With Jonny Gomes most likely leaving due to free agency, the Oakland A’s will not have a starting left fielder. In the Athletics depth chart, Stephen Vogt is their backup in left field. However, he is a catcher and after his foot surgery, he should be back behind the plate. Next comes Sam Fuld and Craig Gentry who were both backup outfielders for the Oakland A’s in 2014.
Sam Fuld (2011)
Sam Fuld is a viable option for left field. The Oakland A’s definitely like Fuld as well. The A’s signed Fuld during the 2014 offseason and then even reacquired him after he was claimed on waivers by the Minnesota Twins when the A’s designated him for assignment during spring training. The Oakland A’s even felt confident enough to put him in the lineup for the 2014 Wild Card game. During that game, he reached base three times in five at bats.
Even though he is not strong offensively with only a .239 AVG and 36 RBI for 2014, Fuld is great defensively. In left field this past season, he had a 1.00 fielding percentage, zero errors, and 64 putouts out of 65 total chances. With six years of experience under his belt, Fuld would make a solid left fielder if the A’s do decide to resign him since he will be a free agent in 2015.
If the Oakland A’s do not resign Fuld, they also have Craig Gentry. Even though Gentry’s season was ended early with a concussion, he did beat out Sam Fuld for a spot on the roster after the 2014 spring training. Offensively, Gentry performed slightly better than Fuld with a .254 batting average over 90 games. However, he had zero home runs and only 12 RBI.
Gentry was paid more than Fuld this season and with Gentry eligible for arbitration, the Oakland A’s may not want to pay Gentry more if they can sign Fuld for less. Especially since the Oakland A’s already have $31 million committed to just five players for 2015. With other arbitration eligible players like Josh Donaldson, Jeff Samardzija, and Brandon Moss, the Oakland A’s could easily reach the same $90 million dollar payroll they had in 2014. If the Oakland A’s do not plan on spending more than what they spent last year, it might make sense to try and trade Gentry, and keep Fuld if they can sign him for less.
However, this also means that the Oakland A’s may not have a large enough wallet to score a big time free agent outfielder. It would be difficult for the Athletics to sign Nelson Cruz or Melky Cabrera. It is possible they could look across the bay to San Francisco Giants’ left fielder Michael Morse but his defense out in the field is not strong. The Athletics might not want to pay Morse upwards of $6M for shaky defense even if he has a strong bat.
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If the Oakland A’s were to sign a free agent, it might be Tony Gwynn Jr. Even though he has had a difficult past couple of years, he is a god platoon player, is great defensively, and could be signed for cheap. Gwynn’s career batting average is .238 and he could be a solid backup outfielder for the Athletics. However, Gwynn would not be an upgrade – possibly even a downgrade – from Fuld or Gentry which would likely deter the Oakland A’s from going after him.
Overall, the most logical choice would be to keep both Gentry and Fuld – appointing one of them as the starting left fielder and the other would be the fourth outfielder. But there is the possibility of killing two birds with one stone and acquiring a quality outfielder that also has a strong bat if the Oakland A’s think they can swing that financially. The Athletics are going to need to make some calculated choices this offseason if they want the team to be successful in 2015.
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This article Oakland A’s: Who will be the 2015 starter in left field? appeared first on isportsweb by Sam Riley