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The Oakland Athletics entered the 2015 All-Star break buried in last place in the American League West despite having a positive run differential. As they traded away some pieces, most importantly Scott Kazmir, their run differential lowered. The Athletics took action this offseason by trading for Jed Lowrie to play second base and resetting their bullpen.
The bullpen was bad for the Athletics in 2015 with a 4.63 ERA. The bullpen was led much of the year by Tyler Clippard who was traded to the New York Mets during the season. Now with Sean Doolittle back for a full season, Billy Beane has reloaded the bullpen with tradable pieces. Beane sent Jesse Chavez to the Toronto Blue Jays for Liam Hendriks. Marc Rzepczynski was acquired as a lefty specialist in the Yonder Alonso deal. The A’s also signed John Axford and Ryan Madson in free agency.
At first glance it may appear that Beane and GM David Forst have done what any other team would do in their situation. They did something much subtler and more clever than most. They have these pitchers set to be traded away in a sequence.
Rzepczynski will be a free agent at the end of 2016. If the A’s falter at all in 2016 he will be traded. Axford is signed for two years. He will play with the A’s through 2016, but could be traded next offseason or during the 2017 season. Madson is signed for three years and he can be traded after the 2017 if the A’s want. Forst and Beane were sneaky in that they are building the pen around Doolittle and Hendriks while using the other new guys as leverage for future deals. They even have Felix Doubront to backfill for Rzepczynski.
The A’s are masters at seizing upon inefficiencies in the market. In this case it is the overvaluing of relief pitchers, especially during playoff runs. If the A’s aren’t in the hunt in 2016 then they will be preparing for 2017, and they have already begun.
Nick Vorholt is a writer for www.RantSports.com covering the Cincinnati Reds and Oakland Athletics.
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