The A’s have about two-thirds of their starting lineup ready for the offseason. While starting pitching should be the primary focus, they have some questions about the infield that may need to be answered externally.
Second baseman Zack Faith underwent surgery after dislocating his left shoulder with two weeks left in the regular season. Meanwhile, the team announced the third baseman last week Brett Harris underwent surgery to repair the UCL in his left thumb (link via Sports Illustrated’s Jason Burke). The injuries cloud what were already the two weakest positions in the lineup heading into the winter.
Martin Gallegos of MLB.com writes that Harris is expected to be ready for Spring Training. General manager David Forst was non-committal about Gelof’s timeline, telling Gallegos that they “will have to wait further into the offseason to know exactly what [that] is.” It doesn’t appear that Gelof is locked into the starting second base job, even if healthy. Forst told Gallegos that the A’s will be “open to a lot of possibilities” at both second and third base.
This probably also includes looking outside the organization. The A’s don’t have great internal options at either spot. Darell Hernaiz got a season-ending run at all three infield positions to the left of first base (including daily shortstop work while Jacob Wilson was outside with a broken arm). Hernaiz put a lot of balls in play, but didn’t hit the ball hard enough to make an impact, hitting .231/.292/.306 over 197 plate appearances.
[Related: A’s Offseason Outlook]
Former first-round pick Max Muncy had a rough rookie season, hitting .214/.259/.379 over 220 trips to the plate. He struck out in more than 30% of his plate appearances and lost most of the second half due to a broken hand. The 27-year-old Harris got regular reps at third base during the final six weeks of the season. He hit .274 with an on-base percentage of .349, but did not connect with a home run in 32 games. Max Schumann is the only other utility infielder on the 40-man roster. He’s coming off a .197/.295/.273 showing and isn’t guaranteed to keep his roster spot all winter.
Faith has shown the most promise of that group. The former second-round pick hit 14 home runs with a .267/.337/.504 slash line over 69 games as a rookie in 2023. He has followed that with back-to-back rough years. Gelof led the American League with 188 strikeouts in ’24, causing his average (.211) and on-base percentage (.270) to plummet.
Due to injuries, he was only able to play thirty games in the MLB last season. He suffered a broken wrist during a Spring Training hit-by-pitch and underwent hamate surgery. A stress reaction in his ribs set him back when he was on a rehab assignment six weeks later. Gelof didn’t make his season debut until July 4. The A’s optioned him to Triple-A a week later and kept him in the minors until the end of August. He had to run for a few weeks before the dislocated shoulder started to bother him. Although the stop and start nature of his season did him no favors, Gelof’s contact problems worsened. He struck out 46 times in 101 at-bats while whiffing on more than 40% of his swings.
Top prospect Leo De Vriesthe center of the Mason Miller return, could be the long-term answer at second base. De Vries has emerged as a shortstop, but could eventually move to the other side of the bag to play alongside Wilson in the middle infield. He’s coming off a .255/.355/.451, showing that he’s somewhere between High-A and Double-A as an 18-year-old. De Vries has a chance to reach the big leagues next year, but it’s hard to imagine the A’s putting him on the Opening Day roster. He has played just 21 games at Double-A and has no Triple-A experience. A second-half debut is more reasonable and would still be notable for a player who turned 19 two weeks ago.
The A’s want to keep one infield spot available for De Vries for the longer term. Their needs at second and third base leave them chasing a controllable infielder at one spot while looking for a stopgap at another. Brendan Donovan And Ozzie Albies each have two years of club control remaining and could be available on the trade market. Jos Jung And Alec Bohm are candidates for a change of scenery at third base. Jung has three years of remaining control and is expected to make a salary of $2.9 million, although it’s possible the Rangers would prefer to trade him outside the division. Bohm is expected to earn a salary of around $10 million for his final arbitration season.
This isn’t a great class for free agent infielders. The A’s are clearly not signing Bo Bichette or Alex Bregman. Each of Jorge Polanco, Gleyber Torres And Hi Seong Kim (if he opts out) could be available for two or three years, but they will all get eight-figure annual salaries. Willie Castro, Yoan Moncada, Luis Rengifo And Isiah Kiner Fear will be available on one-year or cheap two-year deals. Signing someone from that group would aim slightly higher than last winter’s deals Luis Urias And Gio Urshela but they would be broadly similar pickups.
#explore #secondthird #base #markets