A’S MADE ODD OFFER TO SHORTSTOP
The Toronto Blue Jays were willing to throw Marcus Semien $18 million to be their second baseman for the 2021 season. As it turns out, the Oakland A’s didn’t even extend an official offer to their shortstop of five years, an MVP candidate in 2019 and a Bay Area native.
Instead, the A’s floated the concept of a deal in which the team would pay Semien $12.5 million (a $500,000 pay cut from his 2020 salary) with $10 million deferred with $1 million installments paid over 10 years, according to The Athletic.
The implications of this offer should be alarming for A’s fans hoping the organization would have the financial flexibility to widen this window of contention and extend its star players.
If the A’s can only offer Semien $2-3 million right now, what does that tell us about how much they are willing to spend to fill the growing number of absences on the roster (shortstop, second base)?
The A’s started 2020 with a $92 million payroll, and it sits at around $75 million now.
Though the A’s have kept and paid their most talented players this year, now is the time to start adding pieces in order to fuel another postseason run.
The American League West is weakening with the Houston Astros on the decline, and the league itself is seeing a shift of power from teams like the New York Yankees to the Chicago White Sox. There’s a power vacuum the A’s could capitalize on — instead, they’re crying poor on their hind legs.
They may let all 10 of their free agents walk without any plans to use the money they didn’t spend on Semien on any free agent pieces that will significantly elevate the roster.
On the other hand, this isn’t a new concept to any contending A’s team life cycle. Just a repeated frustration.
Though the optics of that quasi-offer to Semien are bleak, it’s in keeping with a system that’s generated strong teams through identifying undervalued players.
The A’s have added relievers Dany Jimenez and Nik Turley — a promising reclamation project with high spin rates — and left-handed outfielder Ka’ai Tom. All through low-cost trades and the Rule 5 draft.
It’s possible the A’s don’t think the $18 million Semien will earn matches their valuation of him. Though he grew tremendously defensively at shortstop under Ron Washington’s tutelage, he benefitted playing next to Matt Chapman — who has generational range
at third base. The Blue Jays have Bo Bichette at shortstop and are planning to play Semien at second base. It’s possible they think his MVP-caliber 2019 season was more of an aberration, and staking millions on him repeating it wasn’t worth the cost.
The overarching concern rings loudest, though. If the A’s can only pay Semien in installments now, how can they even consider extending players such as Matt Chapman, Matt Olson and Ramón Laureano, to name a few?
Chapman and Olson signed for $6.49 million and $5 million, respectively, in their first year of arbitration this year. They’re due for significant raises with a team that surely won’t be willing to meet them at their worth.
With the ballpark at Howard Terminal at a complete standstill due to the pandemic, the only revenue lifeline is frozen.
The heartbreaking trade A’s fans have come to fear is clearly on the horizon. Even if the A’s baseball operations can cobble together a competitive team from the rubble of 2020, they’re sure to lose fans’ faith and loyalty if ownership retreats even farther into its cheap ways.