Athletics’ GM shares where team stands in an uncertain market

Powwows and big board brainstorms within the confines of a hotel suite are out. Quick and easy Zoom calls from the comfort of home are in.

Nine months of virtual meetings prepared the Oakland A’s brass well for the new-look winter meetings, originally scheduled to be hosted in Dallas this week and canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I certainly miss some parts of it, seeing people that you get to see every year,” A’s general manager David Forst said in a Zoom call with reporters. “But we’re all just as capable of sitting around doing nothing in our own homes as we are in the suite doing meetings. So it’s just a normal week for us right now, which is sort of sad. In some ways, not having the buzz that’s generated by everybody being in one place.”

The pandemic’s economic impact on MLB will have teams looking to cut costs and tighten budgets. It’s not an unfamiliar modus operandi for Oakland, which is accustomed to emotionally detaching from popular players and free agents to pursue more fiscally attainable, maybe relatively unknown pieces.

The A’s are expected to have a lower payroll in 2021. How much lower? Forst can’t say.

“That’s an ongoing conversation with (owner) John ( Fisher),” Forst said, adding that he and vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane “are constantly in contact with John about that and as options come up. That’s sort of our normal MO, as things come up we talk with him about it. We’re in pretty consistent communication so that’s not any different this offseason than it would be any other.”

The player market is still unsolved, Forst said.

While it’s easy to compile a list of possible lowcost free agents the A’s could pursue, the GM says they’ve “seen a few trades” cross their desk in the last week.

“But now I think it’s gonna be a little while until we have enough certainty about the ‘ 21 season to really know where our moves are gonna come from,” he said.

With nine free agents — their 10th, Mike Minor, already signed with the Kansas City Royals — expect the A’s to get creative filling some of the pending gaps in the roster.

The most pressing gap to fill could be Marcus Semien’s at shortstop, as a clubhouse leader. Forst’s tone read as if the A’s are operating under the assumption they’ll need to replace their free-agent gaps. They may not have the funds to give Semien the contract he’s seeking.

Beane and Forst weren’t shy about their interest in re-signing second baseman Tommy La Stella.

Forst said the La Stella pursuit is “very much still a conversation here” but if both Semien and La Stella depart in free agency, the A’s have the pieces in-house to recover.

Part of that would include giving utility player Chad Pinder consistent reps at shortstop and, maybe, second base. Tony Kemp, Vimael Machin and Sheldon Neuse will return for depth, too.

Liam Hendriks all but priced himself out of an Oakland return — though with them he turned a designated for assignmentlow in 2018 into a reliever of the year award-high in 2020. The A’s will look externally for some potential closer options, but their answer could exist in-house.

Jake Diekman has the repertoire to shape into a strong closer. The lefthander racked up 31 strikeouts in 21.1 innings, allowing just one earned run in the entire 2020 season.

“We’re open to whatever options end up being and Jake certainly pitched well enough last year to pitch at the end of the game, if need be,” Forst said. “So, I’d have to say he’s an option. But beyond that, I think conversation will go into February and March with Bob (Melvin) and (Scott) Emerson.”

If the A’s lose either Yusmeiro Petit, Joakim Soria, or both, they may look internally to fill the dearth at right- handed reliever. Without knowing much about how the lost minor league season will impact their development, Forst expects Daulton Jefferies, James Kaprielian and possibly Grant Holmes, Parker Dunshee and Ryan Howard to have roles on the 2021 squad.

With a jam-packed rotation filled with Jesús Luzardo, Frankie Montas, Chris Bassitt, Sean Manaea and, hopefully for Oakland, A. J. Puk, those top prospects could fill into reliever roles — with a minute payroll hit, too.

The free-agent market is flooded with right-handed relief options, overflowing due to teams non-tendering players en masse. Forst says they aren’t tantalized by the quantity — if they look outside the organization, they already have a few key arms in mind that could come via free agency or trade.

“The way we typically approach these things is that we know who fits and know who we’ve evaluated not just this offseason, but targeted throughout their careers,” Forst said.

With Robbie Grossman possibly departing in free agency, Forst acknowledged the A’s could also be in the market for a left-handedhitting corner outfielder to supplement right-handers Mark Canha, Ramón Laureano and Stephen Piscotty.

Luis Barrera , Buddy Reed, Skye Bolt and Seth Brown could earn a promotion, but the A’s could also look to some external options. The market is flooded and there’d be some healthy competition for David Dahl, Eddie Rosario, Joc Pederson, Nomar Mazara and Tyler Naquin.

Opportunity to spice up the roster exists. And though Forst didn’t say explicitly how the payroll might change in 2021, significant lost revenue in 2020 is sure to strap baseball operations this offseason.