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Home - Baseball Betting
2006 Oakland A's Predictions
With
constant change brewing, our 2006 Oakland A's predictions will
get you clued in on what to expect from this team this season. Despite
many personnel changes over the past few years, which always affect team
cohesiveness, the Athletics were able to keep their heads above water in
2005 finishing with a 88-74 record. They missed the playoffs however
for the second straight time, time will tell if this team can get back
over the hump. The 2005 A’s were good to backers, especially against
left-handed pitching. They won 30 of 47 games against lefties for +11.6
units. They have consistently been good against left handed pitching
over the past 5 years and we expect this trend to continue in 2006.
However, on the whole, the A’s don’t appear to be anything more than a
.500 ball club this season.
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One big question for the A’s is Barry Zito. He was the best pitcher in
baseball in 2002 posting a 23-5 record, but he is just 39-36 the past 3
seasons. His recent decline doesn’t appear to be all on him as he has
had a respectable E.R.A. He got off to a slow start in 2005, but came on
strong as the season progressed proving that he still has some good
years ahead of him. The A’s will need to do a better job supporting all
of their pitchers this season. I think Zito has a good chance to have
another 20-win season this year, and it may take that to keep the A’s
around .500. The team as a whole was impressive with an opposing
batting average of .241 and an ERA of an impressive 3.69 ERA. Rich
Harden, Estaban Loaiza, Danny Harden, and Joe Blanton complete what is a
formidable rotation and you really won’t be able to find a 4th
or 5th starter out of this bunch. The bullpen will be pretty
solid as well with Huston Street picking up 22 saves last year on a 1.39
ERA and Justin Duchschere as a solid set-up man.
One thing to watch for this season is how the Athletics finish out the
season. The hard work they put in to have a respectable season was
almost negated by a 14-18 finish, which left a sour taste in their
mouths as well as the mouths of Oakland backers who dropped around 6
units during the final stretch.
Offensively, the A’s will be able to depend on Eric Chavez. Although
there is a list of other possible candidates who have the potential to
be big contributors on this year’s team, we really can’t pencil anyone
else in as a reliable stick. Oakland could be kidding themselves with
the acquisition of the “Big Hurt,” Frank Thomas, who had a major falling
out with White Sox management. Or maybe Frank can get healthy and put
together one last big season at the plate to silence doubters, and there
are plenty. Milton Bradley is a risk that could pay off big, but others
must also product like Mark Ellis and Nick Swisher. Bobby Crosby’s time
is now at the shortstop position and he should be poised for a 25+ home
run season.
As for now, pick your spots with this team against lefties. Because they
are supposed to be bad this year, we could find some very favorable
lines to take advantage of.
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