Baseball Prospectus' Marc Normandin has a great write-up on what to expect from Mark Ellis and Daric Barton for 2009. Correctly estimating what these two might do in 2009 is essential to determining what the A's need to do to increase their offensive output this season. While the A's are committed to Ellis (which is fine because of his excellent defense), they may need to consider finding ways to increase their offense at other positions if they presume Ellis won't be productive at the plate.
Mark Ellis
28 November 2008
20 November 2008
oduction from him and will need to look for reliable offense elsewhere.
Second Base
2008 Mark Ellis 507 PAs .233 .321 .373
Yuck, and he'll be back for 2009. Oh, and he'll be coming off surgery to repair a torn labrum for the 2009 season. And he'll be 32. There is, however, reason to believe that he too will be better next year. Last year his average on balls in play was .248, when his career average for balls in play is .290. This suggests that his horrid batting average was mostly the result of bad luck. He has put up good seasons before, hitting .276/.336/.441in 2007 and .316/.384/.477 in 2005. So the A's can reasonably expect improvement, but not the kind that will transform the A's into contenders.
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