Posted on 3/19/2008 1:15:56 PM

2008 MLB Betting Preview – Oakland Athletics

By Dave Golokhov

Starting Pitching:

Again, the Oakland Athletics are selling off their top prospects instead of paying them what they are worth. Danny Haren, who was the centerpiece of a package acquired when the A’s sold off Mark Mulder, was traded away to Arizona leaving Oakland with a big vacancy in their staff.

Rich Harden and Joe Blanton are the familiar faces, but Harden is rarely healthy while Blanton is rarely consistent. Justin Duchscherer, an All-Star reliever, moves to the rotation to fill the No. 3 spot. Chad Gaudin also returns and with a wealth of talented prospects, the A’s shouldn’t have a problem rounding out the rotation.

On paper, the A’s have four good starters and with Haren, might have rivaled some of the best staffs around. But with Haren gone, everyone gets bumped up a notch and unless Harden takes the reigns as the ace, this staff will lack some bite.

Relief Pitching:

The Athletics have a bunch of arms in the bullpen that can work long or short relief but the man who ties everything together is Huston Street. Street is an underrated closer, mostly because he didn’t have a full breakout season last year because of injuries.

Lenny DiNardo is a solid left who is effective in the pen – if he doesn’t make the rotation, while Kiko Calero was also a quality arm prior to injuries last year.

The A’s may not have a proven ace but they have solid enough starting pitching that they won’t be stretching their bullpen too much.

Hitting:

Continuing the A’s theme of dumping veterans and incessantly rebuilding, the starting lineup is vastly different than last year.

Veterans like Milton Bradley, Mike Piazza, Nick Swisher, Shannon Stewart, Mark Kotsay and Jason Kendall are all gone.

The A’s have a number of youngsters that will be expected to contribute in a big way – that is if the Athletics want to compete.

Travis Buck and Daric Barton are expected to become household names, unless they don’t pan out like Bobby Crosby. Eric Chavez is the one consistent but he needs to bounce-back from an injury-laden season.

With projects up and down the order and not much power, the A’s will continue with the small-ball approach.

Regular Season Win Total: 73.5

How far have the Athletics fallen from grace? Their projected win total is two games shorter than the Tampa Bay Rays’.

And by all accounts, that might be fairly accurate. The A’s have a decent but not overwhelming starting staff, their bullpen is solid but their hitting leaves quite a bit to be desired.

They won only 76 games last year and while the division mates Seattle and Los Angeles got stronger, the A’s were stripped down to prospects once again.

At some point, someone has to start questioning the strategy of constantly rebuilding. The A’s are essentially a farm team for World Series contenders.

Free Pick: Under 73.5

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