Who starts at shortstop if Semien departs?
It’s been a quiet offseason in Oakland, as expected.
Not only is it quiet on the A’s front, but baseball’s hot stove is icy cold. On top of that, the 2021 season remains fuzzy. When it will start and how is still not necessarily set in stone. Slowly, the free agency train will gain steam and the market will get moving.
Until then, here are some A’s questions you asked, answered. @ JEFF_ FACUN ASKS: WHO STARTS AT SHORTSTOP IF MARCUS SEMIEN DOES LEAVE THE TEAM? » My best guess: Chad Pinder — until Nick Allen is ready for his big league call up.
Pinder’s 2020 season seemed a short runway for the A’s to try him out in more of an everyday role. With some spotty playing time, the 28- year- old has struggled with his consistency at the plate in years past. But the pop in his bat is encouraging enough that Oakland might see the benefit of keeping him mostly at shortstop next to a Platinum Glove third baseman with the range of a shortstop.
In a small sample size, Pinder’s defensive numbers at shortstop aren’t breathtaking, but he has a strong arm and ath
leticism that could be amplified next to Matt Chapman.
That’s why speculation that the A’s may pursue free agent shortstop Andrelton Simmons seems off — though not out of the realm of possibility. He’s a four- time Gold Glove winner — sounds nice, right? — but I don’t expect the A’s to spend on outside production that they can recreate with options in house.
If Semien leaves in free agency and Chapman is his normal self after hip surgery, they’ll need to replace Semien’s bat more than his glove. Though Simmons, 31, has low strikeout and whiff rates, with a lack of power his bat isn’t necessarily an
upgrade as a right- handed hitting option.
With more playing time in 2020, Pinder started to show signs of offensive rhythm in the postseason. If he can find that kind of groove at the plate in 2021, slotting him in at shortstop is cheaper, could produce some power in the lineup and leaves some cushion for top prospect Allen — projected as a Gold Glovecaliber shortstop — to get more reps at the plate before a potential call- up.
Then again, with Robbie Grossman’s departure, the A’s might need to platoon Pinder in the outfield. He could be a busy guy in 2021… therefore the A’s may be in search of a surefire everyday shortstop on the market. We’ll see.
@BBALLTWEETS3 ASKS: IS MOVING ( A. J.) PUK TO THE BULLPEN A VIABLE STRATEGY FOR BOTH PUK AND THE A’S? » I think it’s their only option to start 2021. Don’t get it twisted, though. The aim is to have him in the rotation doing his best Randy Johnson impression. If anything, a role as a high- leverage option out of the bullpen is on the table if he just can’t find his footing as a starter.
I am dying to see what Puk can do as a starter — he dazzled with his put- away pitches in pre- pandemic spring training before reinjuring his shoulder that March. Since shoulder surgery this summer prevented him from throwing a single MLB pitch in the 2020 season, the A’s will need to have Puk out of the bullpen at least to start the 2021 season.
Puk, 25, went 2- 0 with a 3.18 ERA in 10 appearances out of the bullpen last year. Manager Bob Melvin indicated last month that more ‘ pen Puk was on the table.
“I think right now the thought is to build him up as a starter but he could be a bullpen piece for us as well,” Melvin said in December.