by Jerry Feitelberg

zimbio.com file photo: Oakland A’s outfielder Coco Crisp is near the end of his career but would like to have a great finish in the second half of the season

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s resume play Friday night against the Toronto Blue Jays at the Oakland Coliseum. The A’s have fallen to fourth place in the AL West, and unless a miracle occurs, they will not make the playoffs in 2016. The time is now to look at what players the A’s have and who do they want to keep and who will be the players that will rebuild this club.

Let’s start with the outfielders first. The A’s have been using the veteran, Coco Crisp, in both left and center. Crisp is now thirty-six years old and has been playing well lately but is he the type of player that you place your fortunes in? Crisp was injured the last two years, and he did not play well earlier in the season. Coco, a fan favorite, however, is nearing the end of his career. Billy Burns, at twenty-six, had a great rookie year in 2015. Burns, however, is hitting just .236, and it looks like he has been bitten by the sophomore jinx. The A’s best outfielder, Josh Reddick, is having a very good year. Reddick was sidelined with a thumb injury, but he is hitting .295 and is a terrific defensive player. Reddick will be a free agent at the end of the year. There are no negotiations going on with Josh’s agent, and it looks like he will walk. The A’s probably will trade him for prospects. Khris Davis also plays left-field and is the DH on occasion. Davis started slow, but he is tied with Marcus Semien for the club lead with nineteen homers and leads the team with fifty-five ribbies. One would think the A’s would want to keep him but Davis, too, will be a free agent at season’s end.

The A’s infielders are also getting long in the tooth. Valencia is 31, Yonder Alonso is twenty-nine, Jed Lowrie is thirty-two and shortstop Marcus Semien is just twenty-five. Trade rumors have been swirling around Danny Valencia’s name for a while. Valencia has stated that he would like to stay here but with Billy Beane and David Forst running the show, no one is safe. Alonso and Lowrie are good but not great players. They are expendable and are not going to be here for the long haul. The one gem is Marcus Semien. Semien came to the A’s last year in the trade that sent Jeff Samardzija to the White Sox. Semien had a terrible year in the field as he committed thirty-five errors. The A’s hired Ron Washington to work with him. Wash said that Semien had never played short when he was in Chicago. Semien bought into Wash’s program, and he has been terrific this year. Marcus has committed just nine errors in eighty-nine games and has excelled on offense. He is hitting .242 with nineteen homers and 47 RBIs. Semien looks to be a keeper.

Stephen Vogt handles most of the catching chores. Vogt is thirty-one and has made the All-Star team the last two seasons.  Vogt is a leader in the clubhouse and is one of the people the A’s should keep. Josh Phegley, currently on the DL, is a capable backup.

There are a lot of question marks about this team. Will Reddick, Davis, Valencia, and Vogt be here after the trade deadline?  Will the A’s trade assets for prospects? Do they bring in new players, as they did in 2012, and hope that they catch lightning in a bottle. The trade deadline is eighteen days away. Let’s pull up a chair and see what happens.