by Charlie O. Mallonee

Where will they finish?

One of the rituals of every baseball season is predicting where your team will finish in the standings come October. With a 162-game schedule, baseball has to be the toughest sport to predict the outcome for of all the sports.

Unfortunately for A’s fans, the predictions of the experts are not positive when it comes to Oakland:

• Fangraphs predicts the A’s will finish in a tie for fourth place with the Texas Rangers
• Baseball Prospectus sees Oakland in fifth and final place after 162 games
• USA Today also has the A’s finishing in last place (5th place)
• Sports Illustrated concurs and has the A’s finishing fifth
• CBS Sports agrees and says the A’s will finish the season in the cellar

The prognosticators see the A’s winning as few as 66 games on the low end and 80 games on the high end.

One run games

The Athletics had a 19-35 record in one-run games in 2015. Improving that record to .500 in 2016 would add at least eight wins for the team. The A’s must improve their record in one-run contests in 2016 if they are to beat the predictions of the experts.

Cut down on the errors

The A’s led the American League in errors with 126 miscues in 2015. Winning a baseball game is tough enough and it is made even harder when you make mistakes that allow your opponent to put men on base or move them into scoring position. Oakland has to reduce the error total if they are to win more games this season.

The Athletics need to see real improvement from shortstop Marcus Semien. Semien was charged with 35 errors in 2015. He is an outfielder that the team is trying to convert to an infielder “on the fly”. That is a difficult task at any level but especially at the major league level.

By all reports, Semien has been working very hard with Coach Ron Washington to improve at the position and to cut down on the errors.

Jarrod Parker Update

Parker underwent successful surgery on his right elbow on Friday. The surgery was performed by Dr. Neil ElAttrache at the Kerlan Jobe Clinic.

This was a revision of a UCL graft that was performed on Parker’s elbow two years ago. He has returned to Arizona.

Opening Day items

• The parking lot will open at noon for you who want have big and long tailgate party
• Stadium gates will open at 5:00 pm
• 32,000 magnet schedules will be given out
• Special tributes along with a moment of silence will be observed for Dave Henderson and Tony Phillips

Take BART on Tuesday

• There is a Warriors game on Tuesday as well as the A’s game. Parking will cost $30. If you have ever thought about taking BART to a game, Tuesday night would be an ideal time to give it a try.

Last opening day for Sonny?

Many “experts” are speculating that this will be Sonny Gray’s final opening day outing as a member of the Oakland Athletics. Most feel that other teams will be making offers for Gray that A’s “cannot refuse” at the 2016 trade deadline.

What’s happening down on the farm

Make sure to listen to out weekly Oakland A’s podcast. We will keep you up to date on what is happening with A’s farm teams. Who will be the next call up from Nashville? Who will be the opening day starter in 2018? How is the number three draft pick doing in A-ball in Stockton? We will answer those questions and more on the Farm Report.