Actually, the battle will be whether or not Daric Barton will improve enough to start at 1B moving Jason Giambi to DH. But, the A’s will not just give Barton the job especially due to his poor play in 2008. 23-year old lefty swinging Daric Barton played in 140 games last season for the A’s and he was 101 for 446 (.226 avg, .675 OPS) with 59 runs scored, 9 homers and 47 RBIs. Barton appeared to take his hitting problems into the field with him in 2008 as he made 13 errors at first base while playing in 134 games there. If Barton doesn’t have a good spring he could start the 2009 season in AAA ball.

38-year old lefty swinging Jason Giambi was signed in the off-season to either DH full time or be the first baseman. Giambi played in 145 games for the Yankees last season and he was 113 for 458 (.247 avg, .875 OPS) with 68 runs scored, 32 homers and 96 RBIs. Giambi is a butcher with the glove however as he made 9 errors in 113 games at 1B in 2008. The A’s would be better off with Giambi at DH but that will depend on Daric Barton’s play this spring.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: WITH BARTON STARTING: D-
WITH GIAMBI STARTING: B-

25-year old righty swinging Kurt Suzuki will be the starting catcher for the A’s in 2009 and he will have a heavy workload. Suzuki played in 148 games for the A’s last season and he was 148 for 530 (.279 avg, .716 OPS) with 54 runs scored, 7 homers and 42 RBIs. A’s pitchers had a 3.86 ERA throwing to Suzuki last season and he threw out 16 of 71 (23%) basestealers. The A’s are very happy with the progression of Suzuki but they wish they had a better backup so they could give him a rest once in a while.

28-year old switch hitting Rob Bowen is the backup again this season. Bowen played in 37 games for the A’s last season and he was 16 for 91 (.176 avg, .505 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 9 RBIs. Bowen threw out 5 of 20 (25%) basestealers last season but A’s pitchers had a 4.87 ERA throwing to him.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: C

The A’s have signed 25-year old righty starter/reliever Edgar Gonzalez to a minor league deal. He pitched in 17 games (6 starts) for the D-Backs last season and he was 1-3 with a 6.00 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP. Gonzalez has now pitched in 80 games (35 starts) in his major league career and he is 14-21 with a 5.97 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. It’s possible that Gonzalez can start to turn his career in the right direction in Oakland, but, only time will tell.

The Oakland A’s wanted to improve the starting lineup and the bullpen and that’s exactly what they have done. Adding Matt Holliday in a trade with the Rockies and the signing of Jason Giambi should really boost the offense. That is if Holliday can hit the ball not playing half of his games at Coors Field. The A’s decided to boost the bullpen due to having a rotation that will be very green behind the gills. Righties Russ Springer and Mike Wuertz should provide the A’s with a lot of solid work in the middle to late innings. The A’s also signed righties Kevin Cameron and Chris Schroder to minor league deals and they both have decent upsides.

OFF SEASON GRADE FOR THE A’S: B

The A’s have sent 27-year old righty swinging outfielder Matt Murton to the Rockies for 25-year old switch hitting 2B Corey Wimberly. Murton played in 28 games for the A’s and Cubs last season in which he was 13 for 70 (.186 avg) with 3 runs scored and 8 RBIs. He has now played in 317 games in his major league career and he is 259 for 900 (.288 avg, .792 OPS) with 127 runs scored, 28 homers, 106 RBIs and 8 stolen bases.

Corey Wimberly played in 108 games in AA-ball last season and he was 113 for 388 (.291 avg, .715 OPS) with 65 runs scored, 26 RBIs and 59 stolen bases. Wimberly is not the “Moneyball” type of player that Billy Beane likes but he wanted to move Murton anyway.