Oakland Athletics: Over/Under Win Total
By Jason Burke
The Oakland Athletics are a team that will be hard to peg for the upcoming season. The roster has undergone a complete overhaul. This spring, plus the early part of the season will be a challenge for the team as they attempt to gel into one cohesive unit, much like they did during the 2012 season.
Recently, Bovada Las Vegas put out their betting lines on baseball team’s win totals for the upcoming season, and they have the Oakland Athletics at 81.5 wins. You can bet over, or you can bet under. This number sounded a bit low to me, so I asked our staff full of homers how many wins the A’s will finish with this season.
Will: 89 wins! Yes, the exclamation point was included.
Ryan: 87
Tony: 85. Jeez Tony, way to be a downer.
Matt: 85. Ditto.
Richard: 89
Selena: 84
Joseph: 86
Lance: 88
Nick: 89
I agreed with Ryan and chose 87, for no other reason than it was a few games above .500. The staff’s average win total project comes out to 86.9. With the Angels seemingly taking a step back with the sad news on the Josh Hamilton front, that 86.9 average could be attainable.
Look at it this way: the Oakland Athletics ended their 2014 campaign with 88 wins, and while this mark was put up by a team with the All-Stars that were traded away this offseason, they also limped into their wild card berth. If the 2015 A’s can play consistent baseball throughout the course of the season, they definitely have the chance to achieve a similar record to the one from a year ago.
Their defense has improved, the rotation should get increasingly better as the season progresses, and the offense has a chance at being a big surprise if key players like Brett Lawrie are able to stay healthy.
What do you think the win total will be for our guys in the green and gold this season?
Next: Prospect Profile: Joe Wendle