Oakland A’s: Three options for the outfield

The Oakland A’s need a new left fielder. Let’s take a look at three options that they could consider to fill that vacancy in the outfield.

As of Tuesday, the Oakland A’s officially needed to find a new left fielder. Robbie Grossman had signed a two year deal with the Detroit Tigers, leaving an opening in the A’s lineup.

This had been expected. Ownership has not been willing to spend in the best of times, and after a season without any fans in attendance and concerns about the upcoming season, Grossman was as good as gone. Hope may have sprung eternal until he put the pen to the paper, but this was an expected result.

As it currently stands, Tony Kemp is atop the depth chart in left field. While Kemp has been a solid utility player throughout the years, he struggles against left handed pitching and is best used when he can be strategically replayed. Kemp’s theoretical backup in left is Chad Pinder, who is also listed as the starting second baseman. Needless to say, the A’s need to find an outfielder or two.

Which players could they consider? Let’s look at some potential options for the Oakland A’s.

The internal options

The ideal situation for the Oakland A’s would be for one of their internal options to seize these outfield openings for their own.

There are options on the 40 man roster. Luis Barrera, Seth Brown, Dustin Fowler, and Ka’ai Tom are all potential considerations for an extended look during spring training. As a Rule V draft pick, Tom has to remain on the roster, or be offered back to the Indians. He showed promise as a potential power threat, and has 164 games of experience in left on his minor league resume.

Dustin Fowler may best be remembered for having injured himself attempting to catch a fly ball when he slammed into an exposed electrical box on a short wall, rupturing a tendon in his knee in his major league debut. While he came back to appear in 69 games with the A’s in 2018, he posted a .610 OPS in his 203 plate appearances, hitting six homers and three doubles. Fowler has, however, performed much better in AAA over his career.

Brown may be the leading candidate to take over at this point. He had two 30+ homer seasons in the minors, and showed promise in his 83 plate appearances in 2019. However, he did not get much of a chance to prove himself last year, with just five plate appearances over seven games. At 28 years old, he may not have many more opportunities in an Oakland A’s uniform.

Luis Barrera is also a potential option. The long time minor leaguer finally started to tap into his potential, and was in the midst of an impressive showing in 2019 before injuries ruined his season. Chances are, he will need time at AAA as he has just 90 games of experience above A-ball, but he could get a chance before the end of the 2021 campaign.

While none of those options are particularly exciting, it may not be a surprise to see some of them get a long look this spring.