For better or worse, the Oakland A’s will open the 2017 season relying on several inexpensive short-term veteran stopgap players. They aren’t terrible players, but no one expects them to lead a team to a pennant. Rather, they’re here to temporarily fill spots in the lineup, whether to keep them warm for upcoming prospects or just to make an otherwise bad team slightly more competitive and/or watchable.
My question today: How have these types of players performed for the A’s in the recent past? I went back 10 years, looking at the 2007-2016 seasons. My loose criteria: established veteran player, but not a true star, acquired cheap on a 1-2 year MLB commitment, and installed in the lineup from the beginning of the season.