Dynastic Athletics

It is trendy to talk about the Oakland A’s 19-6 run, especially after their weekend sweep of the vaunted White Sox. But with the Twins, Indians, Yankees, Orioles and Rangers sitting above them in the standings, it would be exceedingly difficult to grab the Wild Card, even though they are only 4.5 games out. I’m more interested, and I’m sure Billy Beane is as well, in the next several years and the core he has to build around.

Usually when we talk about a young core of players, we refer to somewhere around 5 guys who the team can use as a stable locus. Think early ‘90s Astros with Bagwell, Biggio and Bell. Or the Braves with Smoltz, Glavine, Avery, Justice and Gant. A dynasty might go as deep as the Yankees circa ’96, featuring a young Jeter, Bernie, Posada, Pettite and Rivera. Teams don’t usually have stability over several years with a gaggle of young talent.

Look at this year’s Oakland team, which is already near contention: Chavez and Crosby are locked in on the left side. Dan Johnson will probably be mashing at first for years. Ginter/Ellis sounds temporary to me, but it’s not that hard to imagine shifting Omar Quintanilla over to make a pretty slick-fielding keystone duo that can actually hit. Kotsay and Swishwer will hold down center and right through at least 2008, and Richie Robnett, Nelson Cruz or former first-rounder Freddie Bynum could fill in the last spot. With Daric Barton presumably DH’ing at some point, and the triage of catchers they have drafted in recent years, they have a core of players covering every position. The Hudson and Mulder trades had the same effect on the pitching staff, setting up Harden, Meyer, Blanton and Haren at the front of the rotation for at least the next two or three years before anyone is eligible to leave. Huston Street anchors the pen, followed by Duchscherer and Calero, and eventually Cruz and Jairo Garcia. The rest of the roster can be slightly above replacement level and they should easily win 95 games a year if nobody totally collapses. I know I’d rather have this roster than the Yankees’, irrespective of cost, for the next several years.