Offseason Notes for February 13th

Oakland Coliseum, minutes before first pitch.

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Offseason Notes.

1. Projecting: ZiPS for Oakland
2. Unhelpful Video: Tom Milone Homers
3. Crowdsourcing Broadcasters: Texas Television

Projecting: ZiPS for Oakland
Dan Szymborski has published his ZiPS projections for the Oakland A’s. Below are some of the notable ones, accompanied by very rough WAR projections (for hitters per 600 plate appearances and pitchers per 200 innings). All numbers assume major-league competition. OPS+ and ERA+ are park-adjusted.

Seth Smith, RF, 29: .245/.322/.408, 97 OPS+, 1.7 WAR600
Smith, acquired this offseason in a trade that sent right-hander Guillermo Moscoso and left-hander Josh Outman to Colorado, isn’t interesting in and of him self, but rather because his 97 OPS+ represents the highest projected mark on the entire Oakland roster. As Szymborski notes, “[T]he offense is going to be god-awful.” Having said that, both Coco Crisp (2.4 WAR600) and Kurt Suzuki (3.3 WAR600) are likely to be more valuable relative to their positions than Smith.

Tom Milone, LHP, 25: 159.0 IP, 114 K, 33 BB, 13 HR, 4.3 WAR200
ZiPS gives Milone an ERA of 4.02, but (roughly calculated) FIP of something closer to 3.40. Given that he sits at just 87-88 mph, the whole velocity thing remains an issue, but it’s very possible that Milone will at least approach his projected strikeout and walk rates of 6.5% and 1.9%, respectively.

Jarrod Parker, RHP, 23: 124.1 IP, 94 K, 53 BB, 9 HR, 3.2 WAR200
Brad Peacock, RHP, 24: 143.0 IP, 127 K, 67 BB, 16 HR, 2.3 WAR200
Parker and Peacock are two other pitchers Oakland acquired via trade this offseason — the former in the deal that sent Trevor Cahill to Arizona, the latter in the one that sent Gio Gonzalez to Washington. Parker is ranked first overall in the org in the recently released Baseball America Prospect Handbook; Peacock, third in the Washington org.

Unhelpful Video: Tom Milone Homers
This video of left-handed starter Tom Milone homering in his first major-league plate appearance won’t help you understand anything about his prospects as a pitcher.

Crowdsourcing Broadcasters: Texas Television
This offseason, FanGraphs is asking readers to rate the broadcast teams for all 30 major-league clubs. (Click here for more on this project.)

Rate other teams: Arizona / Atlanta / Baltimore / Boston / Chicago (AL) / Chicago (NL) / Cincinnati / Cleveland / Colorado / Detroit / Miami / Houston / Los Angeles (AL) / Los Angeles (NL, Home Games) / Los Angeles (NL, Away Games) / Milwaukee / Minnesota / New York (AL) / New York (NL) / Oakland / Philadelphia / Pittsburgh / St. Louis / San Diego / San Francisco / Seattle / Tampa Bay.