OK... OK. You may not view a team that is 81-63 as "imploding," but hear me out.
The Oakland Athletics enjoyed the "mini vacation" that is the All-Star break while possessing the best record in the MLB at 59-36. Oakland General Manager Billy Beane was hailed yet again as a genius for his ability to piece together a lineup of low-cost, high-reward veterans around the likes of younger breakout star Josh Donaldson and Cuban slugger Yoenis Cespedes. Also, the seemingly never-ending depth of starting pitching was producing at an impressive rate, even despite losing both A.J. Griffin and Jarrod Parker to injury before the season began. Beane's wizardry was paying off before our very eyes yet again... but then he started screwing with his magic formula.
This began with acquiring Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel from the Cubs for 2012 first-round pick shortstop Addison Russell, 2013 first-round pick outfielder Billy McKinney, starting pitcher Dan Straily, and a "player to be named later". At the time of the trade, Russell, 20, and McKinney, 20, were unproven minor-league players, while Samardzija, 29, was 2-7 with a 2.83 ERA and Hammel, 31, was 7-5 with a 2.98 ERA for the lowly Cubs. Made sense, right?
Not really.
Although hindsight is 20-20, it's important to note that Russell was ranked as high as the No. 3 prospect in the entire MLB by some experts, McKinney was progressing in Class-A, and Straily was 13-11 in 41 starts for Oakland over the past three seasons. They traded away these pieces, who are very cheap with a potential huge return, for Samardzija and Hammel, whose contracts are both expiring soon (Samardzija's after next season and Hammel's after this season). Re-signing them won't be cheap, as Samardzija reportedly turned down a 5-year, $85 million extension from the Cubs. That is... if the team even sees the value in re-signing them.
So far, Samardzija is 4-5 with a 3.70 ERA since joining the team while Hammel is 2-5 with a 4.70 ERA. This shouldn't come as a shock, since Samardzija in particular had held a career interleague record of 2-7 with a 5.27 against American League opponents before joining the A's. Yikes.
So far this season, Russell has hit a combined .295 with 13 home runs and 45 RBIs in just 68 games (due to an early-season injury) in the minor leagues and would have been a prime candidate to take over at shortstop for the Athletics as soon as next season. McKinney has shown some pop in high-A ball this year, hitting 11 home runs and driving in 69 runs as well in 126 games played.
Then came the most damaging trade of all.
On August 1, the Athletics traded away power-hitting left fielder Yoenis Cespedes to the Boston Red Sox for starting pitcher Jon Lester. This was a gigantic head-scratcher, as Cespedes was one of the team's only true power threats and was their No. 4 hitter in the lineup. Lester has continued his dominance, posting a 2.54 ERA in eight starts since being traded, after putting together a 2.52 ERA in 21 starts with the Red Sox earlier in the season. But, he is set to become a free agent at the end of this season... and many believe he has no intention on re-signing with the A's. Cespedes is signed through 2015 and has hit .262 with 21 home runs and 94 RBIs this season (.280, 4 HRs, 27 RBIs in 36 games as a member of the Red Sox).
The effects of these major trades, and especially the Lester trade, are very evident.
As mentioned earlier, the A's had the best record in baseball at the All-Star break at 59-36. After the break, they have gone 22-27, and 15-22 in particular after sending away Cespedes.
Cespedes' run-producing abilities in the middle of the lineup especially have been missed. In August, the team batted just .223 with 22 home runs and 95 RBIs with a slugging percentage of just .345, all of which were season-lows.
Also, shockingly, with Lester, Samardzija, and Hammel all in the rotation, they posted their second-worst pitching month as well in August with a 3.71 ERA. The month prior, the team had a 3.19 ERA. Relief pitching is included in that stat as well, but you would expect an improved trend in that area when infusing such pitching talent.
If you need even more ammunition against these moves, here's some more stuff to chew on. Pre All-Star break, the team batted .251, had an on-base percentage of .328, slugging percentage of 4.00, and OPS of .729. Post All-Star break, the team has hit .241, has an on-base percentage of .308, slugging percentage of .371, and OPS of .680. In terms of pitching, the team posted a 3.09 ERA before the break and has a 3.69 ERA since then.
The "Athletics to finish the regular season with the best record in the MLB" stock on Tradesports.com has moved accordingly as well. Trading at 60% at the All-Star Break and as high as 61% in early August, we have seen a steady decline to 42% in the middle of August, all the way down to 21%, where it currently sits.
Sometimes the best thing to do is appreciate what you've got working for you. Unfortunately, as mentioned before, hindsight is 20-20 for Oakland's trailblazing GM Billy Beane.
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