2011 Oakland Athletics season

The Oakland Athletics' 2011 season was the 44th for the franchise in the Bay Area, as well as the 111th in club history. The team was competing for the American League West title after a 4-year absence from playoff contention, with a payroll just above $77 million.

Coaching changes
Young declined a 2-year contract offer and became Boston's pitching coach. Steverson becomes hitting coach for Sacramento.

Transactions

 * April 27, C Kurt Suzuki moved to paternity list and recalled C Josh Donaldson.
 * April 25, Activated P Michael Wuertz and optioned P Bobby Cramer.
 * April 18, Traded P Daniel Farquhar to Toronto for P David Purcey. Transferred P Rich Harden to 60-Day DL.
 * April 6, Recalled P Tyson Ross from Sacramento.
 * March 30, Placed IF Adam Rosales on 60-Day DL. Purchased contract and recalled IF Andy LaRoche.
 * January 24, Traded P Clayton Mortensen to Colorado for minor league P Ethan Hollingsworth. Signed free agent IF Andy LaRoche to a minor league deal with an invite to big league camp.
 * January 19, Signed free agent P Brian Fuentes to a two-year, $10.5M deal and third-year club option. DFA'd IF Steven Tolleson.
 * January 18, Signed free agent P Grant Balfour to a two-year, $8.1M deal and third-year club option. DFA'd P Clayton Mortensen. Avoid arbitration with P Dallas Braden (1yr/$3.35M), OF Conor Jackson (1yr/$3.2M), 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff (1yr/$4.75M), OF Josh Willingham (1yr/$6M).
 * January 8, Acquired P Guillermo Moscoso from Texas for minor league P Ryan Kelly (acquired from Pittsburgh for minor league UT Corey Wimberly in December). DFA'd P Philip Humber, claimed by Chicago.
 * December 21, Signed free agent P Rich Harden to a one-year, $1.5M deal.
 * December 17, Claimed P Philip Humber off waivers from Kansas City.
 * December 16, Traded P Henry Rodríguez and OF Corey Brown to Washington for OF Josh Willingham.
 * December 14, Signed free agent DH Hideki Matsui to a one-year, $4.25M deal.
 * December 13, Signed free agent P Brandon McCarthy to a one-year, $1M deal. Avoided arbitration with P Joey Devine (1yr/$850k)
 * December 3, Avoided arbitration with OF Ryan Sweeney (1yr/$1.4M)
 * December 2, Non-tendered OF Travis Buck (Cleveland), DH Jack Cust (Seattle) and IF Edwin Encarnación (Toronto).
 * November 19, Added OF Corey Brown, IF Adrian Cardenas, IF Sean Doolittle, P Trystan Magnuson, and OF Michael Taylor to 40-man roster.
 * November 17, Traded OF Rajai Davis to Toronto for minor league P Trystan Magnuson and P Daniel Farquhar.
 * November 12, Claimed IF Edwin Encarnación off waivers from Toronto.
 * November 10, Traded P Vin Mazzaro and minor league P Justin Marks to Kansas City for OF David DeJesus.
 * November 8, Won bid for NPB pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma, but were not able to finalize a deal.
 * November 3, Picked up club options on OF Coco Crisp ($5.75M) and IF Mark Ellis ($6M). Declined $12.5M option on IF Eric Chavez (New York), making him a free agent for 1st time in his career.
 * November 2, Outrighted P Boof Bonser and OF Matt Carson to AAA. Resigned Carson to a minor-league contract. Bonser (New York) elected to become a free agent. P Justin James claimed off waivers by Milwaukee. P Justin Duchscherer and P Ben Sheets become free agents.
 * October 30, Outrighted OF Gabe Gross, UT Jeff Larish, P Jon Meloan, and P Justin Souza to AAA. Gross (Seattle) and Larish (Philadelphia) elected to become free agents.
 * October 7, Outrighted OF Jeremy Hermida, P Brad Kilby and P Ross Wolf to AAA. Hermida (Cincinnati) and Wolf (Houston) elected to become free agents.
 * October 5, Released Cedrick Bowers.
 * October 4, Released IF Akinori Iwamura (Tohoku Rakuten).

Changes in apparel
The A's were known for sporting white jerseys at home and greys for away games. On top of that, the A's wore a black and a green alternate jersey. During the 2011 season, they added a new style. The A's started wearing a gold alternate home jersey to their apparel. Manager Billy Beane referred to the look as "the Canary yellow" jerseys. A's relief pitcher Jerry Blevins said, "It might be hard not to notice us now".

Batting
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; AVG = Batting average; SLG = Slugging average Source:

Pitching
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts Source:

Minor League Standings
Tony DeFrancesco moves to AAA-Oklahoma City RedHawks (HOU) after managing in Oakland's farm system for 16 years (except 2008, was on MLB staff).

Top Prospects
MLB.com named 1B Chris Carter (even though being played as an OF), SS Grant Green and 2B Jemile Weeks as No. 8 top prospects as their positions in MLB.com's 2011 Top 50 Prospects report. FanHouse named Grant Green (58), Chris Carter (91), and Michael Choice (94) to their top 100. Baseball America named Grant Green (63) and Chris Carter (91) to their top 100.
 * Bold on 40-Man roster to begin 2011 season.
 * Top Prospects according to Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus

Minor League Info
Joselito Adames, who pitched for AZL Athletics in '10 and STK/VAN in '09, was suspended 50-games for violating MiLB's drug policy in January.