Oakland Athletics

Anytime the Oakland A's deficiencies are brought up, the first thing that tends to come up is "They need a shortstop."

Why?

Cliff Pennington hit .279/.342/.418 last year. Shortstops as a whole hit .271/.328/.393.

He ranked 12th among shortstops in OBP and OPS. That places him in average to above-average starter territory, and Pennington is only 25.

His UZR last season wasn't incredible (-7.3 UZR/150), but that knocks him only from a bit above average to average.

What impact does the A's resigning Jack Cust, their main source of power for the past three seasons, have on players like Jake Fox, Eric Chavez, Chris Carter and other DH-eligible players?

What if (and I know it's a huge if) Chavez does comes back next season and is able to at least swing the bat? Or what about the one-in-a-million possibility that Chavez returns to the hot-corner next season? What happens to the newly acquired Fox?

It looks like the Oakland Athletics will retain their main source of power from the past three seasons by bringing back Jack Cust for a one-year, incentive-laden deal. The deal is reportedly similar to the $2.8 million he made last season. 

Cust was targeted by several teams this offseason, but decided to stick with the A's instead. In 2009, the A's slugger had a .240/.356/.417 season, blasted a team-leading 25 homers, and walked 93 times.

I am not an A's fan. Have nothing against them but I instead cheer for the Phillies. The past few seasons I’ve done top 10 prospect lists for the Phillies and decided I would do one for the entire league to better expand my horizon on the prospects in MLB so here we go. Oakland’s top prospects from a Phillies fan:

1) Chris Carter-1B

With the new year in full swing, the A's need to stick to their New Year's resolution and continue to get younger and stronger. However, with the recent offseason moves made by Billy Beane, it's hard not to notice that they've strayed just a tiny bit from their Youth Movement.

The A's third base situation is probably their biggest priority, since they've traded away top prospect Brett Wallace to Toronto in exchange for another highly regarded prospect, Michael Taylor. Now, the A's have Jake Fox to provide some kind of insurance to the injury-prone Eric Chavez.

Also featured on Rotoprofessor.com !

Earlier in the offseason, I broke down the catchers in the A's organization. That article can be found at http://bleacherreport.com/articles/307963-heres-a-thought-breaking-down-....

The Athletics signed Justin Duchscherer to a one-year deal earlier this week, and I praised the move.

Of course, Duchscherer's signing took up a 40-man roster spot, and someone thus had to go.

The Oakland Athletics signed Justin Duchscherer to a one-year, $5.5 million deal earlier this week.

This is the sort of move I've been hoping the A's would make for weeks.

It's no secret around Bleacher Report that I think Trevor Cahill and Vince Mazzaro need to start 2010 in Triple-A, and that the A's, prior to signing Duchscherer, only had three true MLB-level starters: Brett Anderson, Dallas Braden, and Gio Gonzalez.

They also have Josh Outman, but Tommy John surgery will keep him out for at least the first two months of 2010.