Where the A's should go from here

In:
Matt Holiday

Out:
Carlos Gonzalez
Greg Smith
Huston Street

Projected Lineup:
C- Kurt Suzuki
1B- Daric Barton
2B- Mark Ellis
3B- Eric Chavez/ Jeff Baisley
SS- Bobby Crosby/ Gregorio Petit
RF- Matt Holiday
CF- Ryan Sweeney
LF- Travis Buck/ Aaron Cunningham
DH- Jack Cust

Projected Pitching Staff:
1. Justin Duchcsherer
2. Sean Gallagher
3. Dana Eveland
4. Gio Gonzalez
5. Dallas Braden/ Josh Outman
Wildcards- Vince Mazzaro, Brett Anderson, James Simmons, Trevor Cahill

Setup- Brad Ziegler
Closer- Joe Devine

Positional Outlook/ Possible Upgrades:

Catcher: Kurt Suzuki
- One of the few positions where we should be set for the short-term as well as the future. Suzuki provides great leadership, above-average defense, and solid skill set offensively that should allow him to develop into an above-average catcher with the chance at making a few all-star games.

First Base: Daric Barton
- This is a big question mark coming into the season and the A's would be well served to have viable back up plans should Barton continue to be underwhelming offensively at first base. The good news is that Barton showed better than expected defensive skills at first and essentially proved that he will not be limited to a DH role. The bad news is that the part that previously made Barton a top prospect his bat, simply did not produce. It was expected that he wouldn't put up eye popping home run totals. However, he was expected to hit a lot of doubles in addition to hitting for a high average and posting a high OBP- which he didn't. Internally the A's have two above-average first base prospects in Sean Doolittle and Chris Carter, but neither will be ready to contribute by the start of the season. The A's should look to other options via FA to at least set up back up options in the event Barton doesn't develop.

- Possible Upgrades- 1) Jason Giambi 2) Russel Branyon 3) Pat Burrell 4) Adam Dunn

Second Base: Mark Ellis
- Pretty secure here. Ellis just signed an extension with the A's. He provides excellent defense and should bounce back offensively. We have a couple of future options- but ellis should be our starting 2b for at least the next 2 years.

Third Base: Eric Chavez
- Another huge question mark. When Healthy Eric Chavez provides gold glove caliber defense with 30+ HR potential. However, it remains to be seen whether his body is capable of ever being able to play third over the course of an entire season. The A's need to set up better backup options in order to avoid having another year of jack hanahan type miserable production. Internally, a solid option may be available in Jeff Baisley who showed a solid all-around offensive game at AAA last year. Other than that they will have to look carefully through the FA class in order to target and possibly find a diamond in the rough.

Possible FA's: Russell Branyan- he is the guy I would target b/c he can back up 1st and 3rd and play either position capably. In addition to that he provides massive power and a strong ability to draw walks which falls in line with the A's offensive philosophy. He should also come at a very reasonable price.

ShortStop: Bobby Crosby
- It appears the A's have grown tired with him and seem destined to replace the dissapointing SS. The main target is Rafael Furcal. Though he is old and would require a 4 yr contract the A's should sign him because of the significant upgrade he provides both offensively and defensively. The A's lacked a consistant top of the order bat and adding him would create a whole new dynamic to the A's offense that, coupled with the Matt Holiday acquisition, could make them potentially explosive. Even if the A's don't sign Furcal they will look extensively at other options.

Other Options: Gregorio Petit, Cliff Pennington, Edgar Rentaria
- I personally would rather allow Crosby another chance to redeem himself than sign Rentaria.

Right Field: Matt Holiday
- Set and Set... At least until we trade him in July or he walks at the end of the year. But right now, he is expected to be the rock in the middle of our lineup and help transform the offense to one that, well, doesn't suck so much. Beyond that, we could look to prospects such as Cunningham, Doolittle, maybe Corey Brown as in-house replacements or look for a more reasonably priced long-term FA (Jason Bay?) at the end of the season. But for now, lets just be thankful we have Matt on this Holiday.

Center Field: Ryan Sweeney
- Sweeney appears to be comfortably penciled in at cf next season and his play last year certainly warrants the nod. He may not be the longterm solution as his range is somewhat limited by his huge frame (6'4 220) but he is a very good athlete and can handle the position for at least the next year or two. For all the skills that Sweeney possesses, the real question is will he ever develop 25-30 hr type power- because if he does he could become an allstar. If not, well he is an over-size singles hitter who could be subject to getting weeded out of the starting lineup by other accomplished A's OF prospects. I could be wrong but I have a feeling Beane could have replaced Sweeney with Holiday and still gotten the deal done for Holiday. However, Beane feels more comfortable holding on to sweeney- and I think thats because he feels Sweeney has a better chance of developing power than Gonzalez has of developing solid pitch recognition. Long-term Jemile Weeks, if he doesn't become the second baseman, might be the longterm answer in center.

Left Field: Travis Buck
- Buck on last year- "I don't want to talk about it." Seriously, he just needs to erase last year from his memory bank and work hard to come back in a big way in 2009. I think, despite last year, the A's no what type of player he is capable of being, and are suprisingly confident he will return to that player next year. He does have some things to work on other than just getting his head strait. he had an ugly part of his swing in which he used a little bat whirl as a timing mechanism right before the pitch- it clearly didn't work. But, despite that he is a player who is capable of hitting for a high average in addition to posting a solid OBP and hitting 20 to 25 hr's. Here's to hoping he takes a big step towards that in '09. If for some reason he doesn't recover from last year, top prospect Aaron Cunningham is right there to fill the void. And you've always got old reliable, Jack Cust.

DH: Jack Cust
- Done and Done. Unless he is forced into the field. Outside shot of Jason Giambi being the DH in 09.