Examining the Lineups From A's Las Vegas Renderings

Right off the bat, we have Esteury Ruiz, who was coming off a record-setting rookie season with the A's, swiping 67 bases. Injuries plagued him throughout 2024, and now his spot on the team is very much in question.

Four of the players in the lineup are no longer in the organization, with Ryan Noda joining the Los Angeles Angels, Aledmys Díaz heading to Houston last summer, Jordan Díaz now playing in Japan, and Nick Allen looking like a bench player for the Atlanta Braves.

Zack Gelof was the featured player on the scoreboard, with his picture taking up a whole side of the ballpark in the rendering. He was projected to hit .318 in that rendering. In the more recent rendering, Gelof has dropped to seventh in the lineup and is projected for a .291 batting average. Would another down year have him completely removed from next year's renderings?

Brent Rooker is easily the most consistent player from year-to-year, sticking in the top-four of the lineup, while continuing to bat an impressive .303. While the batting average was used for some playful jabs in last year's version, the A's DH went on to bat .293 in 2024, raising his average by 47 points over 2023. At that rate, he'll be a .434 hitter by the time 2028 rolls around.

The other player showing some consistency here is catcher Shea Langeliers, who went from batting fifth to the cleanup spot, while still batting a robust .285. While he only hit .224 last season, that was up 19 points from 2023, so at that rate of growth, he'll be a .281 hitter by the time this ballpark is projected to open.

It's unlikely that those that came up with the renderings were looking at the stats that deeply, though in this made up stats, they've still only projected the A's for two .300+ hitters. Brent Rooker remains one of them, with Jacob Wilson swapping in for Gelof.

It's a little surprising that JJ Bleday wasn't among the players listed in the initial rendering, given that he was in center field on Opening Day last year, but it's also worth remembering that he was a career sub-Mendoza Line hitter heading into 2024. He's still projected for a modest .256 average in the new renderings.

The big takeaway here is that only three players were featured in both renderings (Rooker, Langeliers, Gelof), which leads to some questions over which players would be included in next year's hypothetical renderings. At the very least, two players--Miguel Andujar and Gio Urshela--would likely fall off with each player set to hit free agency after the 2025 season.

At this time next year could we see Max Muncy or Darell Hernaiz on the scoreboard at third base? What about Denzel Clarke or Colby Thomas in left? The rest of the lineup seems fairly settled at the moment, but there is a whole baseball season to get through, and the team's plans change change quickly.