22. Oakland Athletics

Big Leagues- The Oakland Athletics may rival the Houston Astros with the most boring lineup in the league.  With names like Daric Barton, Mark Ellis, Cliff Pennington and Kevin Kouzmanoff, the Athletics are not really fantasy relevant. The only people in their lineup worth going out of your way to grab would be Kurt Suzuki or newly acquired right fielder Josh Willingham.  The A’s would be a lot lower on our list if it wasn’t for their young and fast improving pitching staff.  With Dallas Braden, Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill the A’s have three young starters that could rival the Barry Zito, Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder days.  They are making a run at Adrian Beltre and if they somehow sign him they should be moved up on the list. They play in division where no team really dominates, and that could allow them to make a push at the playoffs.

Here is their starting lineup for 2011:

Catcher- Kurt Suzuki

1st Base- Daric Barton

2nd Base- Mark Ellis

Shortstop- Cliff Pennington

3rd Base- Kevin Kouzmanoff

Left Field- David Dejesus/Conor Jackson

Center Field- Coco Crisp

Right Field- Josh Willingham

Pitching- Dallas Braden, Brett Anderson, Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill, Brandon McCarthy, Rich Harden

Relief-  Michael Wuertz, Brad Ziegler, Andrew Bailey

Top 5 Prospects

SS Grant Green-  The Athletics selected the USC shortstop 13^th overall in the 2009 draft, and he did not disappoint in his first full season in the minor leagues.  Green hit .318 with 20 bombs and 39 doubles last year in high class A.  He has shown great power throughout his collegiate and minor league career, and should continue to develop.  He will start the year in Double A and is the A’s shortstop of the future.

1B Chris Carter-The big first basemen with elite power had a down year for the A’s last year when they wanted to employ him as their everyday first basemen.  He only hit .186 with 3 home runs in 24 games.  More concerning was he had 21 strikeouts compared to only 7 walks.  He has an outside chance to start the season with a job, but it will take a big preseason.

OF Michael Choice- The 10^th pick in the 2010 draft played in 30 games after signing.  He showed impressive power hitting 7 home runs and 10 doubles in only 109 plate appearances. He did have a tendency to strikeout with striking out 45 times. He’ll start the year in Single A for more seasoning.

OF Michael Taylor-  The former Phillies prospect failed to impress last season and found himself stuck in Triple A as a 24 year old last season.  Disappearing was the power he showed in previous years as he only hit 6 home runs.  Taylor is still a good prospect, but now lacks the youth to be considered a top prospect.

RHP Tyson Ross- Even with missing time with injuries the 23 year old impressed when he pitched in Triple A last year.  He had a 3.55 Era while striking out 30 in 25 innings.  He should begin next year with Triple A trying to stay injury free.

Payroll and Direction

The Athletics never spend a lot of money and never make a big splash for free agents, so that’s why last year they only spent 56 million on their big league payroll.  But with Billy Beane in charge of the farm system the Athletics will keep producing young pitchers.  If they ever get the money to sign their young pitchers to post- arbitration contracts while picking up a couple free agents, instead of trading them away, the A’s could become a contender for years to come.