Oakland Athletics All-Time Team

Bit of a somber post today. Oakland was a major stop on The Collector's 2018 Sports Card Tour back when three teams called the city home. Since then the Raiders and Warriors have left, and the Athletics are all but certain to follow. If we did an All-Time Teams 3.0, we'd most likely see this nomadic club in Las Vegas.

The Coliseum (I'm not listing all of its names) has been home to the Swingin' A's of the 1970s, the Bash Brothers of the late 1980s-early '90s, and the Moneyball era in the early aughts. Six World Series have been played here: three straight years from 1972-'74 and three straight years from 1988-'90.

No man has ever managed in the major leagues as long as Connie Mack, who served as a player-manager in the 1890s and kept going long enough for Vin Scully to call one of his team's games in 1950.

Mack doesn't have to dig through 50 feet of crap for his starting lineup.

That's Al Simmons batting third and playing center field - even though Rickey makes more sense to me.

Can Connie possibly improve this lineup?

	Athletics stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Bert Campaneris	49.0	0.262	0.314	0.348	0.662	93
	*Miguel Tejada	22.1	0.270	0.331	0.460	0.791	107

If Tejada's on-base percentage were higher (or if the A's weren't already overpowered) Miggy might start. 

 

Third base is a traditionally deep position for this franchise. Let's take a look at Baker's competition.

"Home Run" had the least amount of long balls in this group, but he still gets the start.

	Athletics stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Frank Baker	42.2	0.321	0.375	0.471	0.845	152
	*Sal Bando	52.1	0.255	0.359	0.418	0.776	127
	Eric Chavez	35.0	0.267	0.343	0.478	0.821	115
	Carney Lansford	27.3	0.288	0.343	0.404	0.747	112

Chavez won six Gold Gloves but his dWAR as an Athletic is equal to Bando's. His offensive totals were superior to the seventies star, but Sal gets a big era-adjusted boost in WAR. This is a tough one. 

 

Terry Steinbach would be a grade-A backup for any other AL West team - and a starter for at least two.

	Athletics stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Gene Tenace	23.6	0.245	0.374	0.435	0.809	136
	Terry Steinbach	24.8	0.275	0.328	0.426	0.754	107

 

He can't beat Tenace here, however.

Mack managed four of the All-Time Athletics five starting pitchers.

The only exception is Vida Blue (R.I.P.), who holds off Hall of Famer Hunter and Cy Young winner Zito. 

	Athletics stats	WAR	ERA	ERA+	K/BB	WHIP
	*Vida Blue	29.0	2.95	118	2.13	1.165
	Catfish Hunter	26.4	3.13	105	2.21	1.126
	Barry Zito	30.6	3.58	124	1.94	1.256

The relief pitching isn't nearly as deep as the rotation. Oakland's All-Time bullpen has two legendary closers, one other relief ace who barely qualifies, and two very replaceable pitchers.

Mack's middle relief options are not as strong as they should be for a 123-year old franchise:

	Athletics stats	SV	ERA	ERA+	K/BB	WHIP
	*Paul Lindblad	41	3.29	103	1.79	1.274
	*Billy Taylor	100	3.84	121	2.41	1.333
	*Huston Street	94	2.88	150	3.47	1.071
	Yusmeiro Petit	0	3.07	137	4.47	0.965
	Jerry Blevins	2	3.30	123	2.52	1.213
	Rick Honeycutt	32	3.10	126	1.75	1.199

Paul Lindblad pitched 11 years with the franchise and ranks fifth among A's in appearances. Yusmeiro Petit pitched the minimum four seasons with the club - and that includes the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. Rick Honeycutt struck out just 247 batters in eight Oakland seasons. I'm not seeing an upgrade here.

Looking ahead... in order for any new player to qualify for the A's All-Time roster, they would have to stay in Oakland with the Athletics for at least four years. The way this franchise has been run lately, any player who stays that long isn't valuable enough to be traded -- with all due respect to Ramon Laureano, who is an above-average player when healthy and the last link to Oakland's last playoff teams.

The only Oakland prospect on MLB's top 100 list entering 2023 is catcher Tyler Soderstrom, who is currently playing in Triple-A Las Vegas and could be a big leaguer in the same city soon.

TL; DR: No changes from the original roster. The next change here might be their address. I hope it isn't.

This was my 599th post here at The Collector. Come back tomorrow for the 600/600 celebration and giveaway!!

 

Thanks for reading!



~