Saturday, Dec.01/2012

How important was Cespedes to The A’s Lineup in 2012? They went 82-47 with him in the lineup and 12-21 without him. He was the biggest reason the team soared into the playoff race and won the AL East. Beane secured him in Free Agency before the start of last year. He is signed for 3 more years at 9 Million Dollars Per Year.

Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024

A few months ago, our Lead Columnist/Website Founder (Jonathan Hacohen) wrote a brilliant piece about the assembly of the Oakland Athletics roster.  He called it “MoneyBall 2.”  Right after the piece, the A’s surged to the greatest record in the second half of the season and won the AL West.  The team is now constructed of power hitters and power pitchers.  The man behind it all is Billy Beane.  I will not get into too much of this philosophy as you can read that piece here.  What I intend to do is to show the roster of how it was comprised by Beane in the form of a roster tree.  It is just like a family tree, however this shows trades dating back 2,3,4,5,6 fold etc.. in order to show you the mastery of the GM’s ability to field a roster on a limited budget.

The Future of the Oakland A’s:  The Mustache Gang Meets the Bash Brothers:  Revealing Billy Beane’s Master Plan click here.

The Oakland A’s 2013 Roster Tree Part 2:  The Pitchers  click here.

The A’s have been one of the best 10 teams in the last decade, despite a few slow seasons during rebuilding years of 2007-2011.  All the while, the club was never awful and the worst season was a 74 win campaign.  The new players have all started to gel for the young Oakland club, and it culminated into a 94-68 year and an AL West Title.  Even though there is no certainty of a new ballpark, plus attendance is hit and miss at O.co Coliseum from year to year, this young club should compete for the next few seasons.  The team has stockpiled so many guys from the ages of 25-30, that they will all grow together at the same time.  It will make for great continuity and camaraderie amongst this young bunch of players.  The A’s are a team of a non-fits from other franchises, that have found a home in the BAY area.  This is part 1, the hitters and there will be a part 2 of (The Pitchers tomorrow.)

Each player we will go back in the six degrees of separation until we hit a draft by the Oakland club or a transaction that was the origin of the player becoming an A’s player.  The Athletics have been trading top players for prospects on an ongoing cycle for the last two decades, Beane has just capitalized on not keeping veterans too long and costing the team serious payroll implications.  We can see whether the transactions have worked favorably for the club or not.

Hitter:  Positions, Age, 2013 Year with 3 stat line and power numbers..  Transactions in reverse from trades, all players in the tree will be separated by semicolons:

Chris Carter 1B/DH/OF  (25) .239/350/.864   16 HRs 39 RBI in 218 AB.  :   1. Traded with Dana Eveland, Carlos Gonzalez, Brett Anderson, Aaron Cunningham and Greg Smith By Arizona for Dan Haren, Connor Robertson: 2. Mark Mulder drafted by the Oakland A’s in 1998.  Carter represents  the benefits of the 1998 Mulder draft, Will be talked about more on the pitchers side.

Daric Barton  1B (27)  .204/.332/.630  1 HR 6 RBI 22 BB in 113 AB    :  1. Mark Mulder.   Barton represents  the benefits of the 1998 Mulder draft.

Jemile Weeks  2B  (25) .220/.305/.609  16 SB in 444 AB:  Weeks was drafted in the 1st round of the 2008 Amateur Draft by the Oakland Athletics.

Chris Young  CF/OF (29) .231/.311/.745  14 HRs 41 RBI in 325 AB:  Cliff Pennington.  Chris Young represents the benefits of the Pennington 1st Rd Draft of the 2005 year.

Yoenis Cespedes OF (27)   .292/.356/.861  23 HRs 82 RBI 2nd in ROY Voting):  Signed as a Free Agent before the 2012 Season,  4 years and 36 Million Dollars.  He is signed through the 2015 Season.

Josh Reddick RF  (25)  .242/.305/.768:  32 HRs 85 RBI  1. Andrew Bailey (Drafted by Oakland in 2006.)  and Ryan Sweeney were traded to Oakland for Reddick.  2. Ryan Sweeney came with Gio Gonzalez and Fautino De Los Santos for Nick Swisher (Swisher drafted by Oakland in 1st round of 2002 Amateur Draft by Oakland.) 3.  Fautino De Los Santos was traded for George Kottaras.  4. Gio Gonzalez was traded with Robert Gilliam to Arizona for P Tommy Milone, C Derek Norris and Brad Peacock.  So essentially you have Reddick, Kottaras, Norris, Milone and A.J. Cole (Minors A+) all traded for Andrew Bailey, Nick Swisher and Robert Gilliam (8th round Draft of Oakland A’s 2009 year).  This is one is a pretty fair deal if you ask me.

Coco Crisp OF  (33) .259/.328.742   11 HRs 46 RBI  39 SB :  Coco Crisp signed as a Free Agent with the club 1st in 2009 and then again in 2011.  No compensation was needed for the guy.

Seth Smith  DH/PH/OF  (30)  14 HRs  52 RBI in 383 AB.240/.333/.754:  1.  Smith was traded to the A’s by the Rockies for Guillermo Moscaso and Josh Outman:  2.  Outman was traded by the Phillies with Adrian Cardenas, (Cardenas was later picked off of waivers by the Cubs) and Matt Spencer (Now in Cubs system) for Joe Blanton (A’s 1st RD Draft Pick in 2002) 3.  Moscaso was acquired by the A’s in 2011 for Ryan Kelly.  4. Ryan Kelly was acquired for Corey Wimberly.  5.  Corey Wimberly was traded for Matt Murton.  6.  Murton came over with Josh Donaldson,  Sean Gallagher and Eric Patterson from the Cubs for Chad Gaudin and Rich Harden (Drafted in the 17th RD of the 2000 Draft.  7.  Gaudin was traded to the A’s by the Jays for by Dustin Majewski (drafted in the 3rd Round of the 2003 Amateur Draft.)  8.  Gallagher was sent to the Padres for Scott Hairston Jr., who left Oakland via Free Agency  9.  Patterson was traded to the Boston Red Sox for Fabian Williamson.  Williamson was later claimed by the Rangers off of waivers.  So basically Smith and Josh Donaldson is all the club has left out of Joe Blanton. Rich Harden and Dustin Majewski.  Still Harden is retired and Blanton is a FA now.  Smith is a quality 4th outfielder.

Brandon Moss  OF/1B  (29)  .291/358/.954   21 HRs  52 RBI in 265 AB:  Moss Signed as a Free Agent with the A’s before the 2012 Season.

Derek Norris   C  (23)  .201/.276/.625  7 HRs 34 RBI 209 AB :  Read the Josh Reddick Tree.  Norris was acquired in the trade with the Nationals for Gio Gonzalez.  He has promising power as his 600 AB average would indicate a 20 HR and 90 RBI projected for a full year.

Josh Donaldson 3B/C  (26)  .156/.206/.457   1 HR 4 RBI in 32 AB: Read Smith’s writeup, it basically comes down to him being acquired for Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin.

Collin Cowgill  OF  (26)  .269/.336/.654  1 HR 9 RBI in 104 AB:  1.  Cowgill was traded with Ryan Cook and Jarrod Parker for Trevor Cahill, Craig Breslow and cash.  Read Cook and Parker’s numbers with the team when I do the pitchers.  2.  Breslow was picked off of waives by the A’s from the Minnesota Twins for no compensation.  3.  Cahill was drafted by the A’s in the 2nd round of the 2006 Amateur Draft.  So right now it still a trade to be analyzed.

George Kottaras  C  (29)  .212/.280/.750  6 HRs 19 RBI in 85 AB:  Kottaras was traded for by a piece that came in the Nick Swisher trade to the White Sox (De Los Santos.)  He had great power numbers with the A’s in limited duty and even has hit for the cycle before with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Michael Taylor RF  (26) .143 AVG (3-21) in 2012:  1. Traded by the Jays to the A’s for Brett Wallace.  3.  Shane Petersen (currently in AAA Sacremento with the A’s), Clayton Mortensen and Brett Wallace were traded to the A’s for Matt Holliday.  2.  Mortensen was traded for Ethan Hollnsgworth.  3.  Hollingsworth was traded for Kila Ka’aihue (who was granted Free Agency after 2012.)   4.  Holliday was traded to the A’s for Carlos Gonzalez, Huston Street (Drafted in the 2004 sandwich round by the A’s)and Greg Smith.  5.  Gonzalez came over with Dana Eveland, Greg Smith,  Aaron Cunningham and Bret Anderson for Dan Haren and Connor Robertson.  6.  Eveland was the player to be named later in the Taylor deal.  7.  Aaron Cunningham and Scott Hairston were traded to the Padres for Kevin Kouzmanoff and Eric Sogard.  8.  Haren of  course came in a trade with Kiko Calero and Daric Barton for Mark Mulder (1998 Draft pick).  Basically this is just a Taylor for Matt Holliday ramification if you really boil it down.  There are elements of the trade I will dissect further as Bret Anderson is part of it, who would have to be considered part of it as well as Gonzalez.  Further discussion is promised.

Eric Sogard  SS/3B/2B  (26) .166//206/.480   2 HRs 7 RBI in 102 AB:  1. Sogard was traded for with Kevin Kouzmanoff to the Padres for Scott Hairston and Aaron Cunningham.  2.  Kouzmanoff was released by the Athletics.

Adam Rosales  2B/SS/3B  (29)  .222/.291/.637  2 HRs 8 RBI in 99 AB:  Traded by the Reds along with Willy Taveras (Released by the A’s 8 days later)  for Aaron Miles.  2.  Miles was brought to the A’s with Jake Fox for Ronny Moria ( Non-Drafted FA Signing by the A’s in 2006 and Jeff Gray (32 RD draft pick  by the A’s in 2004. 3 Jake Fox was traded to the Orioles for Ross Wolf (since was granted a Free Agent and signed elsewhere with no compensation.)    So basically it Rosales for a 32 RD Draft pick and Aaron Miles (is not currently with a team.)  Miles did have 700 AB in the Majors after the trade and hit about .260.  He played in Albuquerque all last year (AAA affiliate of the Dodgers) and is a Free Agent in 2013.

It has worked out for the Oakland Athletics to an extent.  If they ever get that new ballpark in the San Jose/Freemont Area, look the hell out for this group of dynamic players, plus a few Free Agents that would certainly make the trek over to California.

The Future of the Oakland A’s:  The Mustache Gang Meets the Bash Brothers:  Revealing Billy Beane’s Master Plan click here.

The Oakland A’s 2013 Roster Tree Part 2:  The Pitchers  click here.

Billy Beane is up to old tricks in creating a new version of MoneyBall 2. The question is, how long can he hold before he has to start trading his young core again to start they cycle all over?

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com ***

  ***Chuck Booth- Lead Baseball Writer/Website Owner and author of the Fastest 30 Ballgames:   To learn more about my  “The Fastest 30 Ballgames Book” and how to purchase it, click here . You can also follow my Guinness Book of World Record Successful Bid to see all 30 MLB Park in 23 Days Reports click here.  I am happy to be part of such an awesome Magazine-Style Baseball Website and am looking forward to talking to all of the fans of the MLB.  You can reach me on Twitter here Follow @mlbreports

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