by Bill Moriarity / A’s Farm Editor
As everyone knows by now, with just two weeks to go until opening day, Major League Baseball made the difficult decision on Thursday to cancel the remainder of spring training as well as the first two weeks of the regular season.
But with a few weeks of spring games in Arizona in the books, things were starting to come into focus and it was becoming pretty clear just how things were shaping up for the A’s opening day roster when everything was suddenly put on hold.
Of course, we still don’t really know when the season will actually end up getting underway. But let’s take a look at how the A’s opening day roster was starting to shape up when the plug got pulled…
CATCHERS
One thing that was clear from early on was that the A’s were ready to make top catching prospect Sean Murphy the team’s primary starting catcher in 2020. After missing a significant amount of time last year due to a knee injury, Murphy ended up making his major league debut with the A’s last September. And he’s shown enough prowess both at the plate and behind the plate for the A’s to feel comfortable handing the reins to the young receiver. The team acquired lefty-swinging catcher Austin Allen from the Padres in the offseason to back up Murphy behind the plate. He hit 21 home runs in 67 games for Triple-A El Paso in 2019 and made his major league debut for the Padres last year. The A’s were enamored of Allen’s big power bat, and he didn’t disappoint this spring, when he put up a slugging percentage of .656 over 15 games. Switch-hitting backstop Jonah Heim also had a solid spring, but Allen has more experience at the upper levels. And all things being equal, the preference for the A’s was to start the season with Murphy and Allen in Oakland, and with Heim and veteran receiver Carlos Perez in reserve at Triple-A Las Vegas.
INFIELDERS
Three of the A’s four infield positions couldn’t have been clearer heading into this season. Matt Olson was set at first base, Matt Chapman was entrenched at third base, and Marcus Semien was likely to play shortstop every day that he was breathing. The big question was what would happen at second base. The A’s preference always seemed to be to go with a platoon at the position, and the team compiled plenty of candidates prior to spring training. From the left side of the plate, Oakland acquired Tony Kemp from the Cubs and picked up Vimael Machin thanks to the Rule-5 draft. And from the right side of the plate, the A’s already had promising infielders Franklin Barreto, Jorge Mateo and Sheldon Neuse in the fold. Neuse was the only one of the group whom the team could send back to the minors without risking losing him. So, unsurprisingly, Neuse was optioned back to Las Vegas last weekend. The leading contenders at the position always seemed to be Kemp and Barreto, and their spring performances only solidified that assumption, with Kemp slashing .345/.412/.483 and Barreto posting a slash line of .306/.359/.528 this spring. With the pair seemingly penciled into those two spots, that left Mateo, who had a .606 OPS in 12 spring games, and Machin, who had an .844 OPS in 15 spring games, as the remaining contenders for the super utility man and 13th position player spot on the roster. Since Machin was acquired through the Rule-5 draft, he would have to be offered back if he didn’t make the major league roster. And Mateo is out of options, so he could be claimed by any major league team if the A’s tried to send him down. But Oakland could try to trade Mateo, and there were recent reports that the A’s had discussed him with other teams, while they wouldn’t receive any talent in return if they were to lose Machin. So, would the A’s rather hang on to Mateo, or would the team rather have Machin and whatever talent they could get in return for Mateo? No one knows for certain but, as the spring wore on, there were increasing indications that the team might prefer to keep the talented Mr. Machin for that final roster spot.
OUTFIELDERS
Outfielder Stephen Piscotty’s injury, which kept him out of action this spring and made it likely that he’d be sidelined to start the season, is what gave the A’s the opportunity to try to hang on to Mateo or Machin rather than risk having to lose them both. It also helped provide a great deal of clarity to the A’s outfield picture. With Piscotty on the shelf, that opened the way for Mark Canha to start in right field, for Ramon Laureano to reclaim center field, and for Robbie Grossman and Chad Pinder to reprise their platoon in left field, with former left fielder Khris Davis returning to the designated hitter role. Seth Brown, who made his major league debut with the A’s late last season, hit well this spring, leading the team with 7 extra-base hits in just 35 at-bats but, unfortunately for him, he still has options left. And on this team this spring, having options left almost looked like a guaranteed ticket back to Triple-A.
STARTING PITCHERS
The A’s starting pitching picture looked a lot clearer this spring than it had in quite a while. A.J. Puk’s sore shoulder shook things up a bit, but not too much. With six potential starting pitchers, it was easy to sort things out, even with Puk sidelined. Righties Mike Fiers and Frankie Montas were already set, as were lefties Sean Manaea and Jesus Luzardo. And with Puk out, Chris Bassitt was ready and more than able to step in and fill the void. Righties Paul Blackburn, Daniel Gossett, Grant Holmes and James Kaprielian all made a few appearances on the mound in the major league camp this spring before being optioned back to Las Vegas, where they’re likely to form the core of the Triple-A rotation this year.
RELIEF PITCHERS
As for the bullpen, Liam Hendriks’ impressive performance last season allowed him to lay claim to the closer’s role. Southpaws Jake Diekman and T.J. McFarland looked set to lock up roles as the team’s two lefties coming out of the ‘pen, with A.J. Puk potentially joining them in a relief role to start the season. And righties Yusmeiro Petit, Joakim Soria and J.B. Wendelken, who’s out of options, appeared ready to nail down relief roles from the right side. Lou Trivino seemed to have the edge for the final bullpen spot, but his struggles continued this spring and he does have options left. And recently-acquired righty Burch Smith pitched well this spring, so it’s possible that he could claim that final bullpen spot. Or if Puk opened the season on the injured list, then that would leave room for both Smith and Trivino on the opening day squad.
* * *
Be sure to like A’s Farm’s page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @AthleticsFarm. You can also get our exclusive A’s minor league newsletter e-mailed to you free by signing up here.