The team formally from Oakland and now in Sacramento and tomorrow who knows has someone only gotten scrappier. Scrapamento? No, that’s nothing.
Another weekday and so another entry in our 2025 AL West overview. This year, our season preview series comes to you in four parts for each club, rolling out over the next few weeks. Last week, we started with the Angels, covering individually their pitching, their lineup, their prospects, and what their season prognosis looks like. This rolled right into our coverage of the Athletics, where in part one we covered what they are calling pitching. In the following days you can look forward to, well, you can satisfy your morbid curiosity with our coverage of the Athletics farm system, and make sure to check out our final evaluation of their season, a season which is sure to be interesting if nothing else. Today though, we take a look at the position players that will wear the green and gold in Sacramento.
Unless otherwise stated, the embedded projections come from FanGraphs, who as always we appreciate and recommend you read and support.
Position Players
2024 Team Statistics: .233/.301/.393 BA/OBP/SLG, .303 wOBA, 13.8 fWAR (23rd)
Key additions: 3B Gio Urshela, INF Luis Urías, C Jhonny Pereda
Key subtractions: INF Abraham Toro
It may be strange to say out loud or even consider, but if the 2025 orphan Athletics are to succeed in a suddenly murky AL West, it will be on the back of their hitting. The team formerly from Oakland has certainly fielded many memorable hitting forces, just not in recent years since the team and team ownership’s priorities have been, well, otherwise. That said, perhaps in an effort to stave off MLB heat for a lack of fielding a competitive team, the capital ATH Athletics spent quite an uncharacteristic bit of money in the offseason. Spending significantly more than the Mariners, they added both in terms of extending players already on their roster, and adding via free agency. Although, those extensions and free agents are still tempered by the reality that these are very much the John Fisher Athletics.
The core of this year’s lineup remains the same, but there are some key changes to the names in the infield mix that have a chance to push to a greater upside, explaining the stark jump in the team’s projected fWAR rankings (13th) versus last year’s results (23rd), but also relies at least in part on the outbreak debut of Top 100 prospect (31st on MLB Pipeline Prospects) shortstop Jacob Wilson.
Athletics Projected Lineup
The hitting core of this lineup is right at the top of it with Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker, and it is no coincidence that these are the players the team chose to extend in the offseason. Butler provides a bit of an all-around threat with the bat and good baserunning to back it up, and is projected for the exact same fWAR this year as he posted last year. At only 24 years old and now locked up to a 7-year extension, Butler represents one of the few faces that can be somewhat reliably expected to return in the coming years. Rooker, on the other hand, has been the center of much speculation in regards to trades, which made his five year extension somewhat surprising. The slugging thirty year old DH could still make himself attractive to another team though come mid-season and depending on whatever the seemingly-random Athletics might do, as his 12 million AAV (up to 18.4 AAV with incentives) contract is no albatross, but nor is it a pittance. If he does stay in Sacramento all year, all projection systems agree he’ll probably strike out at the high rate he usually does, but also hit about as many bombs, a potent DH skill.
Returning bats Zach Gelof and Seth Brown are expected to make improvements on their last year’s marks, although to different degrees. Gelof is projected to make a significant bounce back in terms of fWAR, doubling last year’s number, and to bring the wRC+ to an even 100, which by the way is league average. Brown is expected to see about a century of less appearances at the plate, but be on the positive side of wRC+ this year, if just barely, and in terms of fWAR as well. Brown looks to be primarily used in a platoon against right handed pitching, and his platoon mate will be returning OF Miguel Andújar. Projections for Andújar have him mirroring Brown’s 108 wRC+, and seeing slightly more plate appearances.
Then of course there are all the expected changes to the infield this year, highlighted by the expected big league debut by top prospect Jacob Wilson. Already Wilson has tools that will translate to the MLB level, with good field work in a premium position that almost demands it. Another tool you can absolutely rely on is Wilson’s incredible plate discipline leading to immense contact rates. The highest strikeout rate he posted in his minor league tour was 10.8% at the AA level, and his lowest wRC+ in the minors was 135 in high A. Most systems project him for around that 10% strikeout rate in the majors, and immediately putting up anywhere from around two and a half to three and a half WAR. THE BAT systems like him the least in terms of wRC+, but even they only go so low as having him for a 97 wRC+, STEAMER and ZiPS agreeing he will settle closer to the 120 range. Anything close to these numbers coupled with healthy competence at shortstop changes the scope of what this Athletics team can do.
With last year’s shortstop Max Schuemann shunted down the depth chart, and the departure of former Mariner Abraham Toro, Sacramento has made room to run a projected platoon at third base, shared by new signings Gio Urshela and former Mariner Luis Urías. Using the castoffs of a Mariners infield currently mired, dare I say drowning in question marks is an interesting choice by the Athletics for sure, but a strategy projections actually support. Well, you know, it doesn’t love the idea, but it doesn’t hate it. Both Urshela and Urías are just on the right side of 100 in projected wRC+, and have near identical fWAR projections at 1.2 and 1.3, respectively. What will that look like in terms of fielding? Well, rookie Jacob Wilson may be asked to pick up some slack from his right side.
Also in the mix is speedster Esteury Ruiz, who won’t get much looks because of a questionable bat, but still could push almost one hundred plate appearances with respectable improvements to his batting line if most systems are to be believed, and a healthy jump to his wRC+ in effect that could even take him north of league average (which is 100). As far as stolen bases, one of his most potent weapons, it will depend heavily on how much the Athletics use him and how, with systems estimating he will have anywhere from just short of double digits to as much as 40.
2025 FanGraphs Depth Charts position player projections: .246/.312/.421 BA/OBP/SLG, .318 wOBA, 26.5 fWAR (13th)
The Formerly-and-still-should-be-Oakland Currently-Sacramaento and Maybe-someday-Las-Vegas Athletics have made some potent changes that could see them be a real threat on the basepaths this year. An interesting combination of fringy veterans and young prospects could, just maybe, break out even more than expected. Of course, even if that is the case, how much that actually impacts their season win-loss record may be null and void if the other parts in the roster are unable to hold up their end of the bargain.