Did the A’s Miss Their Big Chance?
When you think of the Oakland A’s, what comes to mind? Cost-conscious? Tight-fisted? Perennial contender? The correct 2020 World Series pick? The right answer is probably a mix of all of these with a little “scrappy underdogs” thrown in for good measure.
They’ve made the playoffs each of the last three years while consistently placing near the bottom of the league in terms of payroll. The problem is, their young core – featuring many players which have been drastically underpaid to this point – is about to get more expensive, meaning Billy Beane and GM David Forst are going to have to get creative if they want to keep playing Moneyball.
A number of prominent A’s, including Marcus Semien, Liam Hendriks, and Tommy La Stella, are about to become free agents. Semien is the market’s premier shortstop despite his down year in 2020, and Hendriks will be at the top of the bullpen class as well. To sign either to a long-term deal that beats the rest of the market wouldn’t exactly be in line with the A’s modus operandi, so unless either is willing to take a hometown discount this offseason, expect them to be donning new uniforms next year.
Many A’s fans have been embittered by watching stars like Josh Donaldson traded away for young prospects almost every year, yet it’s been hard to argue with the results. Although they’ve had a rough go of breaking through to the World Series, just getting into the playoffs is half the battle, with luck in team health and small sample size performances reigning supreme once there.
Building a deep team that can withstand injuries and a few underperformers is critical to going deep in the postseason, but this offseason the A’s will have more than a few holes to fill with not a whole lot of money available to help fill them. Remarkably, the team only has three players under guaranteed contracts for next season according to Spotrac – Khris Davis ($16.75MM), Stephen Piscotty ($7.58MM), and Jake Diekman ($4MM). Other players under team control are either arbitration-eligible (Chris Bassitt, Matt Chapman, etc.) or still pre-arb (Ramon Laureano, Jesus Luzardo, etc.).
Jettisoning the hefty sum owed to the underperforming Khris Davis (still not the most overpaid player with the same sounding name) would go a long ways towards helping them find a new shortstop (or keep Semien) and replacing multiple departures in the pitching staff. The problem with that is, who would want Davis? The A’s will hardly be alone in being budget-conscious this offseason thanks to the financial losses teams have suffered this year, and an expensive DH-only option who hasn’t hit much lately won’t be attractive to many teams. The best way to move his contract – while simultaneously receiving talent in return – would be to add someone like Matt Chapman to sweeten the pot.
A’s fans would be crushed to see their latest face of the franchise depart, but there’s clearly precedent that suggests they would (and maybe should) do exactly this. Chapman is arbitration-eligible for the first time next season, so if the A’s don’t plan on signing him to a long-term extension, now would be an ideal time to move him. Signing Chapman to a big deal would certainly build some goodwill with the fans, but considering the team’s rather limited means, it might not be the best way to allocate their resources.
A package headlined by Chapman and also including Davis could fetch a package of say, Clint Frazier, Miguel Andujar and a young pitcher or two from the Yankees. This would save them gobs of present and near-term future payroll space while acquiring a potential star in Frazier, who might not have as much opportunity as he should playing in a crowded Yankees outfield. Andujar, who would admittedly be about as massive a step down defense-wise from Chapman as you can get, would be a cheap potential regular to plug in at the hot corner and hope you get something that resembles his 2018 season. Alternatively, Gleyber Torres is someone who might be had in a blockbuster swap including Chapman, though he might make a bit less sense seeing as he is soon to reach arbitration himself.
The Yankees are widely presumed to be scaling back payroll this offseason rather than adding it, particularly for someone like Khris Davis. Still, it would make a lot of sense for them to reload with another household name like Chapman to augment a roster that just barely missed out on qualifying for the ALCS. He’d also be a prime replacement for their best performer this season, D.J. LeMahieu, if he should decide to ply his trade somewhere else. Urshela could capably slide over to second in this scenario, or shortstop should the Yankees decide Torres’ glove is a better fit for second. If not the Yankees, there’s about 28 other teams who will be kicking the tires on reeling Chapman in.
Though it’s hardly a sure bet, Chapman’s name will be swirling around the rumor mill this offseason, and he’s one of the more likely stars out there to be dealt. As far as free agent acquisitions go, look for the A’s to ink a few complementary pieces such as Jake Lamb, Joakim Soria, and other decent yet not-very-exciting names. Here’s one thing that is a sure bet – if the A’s are playing baseball in October next year, it’ll be because they took the plunge and reinvented themselves in a big way – same as they always have.
