The Oakland Athletics have once again rearranged their infield. Even though this rebuild is not as drastic as the 2014/2015 offseason, there are some new fielders who will be playing on a daily basis. These acquisitions were suppose to strengthen the A’s infield. Unfortunately, the addition of these new players did not upgrade Oakland’s infield.
There will likely be two new starting players at first and second as well as a player at third, who joined the Athletics for the last two months of the season. As fans saw last year, the influx of new ballplayers ultimately hurt the A’s team chemistry since they had not all played together on the same team before. So, by having three out of the four infield positions manned by players who were not with the A’s for most – if not all – of the 2015 season, the team chemistry issue could repeat itself in 2016.
At first base, the Athletics will most likely start Yonder Alonso, who they acquired in a trade with the San Diego Padres. Since being called up in 2010, he has really only played one full season. Additionally, a wrist injury afflicted his power in 2013 and 2014. Like Brett Lawrie, Alonso is said to have a lot of potential, but it has yet to be seen. Hopefully he can thrive in Oakland or else this will pan out to be a bad trade for Oakland.
It is expected that a familiar face will field at in the middle infield. Jed Lowrie, who was with the Athletics in 2013 and 2014, is currently assigned to second on the A’s depth chart. Even though he has played with Oakland before and knows the ballpark well, he has not played alongside Alonso, Marcus Semien, or Danny Valencia. Additionally, compared to Ben Zobrist, who the Athletics had starting at second last year, Lowrie is definitely a downgrade since he is not as strong defensively or offensively as the esteemed utility man.
Then there is Semien at shortstop. Yes, Semien’s defense improved once Ron Washington joined the coaching staff, but it is still not top notch. Additionally, the A’s have been hinting this offseason at the fact that Semien is a versatile fielder, which suggests that they may have him play at different infield positions in 2016. However, if his fielding skills were lacking in his normal starting position at shortstop, how much work will he have to put in to become an adequate fielder at another, less familiar position?
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Lastly, there is Valencia, who will be starting at third base. Valencia was actually one of the A’s better players offensively once he joined the team in August 2015. Even though he only played 47 games with Oakland last season, he still was able to hit 11 homers and 37 RBI. However, it has been rumors that Valencia’s personality can rub some people the wrong way. Let’s hope he can be on his best behavior when he takes the field with his new teammates.
The key to making this infield successful is learning how to play together. They need to work hard during spring training to build that team chemistry. If they are not able to do this, then the A’s will struggle again in 2016.