Opening day of the 2013 MLB Season is fast approaching and odds for the Oakland A's to win the 2013 World Series are at +3000, according to Sportsbook.ag. These odds are very favorable considering the A's finished with 94 wins last season, and were one victory shy of tying the Yankees for the most in the American League.
The 2012 Oakland Athletics were the biggest surprise in Major League Baseball, shocking experts everywhere by winning the American League West title. Heading in to 2013, optimism abounds for a team that returns almost completely intact and added a few key pieces to try and take another step towards the team's fifth World Series championship since moving to Oakland in 1968. In other words, there is no slowing down for Oakland. Beane traded infielder Cliff Pennington for 2010 All-Star Chris Young in October, acquiring a fourth everyday outfielder.How will that work? Well, Beane insists there will be 450 to 500 at-bats for Young, Coco Crisp, Josh Reddick and Yoenis Cespedes, which means more DH appearances from all of them—and potentially fresher outfielders at the end of the season. Reddick and Cespedes ran out of steam down the stretch last season, and Crisp and Cespedes both missed time with injuries. This is a very young ballclub with huge upside, and Oakland solidified the left side of its infield with SS Hiroyuki Nakajima and 3B Jed Lowrie in the offseason. This isn't a powerful slugging team, but with a ballpark that doesn't allow a lot of home runs, the A's focus on getting on base and playing good defense.
The A’s also have plenty of starting pitching, enough that they let 2012 opening day starter Brandon McCarthy leave as a free agent. Oakland boasts slick lefthander Brett Anderson, potential star righthander Jarrod Parker and three other solid young starters: lefty Tommy Milone and righthanders A.J. Griffin and Dan Straily. Add to that re-signed veteran Bartolo Colon—who must sit out the first five games of the season while serving the remainder of his drug suspension—and the A’s are set with starters and then some.
The A’s bullpen is one of the league’s best, with Grant Balfour reclaiming the closer role in August and becoming a real factor in the team’s rush to the AL West title. Setup men Ryan Cook (converted starter) and Sean Doolittle (converted first baseman) were great stories. Jerry Blevins is an effective lefthanded specialist who can handle other bullpen roles, and Jordan Norberto showed flashes of excellence when healthy.
Oakland arrived at least a year ahead of schedule after rebuilding with pitching obtained in trades, and now a talented young team has experienced success. That bodes well for the future, but repeating in the tough AL West will be a tall task.
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