Last week the A's brought in three players that we're likely to see on the Opening Day roster in 2023. Jace Peterson and Aledmys Díaz haven't officially signed yet, but the two sides have come to terms on agreements.
Both Peterson and Díaz are utility players, so how will they be utilized?
The 32-year-old Peterson, or "On Base Jace" as he has been nicknamed, played in 112 games in 2022, after getting into just 149 over the previous three years combined, peaking at 94 games played in 2021 and playing in under 30 games the other two years.
Since turning 30, Peterson has turned in three of his most productive seasons with the bat, producing a 114 wRC+ in 26 games in 2020, then a 98 in 2021, and a 96 this past season. He's expected to provide roughly league average production at the dish for the A's for the next two seasons.
While his splits seem to indicate that he could be a platoon option for Oakland, that may not end up being his role in 2023--at least not initially. While he hit .281 against lefties with a .343 on-base, he also managed zero home runs and his strikeout rate was at 28.6%.
Against righties he batted just .230, but slugged all eight of his home runs (in roughly 200 more ABs), and had a 25.6% strikeout rate while getting on base at a .313 clip.
Last season he played every position outside of center field, shortstop, and catcher, but it was at third base that his defense was the best, and that is likely where we'll see him at least to begin the season.
The previous frontrunners for time at third had been Vimael Machín and Kevin Smith, with Machín being a lefty and Smith a righty. Machín showed some improvement down the stretch, holding an 84 wRC+ in the second half, and a 91 wRC+ in September. He also hits right-handers better than lefties, putting up an 80 wRC+ against them, compared to a 27 against southpaws.
Smith on the other hand destroyed left-handers after being demoted to Triple-A, going 31-for-97 (.320) against them with six home runs and striking out 26.4% of the time. Being that he's a right-hander and the better defensive option, Smith could be the platoon partner for Peterson to start the year, if the A's decide to go the platoon route.
But that doesn't mean that Peterson would be on the bench when there's a lefty on the mound. Seth Brown made improvements across the board in 2022, but his splits still favor facing right-handers by a wide margin. He batted just .174 against lefties and put up a 60 wRC+, compared to a 129 against righties. Jace could take over in the outfield on the days that a left-hander starts to save Brownie's bat for a big moment, hopefully against a righty.
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As for Díaz, also 32, he's a right-handed bat that favors left-handed pitching. He put up a 121 wRC+ (21% better than league average) against them, while being 15% below league average against right-handers.
Díaz went 24-for-90 (.267) against lefties with a .333 OBP and a .766 OPS, and hit .233 against righties with a .268 OBP and a .659 OPS. His strongest defensive position, albeit in a small sample size, has been at second base the past two seasons with the Houston Astros where he put up 3 DRS in each season in a combined 253 innings played.
If the A's hold onto Tony Kemp this winter, Díaz and TK, both former Astros, could form a platoon at second base, which would open up the auditions in the outfield. Kemp produced a 93 wRC+ against right-handers in 2022, and Baseball Savant liked his defense at second, giving him five Outs Above Average (OAA), while FanGraphs dinged him with a -2 Defensive Runs Saved.
This scenario leaves open the question of what to do with Jordan Díaz, who was giving second base a go when the season ended and is one of Oakland's best pure hitting prospects. He played all of 26 games at the Triple-A level in 2022 at the age of 22, so he may start the season back in Vegas to find him a defensive position, but his bat is ready, or nearly ready, for the big leagues.
That brings us to Ryan Noda, the first baseman the A's selected in the Rule 5 Draft. With all Rule 5 players, they have to stay on the selecting team's 26-man roster to remain in the organization, and that can work both for and against a player as the Spring Training roster crunch begins. That said, the A's front office had reportedly tried to get Noda in trades in the past, so the A's seem to be high on this guy. With no clear-cut first baseman heading into the season, he's likely going to make the Opening Day roster.
Noda doesn't have drastic splits, so there may be no need to have him share time at first, which could leave Dermis Garcia in Vegas to work on the swing and miss in his game. His strikeout rate was just under 30% in Triple-A last season, but vaulted up to 44% in his first look at big-league pitching. He still has three options remaining.
The only other first baseman that the A's had in 2022 that is still with the organization is Seth Brown, who grades better as an outfielder anyway. He's the best defensively, per Baseball Savant, in left field, which could be freed up by the Kemp/Díaz platoon at second. Brown was negative defensively in right, center, and at first base, but posted a +1 OAA in left in '22. He was a plus defender at all three spots in 2021.
Kevin Cron was also signed to a minor league contract earlier this winter, but he is not on the 40-man roster. He could end up carving out a spot for himself after playing overseas for a couple of years, but Noda and Garcia will likely be ahead of him on the depth chart entering camp.
Jonah Bride also graded well defensively at first in very limited action and brought his high walk, low strikeout profile with him to Oakland, but he will likely need to drive the ball a bit more than he did in order to get a playing time boost. Just five of his 33 hits went for extra bases in his rookie season.
There are still moves to be made, so this could all change, but for right now, this looks to be the plan in Oakland.
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December 11, 2022 at 03:00PM
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