When it comes to making headlines, a lot of the talk surrounding Oakland these days hovers around the club’s lackluster gate appeal – the spendthrift organization has drawn fewer than 4,000 fans the past couple of nights. Move beyond that a bit, past the dark cloud cast by the owner-imposed lockout, and you’ll be reminded that the A’s dealt away the core of their 86-win team during the offseason. In a matter of four days – just a span of 96 hours – the front office dealt away Matt Chapman to the Blue Jays, Matt Olson to the defending champion Atlanta Braves, and Chris Bassitt to the New York Metropolitans.
Enter: the organization’s latest rebuild.
Ignoring the key components the club got back during their flurry of trades, the team already had one of the best defensive wizards quietly tucked away in their farm system: Nick Allen.
The former light-hitting 2017 third round selection can pick it with the best of them, earning 70-grade marks for his wizardry on the infield.
Per Clay Davenport’s defensive metrics, he was eight runs better than average during his stint in the old Midwest League in 2018. He promptly followed that up with a +17 defensive showing the following year as he split time at second base and shortstop. And last season, despite losing a chuck of the year as he played for Silver Medal-winning Team USA in the Tokyo Olympics, Allen was a +6 with the leather. (Note: I’ve consistently listed Allen as one of Oakland’s top prospects since his showing in the Midwest League and he remains my favorite prospect in the minor leagues). Allen will man the keystone until Elvis Andrus’s contract expires.
Beyond that the lineup also features the top defensive backstop in the game: the supremely underrated Sean Murphy. Per FanGraphs, he’s among the very best pitch framers in the game, posting a stellar 9.7 runs above average during his 2021 capmaign. The fine folks at Baseball Prospectus had him even slightly better than that, logging an impressive 11.6 Framing Runs. Combined with his agility, Murphy was the most valuable backstop behind the dish.
One nearly surefire lock to win multiple Gold Gloves and one Gold Glove-winning backstop already in place, the club went out and acquired the top minor league defensive outfielder and the top minor league defensive catcher with their return for Matt Olson.
Cristian Pache’s early minor league numbers were otherworldly, almost historic. Baseball Prospectus has him at nearly 45 Fielding Runs Above Average in 176 games between Rookie Ball and Low-A. And Clay Davenport’s metrics place him at a +33.
But Pache’s defensive numbers regressed from super, duper elite to very strong in 2018-19. But for the first time in his career, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound outfielder posted a below average showing in 2021. And while I remained skeptical during his write-up heading into the year, the early returns from his time in Oakland have been stellar: Statcast already has him at +2 Fielding Runs Above Average, tied for the fourth best mark in all of baseball.
Along with Pache, the front office set their sight on former first rounder backstop Shea Langeliers – who, by the way, looks very much like the typical Oakland Athletic prospect: gobs of power and solid patience.
Langeliers, a former Baylor standout, posted a +13 on the defensive side of the ball in 2021, per Clay Davenport’s metrics. (Note: Baseball Prospectus didn’t have his updated numbers for last season). Now the bad news: he’s been terrible at framing. BP has him at a -13.8 Framing Runs in Double-A last season.
Oakland also acquired – perhaps as a secondary or tertiary players – infielder Kevin Smith from the Blue Jays as part of the return for Matt Chapman – who’s a defensive wunderkind in his own right.
Smith, a 2017 fourth round pick out of the University of Maryland, has a history of posting better than average defensive value as he’s rotated between shortstop, and second and third bases.
In terms of total team defensive production, per FanGraphs, the cream of the big league crop tends to post a Defensive Runs Above Average (DEF) in the +40 range over the past five season – with a wild outlier of +71 by the Rangers in 2021. Oakland has to fill in the remaining gaps around the diamond, most notable second base (assuming Nick Allen shifts to shortstop), third base, and at least one corner spot. But the club could end up becoming one of the best defensive units in baseball – quickly.
