7 times, also good for 6th. Berman makes the most out of his RBI opportunities - you could take a lesson, Adam Groves!. He hit .302 with runners in scoring position and that clutch hitting was a big part of why the team played above its weight.
Berman is nicknamed "Bulldog" not so much because of his tenacity on the field but because he's a fan of the Georgia Bulldogs, a team he grew up rooting for from his hometown of Cedartown, GA, and his alma mater. He's got good speed - unlike Hoss Hadley, it's not blazing, but also unlike Hadley he consistently gets on base so he can use it. He also, I should not, missed the last week of the season with a biscuit meniscus in his knee. He's expected to recover fully by the time spring training rolls around.