For years, Ben Zobrist seemed like he belonged on the Oakland A's. His greatness came in ways that were often not fully appreciated and he has still never earned even $8 million in a single season, making him the ultimate undervalued player. And then, on Jan. 10, Oakland finally acquired him from the Tampa Bay Rays. And there was much rejoicing.
Unfortunately, things have not gone as well as we all would have hoped, which is sort of the greater theme for this 2015 A's season. After showing signs of mild decline the last couple years, the 34-year-old Zobrist fell even further and was simply not the player he had once been.