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Welcome back to our 2020 team-by-team previews. Today we will be checking on one of the most interesting teams in fantasy this year, the Oakland Athletics.
You can find all of our 2020 fantasy baseball MLB team previews here.
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Starting Lineup
| # | NAME | POS |
| 1 | Marcus Semien | SS |
| 2 | Ramon Laureano | CF |
| 3 | Matt Chapman | 3B |
| 4 | Matt Olson | 1B |
| 5 | Mark Canha | LF |
| 6 | Khris Davis | DH |
| 7 | Stephen Piscotty | RF |
| 8 | Sean Murphy | C |
| 9 | Tony Kemp | 2B |
- Better in OBP formats: Mark Canha
- Worse in OBP formats: Khris Davis
- Better than his ADP: Khris Davis (177), Mark Canha (215)
- Worse than his ADP: Marcus Semien (84)
- Bench bat(s) worth rostering: Jorge Mateo, Franklin Barreto
- Player(s) most likely to lose a starting spot: Tony Kemp
Quick notes: The A’s have one of the more attractive offenses to target in fantasy. If Jorge Mateo can steal the second base job away from Tony Kemp, he’s a good cheap source of speed. Khris Davis was one of the most reliable players in baseball prior to last season, so don’t write him off. If you miss out on the early elite third basemen, you could do much worse than settling for Matt Chapman 91st overall.
Pitching Rotation
| # | NAME | R/L |
| 1 | Mike Fiers | R |
| 2 | Sean Manaea | L |
| 3 | Frankie Montas | R |
| 4 | Jesus Luzardo | L |
| 5 | A.J. Puk | L |
- Better than his ADP: Frankie Montas (114), A.J. Puk (240)
- Worse than his ADP: Sean Manaea (166)
- Starter least likely to stick in the rotation: A.J. Puk
- Non-starter most likely to enter the rotation: Chris Bassitt, James Kaprielian
Quick notes: This rotation is all about Jesus Luzardo and A.J. Puk and how many innings both can pitch – if they can stay healthy. People seem to forget just how good Frankie Montas was before his suspension last year. He deserves to go higher than his current ADP.
Bullpen
- Projected closer: Liam Hendriks (Job Security: MEDIUM)
- Top backup: Yusmeiro Petit
- Premier holds option: None
- Sneaky holds option: None
Quick notes: The A’s haven’t had the same saves leader in back-to-back seasons since Grant Balfour in 2012-2013. That tells you everything that you need to know about Hendriks heading into 2020.
Prospects
- Relevant in 2020: Jesus Luzardo, A.J. Puk, Sean Murphy, Seth Brown
- Worth a look for 2021 and beyond: Robert Puason, Logan Davidson, James Kaprielian
- Don’t believe the hype: Lazaro Armenteros (raw skill, but his strikeout rate across rookie, A, and High-A the past three years has been 34.6%, 33.8%, and 42.2%, respectively)
Other Helpful Fantasy Info
- Park Factor: 93.7 for runs, 88.1 for homers, 94.1 for singles, 109 for doubles, 110 for triples.
- Green Light Rating: Low.
- Likeliest 2020 roster moves: Grabbing perceived low-value players that return value for real-life purposes.
- Bold Fantasy Prediction: Matt Olson and Matt Chapman hit 80 combined home runs.
- Bland Fantasy Prediction: Marcus Semien returns to being a useful — but not must-start — fantasy option.
Check out all of our 2020 Fantasy Baseball MLB Team Previews.
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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.