2024 Oakland Athletics Preview

Shawn Childs is a legend in the fantasy baseball world and his advice is invaluable. A member of the NFBC Hall of Fame, Shawn has several top-5 finishes in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship as well as five NFBC auction championship titles under his belt. He also boasts several prominent in the high-stakes market and multiple huge DFS wins. Shawn’s process and evaluation are among the most thorough in the sport and his exclusive FPGscore metric is changing the game. This 2024 team preview and insight is courtesy of the brilliant mind of one of the sport’s best. 

This 2024 Oakland Athletics Preview is courtesy of Shawn Childs. Read Shawn’s expert fantasy analysis at his Substack.

The A’s have been swimming at the back of the baseball standings over the last two seasons, leading to a 110-214 record (.340%) and back-to-back last finishes in the AL West. Over the past 24 years, Oakland made the postseason 11 times with no trips to the World Series. They won’t start playing in Las Vegas until 2028. The FullTime Fantasy 2024 Oakland Athletics Preview analyses is the A’s have a shot at ending their West Coast run as contenders. 

The days of the A’s working almost a LIMA plan to have success for the pitching staff appear to be over based on their 29th ranking in ERA (5.48), even with a pitcher favoring home ballpark. They served up 213 home runs and walked a league-high 694 batters in 2023. Oakland’s relievers had 30 wins, 40 losses, 29 saves, and 630 strikeouts over 681.2 innings with a 5.20 ERA (28th). 

Oakland finished last in runs (585) and RBIs (563) while hitting 171 home runs (20th). The addition of Esteury Ruiz (67 steals) helps the A’s to the sixth ranking in stolen bases (149) on 180 attempts (82.8%).

In the offseason, Oakland signed SP Alex Wood and RP Trevor Goff. They acquired 3B Abraham Toro from Milwaukee for P Chad Patrick. The A’s also claimed OF Miquel Andujar off waivers from the Pirates. They parted ways with 2B Tony Kemp, C Manny Pina, RP Jeurys Familia, and SP Drew Rucinski.

This franchise has weaknesses in all areas while lacking any difference-maker players in the majors and at the top levels of the minors. Oakland must develop new seeds in their farm system to avoid being the doormat of major league baseball over the next few seasons.

Starting Lineup

OF Esteury Ruiz

Ruiz had a quiet first four seasons in the minors (.263 over 205 runs, 32 home runs, 169 RBIs, and 144 stolen bases over 1,293 at-bats). His bat had significant improvement in 2021 and 2022, leading to impressive stats in runs (114), stolen bases (85), and batting average (.332) over only 437 at-bats. Ruiz showed more power (16 home runs and 65 RBIs) while improving his approach (strikeout rate – 17.4 and walk rate – 12.2). 

The Padres and Brewers gave him only 35 at-bats in 2022, but he only hit .171 with three runs, no home runs, two RBIs, and one steal. 

Oakland gave Ruiz a full-time starting job over the first three months last season, leading to a .261 batting average with 31 runs, one home run, 33 RBIs, and 41 steals over 318 at-bats. A right shoulder injury sidelined him for about a month. The A’s lost faith in him down the stretch, giving only rotational at-bats in August (52) and September (63). Despite his step in playing time, Ruiz hit four home runs and stole 24 bases over his final 115 at-bats. Besides speed, his best stat last year was his RBI rate (16).

His strikeout rate (19.9) beat the average, but he took fewer walks (4.0%). Ruiz finished with a weaker average hit rate (1.360) than his minor league career (1.609), highlighted by the worst ranking in exit velocity (82.5) and hard-hit rate (19.7) for batters (403) with at least 100 batted ball events. He had a groundball ball favoring (48.1%) swing path and a low HR/FB rate (5.0). 

Fantasy Outlook: With more information about Ruiz in the majors, it is easier to understand his potential and pitfalls. His ADP (139) ranks him as the 80th hitter in the early draft season in the high-stakes market. He finished 68th in FPGscore (0.74) for batters last year while offering all his value in steals (+6.52 fantasy points). I expect him to improve in 2024, but I must draft Ruiz as a one-dimensional speed player. His price fits rookie stats while leaving plenty of upside via more at-bats or some uptick in power. At this point in his career, he doesn’t deserve a lead-off role. With 500 at-bats, .270 with 70 runs, eight home runs, 60 RBIs, and 75 stolen bases. Hopefully, the A’s commit to him this year…

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