Projecting A's Seth Brown For 2024

Seth Brown looks to be a platoon bat, and a good one

Oakland A's outfielder Seth Brown appears headed for a platoon role in 2024 with the addition of Miguel Andújar to the roster. The two will likely be taking over one of the corner outfield spots, with Brown getting the bulk of the playing time against right-handers. 

Brown is coming off of the worst offensive season of his career, and it wasn't all that bad. The 31-year-old outfielder hit .222 with a .286 OBP and a 92 wRC+, just eight percent below league average. Yet, against righties he was still above league average with a 103 wRC+ and hit .234 with a .294 OBP.

When Brown is at his best, he's a guy capable of 25-30 home runs in a season. In a platoon role, that could go down to maybe 20-25 dingers. So what do the projections over at FanGraphs say about Brown heading into 2024? 

Well, they have him batting .236 with a .305 OBP and a 105 wRC+, which is a little above league average. After a 14 homer season in 378 plate appearances, they also have him going deep a little more often with 21 homers in 490 plate appearances and putting up a 1.2 fWAR season. 

Essentially, the projection is a mixture between his 2021 and 2022 seasons, which were both pretty solid for the outfielder. 

The big question is whether or not Brown will make it through the season with the A's. A left-handed bat with some pop that wouldn't be terribly costly on the trade market is a valuable commodity for the front office to wield, especially once the Trade Deadline rolls around and teams are looking to make as many incremental increases on their rosters as possible. 

Seth isn't going to be the biggest bat in the lineup, but he can be a very solid complementary piece for the A's, or another team, in 2024 and beyond.