All Oakland A's team 1965-2017, position players

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The Oakland A's had some great teams before they had to use the principles Moneyball. The A's of 70's and during the days of Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire were outstanding. Even after that they've had a smattering of good players. While the A's have had some outstanding positional players, they've been even better stacked in the pitching department. But that will come later. For now, here are the Athletes position players.

Catcher: Gene Tenace Gene was a member of those great A's teams of the 70's. Gene was a bat first catcher who played multiple positions. Gene had excellent power and was a good on base guy. From 1973-76 Geno hit 101 home runs and walked over 100 times in three of those seasons. While his defensive metrics weren't great, they weren't bad enough to negate his bat. Terry Steinbach was a close second at this position. Terry was a long time A's backstop, playing 11 seasons in Oakland. He put up an OPS of .754 to go with nice defensive metrics. He 's barely edged out by Tenace.

First base: Mark McGwire McGwire burst upon the MLB scene in 1987, hitting an AL league leading 49 homers to go with a 118 RBIs. McGwire twice led the AL in slugging during his 12 seasons in Oakland and in 1990 led the league in walks. Jason Giambi was a close second at the position. Giambi was like a left handed version of McGwire in that he was also a power guy who drew a lot of walks. Giambi twice led the AL in walks and a ridiculous OPS of 1.123 in 2000 followed by an OPS of 1.137 in 2001. Giambi is edged out by McGwire by virtue of Jason's poor defense.

Second base: Mark Ellis Second base has not been a position of strength for the A's over the years. That's not to denigrate Ellis, who was a nice player, it's just his competition wasn't particularly fierce. Mark spent 9 seasons with the A's and played excellent defense while swinging a decent stick. His WAR of 26.7 during his time in Oakland is build primarily on his defensive WAR 12.6. Ellis had 5 seasons of double digit home runs and his OPS of .729 was at least respectable. Ellis beats out guys like Dick Green and Mike Gallego to be the A;s second baseman.

Shortstop: Campy Campaneris Back in the 60's and 70's, the prototypical leadoff man was a singles hitting guy with speed. Campy was the epitome of that guy. With that in mind, I was surprised at how well he stood up to today's metrics. Campy played 13 seasons for the Athletics, starting in 1964 when the A's were still in Kansas City. Campy led the AL in steals six times. His defensive metrics were very strong. His defensive WAR for his time with the A's was 17.6 and his overall WAR was 48.9. I thought Miguel Tajeda was a power hitting shortstop who three times hit 30+ homers. Miguel four times had 100+ RBIs. Tejeda played okay defense, but overall it wasn't as strong as that of Campaneris. Miguel's overall WAR for his seven seasons with the A's was 22.0. Miggy went on to have some outstanding seasons with the Orioles.

Third base: Sal Bando This was basically a two man race between Bando and Eric Chavez. Both had some nice years with the A's and Chavez. Chavez has gaudier stats, but Bando has the better WAR based on the era he played in. In Sal's 11 seasons with the Athletics, he put together a WAR of 49.7. Sal's beast season was 1969 when he hit 31 homers to go with 113 RBIs and 111 walks. Eric Chavez spent 13 years in Oakland. From 2000-06, Chavez hit between 22-34 home runs. Overall, Eric compiled a WAR 34.8 in his 13 seasons. Eric's OPS was .821 for his time in Oakland. Couple that with nice defense and Chavez had a nice run at third for the A's.

Left field: Ricky Henderson Ricky Henderson is the best leadoff man in baseball history. Picking him to be the A's left fielder was easy. Ricky led the AL in steals 7 times during his 14 seasons in Oakland. He was 39 when he did it for the last time. When the greatest base stealer in MLB history has an OBP of .409 you have a hall of famer. Ricky also had some power, going for 28 homers in 1990. He led the AL in OPS at 1.016 that same season. Ricky Henderson is easily the greatest left fielder to play for the A's in Oakland.

Center field: Dwayne Murphy Center field is not the strongest position in A's history but they've been represented by some pretty good players. Murphy was a strong defensive player who provided some left handed power. Murphy had 3 seasons of 20 homers or more in his 10 seasons with the A's. Dwayne maxed out at 33 homers in 1984. Murphy supplemented a relatively low batting average of .247 by drawing a lot of walks. His OBP was .356. Murphy's six gold gloves highlight his defensive value. Other A's center fielders of note include Bill North, Rick Monday and Dave Henderson.

Right field: Reggie Jackson Reggie edges out Jose Canseco. By a coincidence, in similar time with the A's, Jackson and Canseco both had an OBP of .851. Jackson gets the nod in right in part, because of his glove. Even before Canseco was heading a ball over the right field wall, he was far from an accomplished fielder. Canseco twice led the AL in homers with the A's as did Jackson. Reggie also hit 47 homers in 1969. He also led the AL in slugging, OPS and runs scored that season. In 10 seasons with the A's, Jackson finished with a WAR of 48.0. Jose Canseco had a WAR of 27.1 in 9 seasons. Reggie Jackson, the A's right fielder.

Designated hitter: Jason Giambi Jason's offensive value is highlighted in comments about him under the first base section. Giambi stands out on a team that has had a lot of great offensive players. Jason gets the nod over Canseco as the team's DH.


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