Crosby, Tejada’s successor, will groom Semien’s
The last time the A’s had to replace a star shortstop was in 2004, when the team allowed Miguel Tejada to walk as a free agent.
Oakland had a ready replacement: Bobby Crosby, who won the American League Rookie of the Year award. Now, in a similar situation, with the team unlikely to make Marcus Semien an offer a la Tejada, Crosby is again part of the picture: He is a minorleague manager and coach working with the A’s top shortstop prospects, including defensive whiz Nick Allen.
“He could play shortstop in the big leagues right now, 1,000%, and be very, very good,” Crosby said. “His glove will take him as far as he wants, but he’s never seen above Single A.”
Allen appears more likely to be an option in 2022, especially if he’s at TripleA Las Vegas next season. Sheldon Neuse, who — like Allen — was at the A’s alternate site in San Jose this year, has played shortstop capably in the minors and as an
amateur. Crosby is working out with him in the Fort Worth area, where both live in the offseason. Neuse has dropped some weight, Crosby said, and is a polished hitter who has bigleague experience. “I hope he’s a thought,” Crosby said. “I’m sure he could handle himself.”
At this point, the most logical successor to Semien on the bigleague roster is utilityman Chad Pinder; Crosby is among the many who believe Pinder should get the first crack.
“If it was me, I would take him in my lineup every day,” Crosby said. “You could put Pinder at short every day and wait for Nick Allen’s progression.”
Pinder has hoped for everyday playing time for years, but didn’t want to do so at Semien’s expense.
“It’s so difficult to even think about Marcus not coming back,” Pinder said. “For me, that leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I will play wherever they want me to play, but Marcus is our guy. He’s been our guy. He’s been the captain of our team the last couple of years.
“If they need me to do that, I’ll play wherever, but it’s tough to fathom even replacing a guy like that. ... It’s a weird conversation to have. It’s the last place I want to be. ... I hope Marcus comes back. He couldn’t be more respected in the clubhouse, there’s no one better. He’s going to be amazing wherever he is, but I hope it’s with us.”
Unless Semien’s market is much less than expected, the A’s have little chance of resigning him. They have not made him an offer and wouldn’t if they thought it would be so low as to be insulting. Certainly, the team could explore a trade for a shortstop or pick up a defensive specialist among the less pricy free agents or minorleague free agents — especially because second base is also an unknown at this point and Pinder could be a possibility there.
The A’s might need to plug the spot only for a year or two, with Allen and two other excellent young shortstops, Logan Davidson and Robert Puason, in the system. Having gone without regular competition during the pandemic shortened season, getting more experience would be ideal, though Crosby said all three really benefited from the close attention the coaches gave them in San Jose last summer.
Another minorleague season also would allay any pressure — if there is any — associated with following a longtime contributor. Crosby doesn’t recall any such pressure when he succeeded Tejada, who’d won the AL MVP just two years earlier, saying, “I knew I couldn’t come in and be him. I knew my own capabilities, but I knew I couldn’t come in and put up MVP numbers, nowhere near it.”
Crosby had played a full season at TripleA, which helped, and the A’s were extremely supportive, with top baseball executive Billy Beane even reassuring Crosby during a tough stretch.
“Billy was in my ear and telling me he just wanted to be me,” Crosby said. “After my first month in the big leagues, I was hitting a bucksomething and made an error to lose a game, and he came up to me the next day and said, ‘ Hey, you’re the shortstop. You’re the guy. You’re not getting sent down,’ and that’s when I was able to breathe a little bit and play the way I was capable of. But none of that pressure was based on Tejada, to be honest. It was based on my own desire to be good.”
Crosby also had the benefit of a Gold Glove third baseman, Eric Chavez, to his right, as will anyone at shortstop this season, with Matt Chapman — a twotime Platinum Glove winner as the league’s best overall defensive player — back at third after hip surgery. Crosby had another excellent defensive player, Mark Ellis, to work with at second base, too; second is something of an unknown for Oakland next year.
The A’s have new infield coaches, with assistant hitting coach Eric Martins and thirdbase coach Mark Kotsay replacing Al Pedrique, who was let go. Kotsay will handle firstbase coaching duties primarily, but Pinder has worked extensively with Martins in the minors and raves about him.
“EMart helped me a ton when I was struggling in the low minors,” Pinder said, “and then I worked with him at TripleA when I was playing shortstop a lot, and he was really, really great.”
Both Pinder and Crosby know what it’s like to sit behind a shortstop who doesn’t take a day off. When Crosby was a September callup in 2003, Tejada was in the midst of a streak of playing in 1,152 games. Because Semien has rarely had a day off in his A’s career, Pinder has made just 24 starts at short.
“With Marcus, you don’t get much action there,” Pinder said. “But it’s just getting back to getting the reps and game experience. I could do it, for sure.”