Oakland Athletics: Will the A’s Contend or Rebuild in 2016?

Another Vote for Rebuilding

Katrina Putnam: Personally, I think the A’s are still at least a year away from being legitimate contenders. Their defense has holes, their offense has holes, and their pitching has holes. Yes, Sonny Gray, but then who? Two pitchers recovering from multi-season absences? Young arms like Kendall Graveman and Chris Bassitt? Jesse Hahn, who is still presumably hurt? Those aren’t guarantees. It might be hard for A’s fans to hear, but objectively, they need too many pieces in too many different areas to really have a shot at the postseason.

To fill the bullpen with legitimate, playoff-team-caliber arms – not Dan Otero and Pat Venditte, but relievers like Wade Davis and Luke Hochevar – the A’s would blow their entire budget. To add one big bat – a Chris Davis or someone similar – would equally sink the payroll. The contracts of Coco Crisp and Billy Butler really have the team tied up, and until the A’s get rid of at least one of those deals, it will be hard to field a competitive team via free agency.

That leaves the trade market – and the front office has already said they’re not going to deal the prospects at the top of the system. The end result is that the A’s will likely be not-so-good next season, again. However, I think 2017 is the year when things will really click for them. Don’t be too impatient – the Royals waited 29 years to get back in the postseason, and now their World Series Champions. A pair of consecutive bad seasons is absolutely worth the wait.

Of course, it is baseball, so who knows what could happen? They wouldn’t be the first team who is bad on paper to become legitimate on the field.

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Next: Athletics Should Sign Dae-ho Lee

What do you think? Are the A’s headed towards another year of disappointment, or will they be able to make enough moves to have a legitimate shot at the playoffs? Vote in our fan poll and leave your opinion in the comments section below.