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The Oakland Athletics are poised for a big second-half push

By Deion Higginbotham

SEATTLE, WA - JULY 5: Ramon Laureano #22 of the Oakland Athletics is congratulated by teammate Josh Phegley #19 after scoring a run on a hit by Robbie Grossman #8 off relief pitcher Dan Altavilla #53 of the Seattle Mariners during the ninth inning of a game at T-Mobile Park on July 5, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. The Athletics won the game 5-2. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - JULY 5: Ramon Laureano #22 of the Oakland Athletics is congratulated by teammate Josh Phegley #19 after scoring a run on a hit by Robbie Grossman #8 off relief pitcher Dan Altavilla #53 of the Seattle Mariners during the ninth inning of a game at T-Mobile Park on July 5, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. The Athletics won the game 5-2. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images) /
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The Oakland Athletics are poised for a big second half after a strong start to the 2019 season. What are their needs for the next two months?

The Oakland Athletics will return from the All-Star break this Friday with a 50-41 record. They are 7.5 games out of first place behind the Houston Astros and are 1.5 games back of the second wild-card slot.

They are in the playoff race despite some sub-par performances over the course of this season. The team has dealt with injuries to key players such as Matt Olson, Khris Davis, and Stephen Piscotty and they have even dealt with a disappointing first half from Jurickson Profar.

But here they are in typical A’s fashion in the mix despite all of their flaws.

Even with the A’s current window for contention with all of the young players, it’s not unlikely that the team’s front office would look to add too much depth for the playoff push. Although we know where they need reinforcements at it’s not as simple to add and subtract.

Here are the areas where the A’s could use some improvement and players they could feasibly target.

Teams Needs

Hitting still seems to be the A’s strong suit which is rare because in the early 2000s the A’s dominated and were known for their pitching. This year, however, the A’s pitching has struggled as they are currently fourth in the AL in runs allowed per game and seventh in runs scored per game.

They lost their ace Frankie Montas to a suspension and he’s a part of why the A’s run prevention is low. But he won’t be available until the final week of the regular season and he can’t pitch in the postseason because of his suspension.

The A’s are relying on their defense a lot these days meaning the pitchers aren’t striking out hitters as frequent as they should — they are tied for the fourth-fewest strikeouts per nine innings.

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On offense, the A’s are better than league average production at nearly every position with the exception of second base, of course. So even though the A’s pitching has struggled, in the first half it has been the strength, but they can most certainly add to the pitching staff.

This offseason the A’s didn’t add to the staff because they hoped that their young injured pitchers would be able to help out later this season. Also, Jesus Luzardo recently suffered a setback with a shoulder strain and will be asked to contribute in the second-half once he gets healthy.

They all have suffered setbacks which puts the A’s in the same position they are in now — they will wait and be hopeful that the calvary will come home.

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The A’s were hoping that their bullpen would be the strength like much of last year but it hasn’t. The starting pitching has been pretty good, but that has come from Montas before he was suspended and Mike Fiers and Chris Bassitt who have been above-average.

But would you trust either of those two in a must-win wild card game?

Oakland does have some reliable relievers available and we’ve seen they are not afraid to go full bullpen in a must-win wild card game. In an ideal world though the A’s will acquire one starter and one or two relievers before the start of September.

Possible Trade Targets: 

Marcus Stroman — Even though he has struggled in the past, Stroman has had a bounce-back season this year and he was an All-Star. Teams will want to see if he is healthy before pulling the trigger, but Billy Beane isn’t afraid of pulling off big trades.

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Madison Bumgarner — Bumgarner with the A’s would be the ideal package for this second-half run. He brings plenty of postseason experience and he would give the A’s a left-handed starter that they don’t currently have. Although I don’t think this will happen because the A’s don’t need to overpay for an aging pitcher.

Matthew Boyd — A’s fans would be ecstatic to land this rising star who has thrown 142 strikeouts. It’s not going to be easy and it will most likely take a major package of prospects to get Boyd, but Beane has made crazier moves in the past.

With so many teams in the playoff race this year, some teams might wait to make moves until late July. This could work in the A’s advantage while they still have their rehabbing pitchers on ice.

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But look for the A’s to be heavily involved in this year’s trade deadline as Billy Beane’s quest to lead the Oakland Athletics to another playoff berth continues.

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