Oakland Athletics 2022 Futures Odds and Betting Preview
Check out this 2022 Oakland Athletics futures preview and use our BetMGM sign-up bonus to claim a $1000 risk-free bet ahead of Opening Day.
Oakland Athletics 2022 Futures Odds
- Regular Season Wins: Over/Under 69.5 Wins (-110)
- Worst Regular Season Record: +1100
- Division Winner: +3500
- To Make the Playoffs: +790
- American League Winner: +8000
- World Series Champion: +15000
Note: MLB futures and season props are subject to change
Offensive Preview
| Name | Pos. | GP 2021 | wRC+ v. LHP | wRC+ v. RHP | K% | BB% | UZR/ 150 |
| Sean Murphy | C | 119 | 77 | 109 | 25.4% | 8.9% | – |
| Eric Thames | 1B | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Tony Kemp | 2B | 131 | 121 | 130 | 12.8% | 13.1% | -7.3 |
| Sheldon Neuse | 3B | 33 | -37 | 155 | 39.4% | 1.5% | 79.3 |
| Elvis Andrus | SS | 146 | 34 | 91 | 15.0% | 5.8% | -0.5 |
| Cristian Pache | LF | 22 | 30 | -19 | 36.8% | 2.9% | -1.5 |
| Ramon Laureano | CF | 88 | 141 | 96 | 25.9% | 7.1% | 4.3 |
| Seth Brown | RF | 111 | 42 | 108 | 29.0% | 7.5% | 6.5 |
| Chad Pinder | DH | 75 | 144 | 53 | 26.6% | 6.9% | -4.4 |
| Stephen Piscotty | UTIL | 72 | 101 | 53 | 24.6% | 6.8% | -10.4 |
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Against left-handed pitching in 2021, Oakland ranked 21st in OPS, 14th in ISO, 9th in strikeout percentage, 16th in walk rate, and 11th in wRC+. Facing right-handed pitching, the Athletics ranked 14th in OPS, 13th in ISO, 8th in strikeout percentage, 14th in walk rate, and 10th in wRC+.
In his first full year as the starting backstop for the Athletics, Sean Murphy was about as close to mediocre as a player can get at the plate. As has been a theme throughout the early part of his career, Murphy struggled mightily against left-handed pitching. Still, he is elite defensively, which should guarantee him over 100 starts again in 2022.
There is no position that more perfectly characterizes the state of Oakland’s franchise than first base. Reports out of camp are that Eric Thames is the current favorite to win the Opening Day job at the soft corner, despite the fact that he did not play in a single MLB game last summer. In 2020, Thames batted only .203 with 3 home runs and a 30.0 percent strikeout rate in 41 games.
Tony Kemp figures to slide into an everyday role at second base in 2022. Kemp possesses elite contact skills, ranking in the 97th percentile in strikeout rate last year. However, he ranked in the 11th percentile or worse in average exit velocity, hard-hit rate, xSLG, and barrel percentage. He gets on base at a high clip, but few pitchers will be scared of his bat. To make matters worse, Kemp has consistently graded poorly defensively in the middle infield. Across 127 plate appearances at the big league level, Sheldon Neuse has punched out in 39.4 percent of them while only drawing a 3.9 percent walk rate. His .182 on-base-percentage would have him in the minor leagues for 29 other franchises, but the Athletics traded Matt Chapman in the offseason without any semblance of a competent backup plan. This is the result.
Elvis Andrus is at least a name that many baseball fans have heard of before reading this article. Unfortunately, Andrus’ skills have diminished significantly in recent years. Since the beginning of 2018, Andrus has posted an uninspiring .255 batting average, .302 on-base-percentage, and a .360 slugging percentage. He still ranked in the 87th percentile in strikeout percentage in 2021, but ranking in the 25th percentile or worse in average exit velocity, hard-hit rate, xwOBA, xSLG, barrel percentage, and walk-rate unquestionably outweighs his plus-contact ability.
To put it bluntly, Ramon Laureano is the only member of Oakland’s summer lineup that would indisputably start for a team other than the Athletics. Laureano has 27 games remaining on a PED suspension that he was handed last August. Prior to the suspension in 2021, he ranked in the 70th percentile in xSLG. He has graded as better than league average at the plate in each of his first four big league campaigns, as measured by wRC+.
Seth Brown is better suited as a platoon option than he is for an everyday role. Last year, Brown hit 20 home runs and had respectable holistic statistics. Yet, he was basically an automatic out against southpaws–hitting .136 with a .231 on-base-percentage.
Similar to Brown, Chad Pinder would put up better numbers if he did not have to play six days per week. In his career, Pinder owns a 116 wRC+ against left-handed pitching, but only an 84 wRC+ against left-handed pitching. The splits were even more acute in 2021.
Since the beginning of 2019, Stephen Piscotty owns a .237 batting average, .293 on-base-percentage, and a .385 slugging percentage. He strikes-out too frequently and does not walk enough. He has only 23 home runs in his last 210 games played. Per Baseball Prospectus, Piscotty hit only .146 with a 29.3 percent whiff-rate against fastballs in 2021. There is not much to like about his offensive profile.
Athletics Rookie of the Year Odds
Cristian Pache (+5000)
If Oakland fans are excited about Cristian Pache, well, let them be. Pache is a glove-first prospect, who would make for a great bottom-third-of-the-order bat on a fringe playoff roster. He is certainly not someone to build a franchise around, and he is definitely not worth a preseason wager to win any individual accolades. In 72 career plate appearances at the MLB level, Pache has looked woefully overmatched–posting a .119 batting average, .157 on-base-percentage, and a .206 slugging percentage. He has also struck-out in 37.5 percent of his trips to the plate while drawing only a 2.8 percent walk-rate. Pache only hit 32 home runs spanning 517 games in the minor leagues.