The Oakland Athletics have had a terrible collapse in 2014 and now that they have lost the wild card game, Billy Beane could blow up the whole team and names like Josh Donaldson, Jeff Samardzija and Scott Kazmir could be traded if the A's make drastic moves, as Ken Rosenthal at Fox Sports has reported that the franchise may look at making major moves after what happened this season.
The Athletics stumbled badly after the All-Star break and trade deadline, as they went just 22-33 since making the trade with Yoenis Cespedes. It took the team until the final day of the season to clinch a playoff spot and that came after they have a huge lead in the WC and before that they looked like a lock to win the AL West. The team ranked 26th in record and runs per game and 28th in OPS after the trade and at the time they made the deal, the team was the best team in the league with the best record overall. Now it could be breaking up.
According to Ken Rosenthal at Fox Sports and Buster Olney at ESPN.com, there have been rumblings that the Athletics may make some major moves this offseason after their collapse. Rosenthal writes that executives around the league have speculated that the Athletics and Beane will look to make trades and possibly other major moves to help move forward after this season. The other exec said that Beane doesn't like getting caught "in between", meaning of rebuilding and contending. Beane has moves that he can make that could net some major prospects to players, including with Donaldson and Samardzija.
When the Athletics made the trade for Samardzija and Jason Hammel, everyone felt the team was the best in the league and ready for the playoffs. The baseball world was then stunned when he traded Cespedes, a power hitting outfielder that had been one of the most passionate players in the clubhouse, for Jon Lester, a rental player heading into free agency. Many questioned the move, but they also felt that it made the Athletics the best team in baseball. Clearly it did not work out that way.
Lester will be a free agent and he will command a ton of money and that means Oakland is basically out of the mix. Samardzija will command money eventually and it's unlikely Oakland will be the team to give it to him, meaning that he is a prime candidate to get traded as well. Donaldson is a name that came up as well and that is surprising for some, but the A's have made moves like this before.
Donaldson is an MVP candidate this year and he has four more seasons of control for the A's, but that could also net a great package of players for Beane. The team is getting back young pitching that was injured this year and moving Donaldson could be an option for the Athletics. With Beane not liking being in between, he may go for the one year hard rebuild and trade Donaldson and Samardzija to get prospects and players for the following season.
Things did not go well in Oakland this year, now it's time for Billy Beane to work his Moneyball magic.