2012 Oakland Athletics season

The Oakland Athletics' 2012 season was the organization's 45th in Oakland, California and the 112th in club history. The team finished with a final record of 94–68, claiming first place in the American League West and reaching the postseason for the first time since 2006. After winning their last game of the season, they took sole possession of the West for the first time all year, overtaking the Texas Rangers. The A's had trailed Texas by 13 games on June 30, and had a five-game deficit with nine days left in the season. The 2012 team, which led the league with 15 walk-off wins, managed this with the second-lowest payroll in baseball, at $59.5 million. They lost in five games to the Detroit Tigers in the Divisional Series.

Season summary
Following a 74-88 finish in 2011, general manager Billy Beane largely dismantled the team's starting rotation. All-Star starters Trevor Cahill and Gio González were traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks and Washington Nationals, respectively. The trades yielded a number of highly touted prospects; among these were catcher Derek Norris, starting pitchers Tommy Milone, Brad Peacock and Jarrod Parker, and reliever Ryan Cook. An additional trade sent All-Star closer Andrew Bailey (along with Ryan Sweeney) to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for outfielder Josh Reddick and a pair of prospects. With power-hitting outfielder Josh Willingham becoming a free agent, Beane's next move was to sign highly regarded Cuban outfielder Yoenis Céspedes on February 13, 2012. The 4-year, $36 million deal seemed out of character, especially given the Athletics' low payroll and generally frugal nature. The move followed a number of earlier (and lower-cost) free-agent signings, including the additions of veterans Jonny Gomes, Seth Smith, and Bartolo Colón.

Despite these additions, expectations were still not high for the Athletics in 2012, as a number of experts picked the Athletics to lose as many as 100 games in the highly competitive AL West. The A's managed to play winning baseball through mid-May and held a 22–21 record on May 21, before a nine-game losing streak brought them down to a season-low eight games under the .500 mark. In Bob Melvin's first full season as manager, the team began to gel in the month of June. Between June 2 (the day the nine-game losing streak ended) and June 30, the A's posted a 15–12 record; then erased their deficit with a 19-5 surge in July, highlighted by the first-ever four-game sweep of the New York Yankees in Oakland. This stellar play put the once-dead Athletics into the heat of the AL West race: while they had trailed the division-leading Rangers by 13 games on June 30, they were only 3.5 back on July 28. A 5–8 start to August, however, widened the Rangers' lead to six games. Additionally, veteran pitcher Bartolo Colón was suspended after testing positive for synthetic testosterone on August 22. Facing these problems, the A's won 13 of their final 15 August games, due in part to the season debut of injured ace Brett Anderson and capped off with a 20–2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on August 31.

The A's continued to play well through the first days of September, though they began to decline as the month progressed. On September 5, Opening Day starter Brandon McCarthy was seriously injured when a line drive impacted his head. The injury, which resulted in an epidural hemorrhage, a brain contusion, and a skull fracture, was considered life-threatening for a number of days. Although McCarthy made a recovery over the following two months, the injury ended his season. An additional injury to Brett Anderson further impacted the A's starting rotation. From September 13 to 24 the A's would lose six out of eight games, with the final loss being a 5–4 defeat at the hands of the Rangers that put the A's five games behind the division leaders (with only nine left to play), though the A's were not mathematically eliminated. After winning two of their next three games against the Rangers, they then swept the Seattle Mariners (highlighted by their last regular-season walk-off), while the Rangers lost two games out of three to the division-rival Los Angeles Angels. With the Rangers leading the A's by only two games, the teams faced off in Oakland for the final three games of the season. The A's took the first two games by scores of 4-3 and 3–1, respectively; the first win clinched a postseason berth for the Athletics, while the second momentarily tied the A's with the Rangers for first place and set up a winner-take-all game for the division crown. In the final game, a 5-1 Rangers lead after the 2nd inning was not enough as the Athletics scored six runs in the 4th (including two off a fly ball that was misplayed by Josh Hamilton) and scored five more runs in the eventual 12–5 victory.

Having secured the division championship, the Athletics faced the Detroit Tigers in the 2012 American League Division Series. The A's were shut down by Detroit ace Justin Verlander in Game 1, and followed that loss with a 5–4 defeat in Game 2. The Athletics, now down 2–0 in a best-of-five series, returned to Oakland for Game 3. Brett Anderson saved the Athletics' season by shutting out the Tigers in a 2-0 Athletics victory. Then, trailing 3-1 heading into the bottom of the 9th inning, Oakland scored three runs (the final on a Coco Crisp walk-off single) to capture a come-from-behind 4–3 victory in Game 4. The A's comeback was not to be, however, as a dominant outing by Verlander ended the A's season in Game 5.

The Athletics' 94–68 record in 2012 was their best in nearly a decade. Manager Bob Melvin and General Manager Billy Beane were honored with the Greatness in Baseball Yearly (GIBBY) Award as the Manager of the Year and Executive of the Year, respectively.

Offseason

 * At the end of the regular season, the club quickly dismissed bench coach Joel Skinner, pitching coach Ron Romanick, and hitting coach Gerald Perry.
 * Oakland received outfield prospect Eliezer Mesa from Colorado as the "player to be named later" from the Mark Ellis trade on June 30.
 * On October 4, 2011, Mets' third base coach Chip Hale signed a two-year deal to become bench coach under Bob Melvin.
 * After spending one year in Boston, pitching coach Curt Young returned on October 21 on a one-year deal.
 * On October 25, 2011, right-handed pitcher Evan Scribner and outfielder Cedric Hunter were claimed off waivers from San Diego and later outrighted to AAA. That same day, RHP Michael Wuertz was released.
 * On November 4, 2011, RHP Trystan Magnuson was designated for assignment and traded back to Toronto for cash considerations.
 * On November 18, outfielder Jermaine Mitchell was protected from the Rule 5 draft by being added to the 40-man roster.
 * Former big leaguer Chili Davis was named the A's new hitting coach on November 25, 2011.
 * On December 9, 2011, the team traded pitchers Trevor Cahill and Craig Breslow to Arizona for pitchers Jarrod Parker and Ryan Cook and outfielder Collin Cowgill.
 * Next to go were pitchers Gio González and minor leaguer Robert Gilliam, traded to Washington on December 23, 2011, for pitchers A. J. Cole, Tommy Milone, and Brad Peacock, and catcher Derek Norris.
 * To make room for the prospects yielded in the Gonzalez trade, on December 23 assignment designations were given to outfielder Jai Miller (traded to Baltimore) and catcher Landon Powell (cleared waiver and assigned to AAA).
 * On December 28, 2011, former closer Andrew Bailey and outfielder Ryan Sweeney were dealt to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for outfielder Josh Reddick and minor-leaguers Miles Head and Raúl Alcántara.
 * Outfielder Coco Crisp re-signed with the team on January 3, 2012, on a two-year, $14 million deal.
 * In January, the Athletics signed pitcher Bartolo Colón (January 14) and outfielder Jonny Gomes (January 20). Infielder Adrian Cárdenas was removed from the 40-man roster in favor of Gomes on January 26; Cardenas was claimed off waivers by the Chicago Cubs the next month.
 * On January 16, 2012, A's traded pitchers Josh Outman and Guillermo Moscoso to Colorado for outfielder Seth Smith.
 * On February 20, the team signed Manny Ramirez to a minor league contract.
 * On March 3, 2012, the team announced the official signing of defecting Cuban outfielder Yoenis Céspedes to a 4-year, $36 million contract.

Notable 2011 Departures
Stats as of Aug 25

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; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts Source:

Division Series
The Athletics played the Detroit Tigers in the Division Series.

Game 1, October 6
6:07 p.m. (EDT) at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan

Game 2, October 7
12:07 p.m. (EDT) at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan

Game 3, October 9
9:07 p.m. (EDT) at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, California

Game 4, October 10
9:37 p.m. (EDT) at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, California

Game 5, October 11
9:37 p.m. (EDT) at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, California

Farm system affiliates
In September, the organization announced a two-year player development contract with the Class A Beloit Snappers, replacing Burlington after two seasons.

Arizona Fall League
Gary Daley, Grant Green, Shawn Haviland, Miles Head, Brett Hunter, Max Stassi, James Simmons will represent the organization on the Phoenix Desert Dogs

MLB Top Prospects
as of August 26, 2012

Bold has played in Oakland during 2012 season. Carter, Cowgill, Norris and Parker have been removed.

Baseball America named Céspedes (14), Parker (26), Peacock (36), Cole (57), Gray (65), and Choice (80) to their Top 100 Prospects list. Baseball Prospectus named Choice (39), Parker (50), Cole (60), Peacock (64), Gray (72), Norris (96), and Green (100) to their Top 101 Prospects list.