Oakland Athletics: 30 Worst Players in Franchise History

Vin Mazzaro

As a third-round draft pick and top prospect, Vin Mazzaro was expected to do big things for the Oakland Athletics. Instead, he right-hander was so terrible during his major league tenure that he was eventually dealt along with a minor league pitcher to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for mediocre outfielder David DeJesus. DeJesus is barely a step up from Sam Fuld, so it’s hard to imagine how bad a pitcher would have to be to warrant needing additional pieces in order to make the trade happen..

Mazzaro was 10-17 during his career as a starter for the A’s, earning a 4.72 ERA in two seasons. He walked 89 batters and struck out just 138 in 213.2 innings.

His advanced metrics were even worse – a 5.04 FIP (fielding independent pitching) and 1.573 WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) are among some of the worst marks in franchise history. He was terrible on the mound, and absolutely did not live up to his draft expectations.

Mazzaro was not just disappointing, he was downright bad. After two years as a mediocre starter for the Royals, he was dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates immediately turned him into a reliever rather than a stater, and he was lights-out that year – posting an 8-2 record and a 2.81 ERA in 57 games. He’s since fallen off a little, but he’s pitched nothing like the terrible years in Oakland.

Apparently, all he needed was a transition to the bullpen. Why didn’t the A’s think of that when he was still in Oakland?

Next: The Worst A's Players in History: Craig Paquette