The Oakland Athletics finished in first or second place in the American League West from 2012 to 2014, losing in the Division Series in 2012 and '13 (in five games both years) and dropping the AL wild-card game to the Kansas City Royals last October. They were that close to winning. But GM Billy Beane knew that if he didn't retool last offseason, the team would have a difficult time getting back there any time soon, so he said goodbye to Jon Lester via free agency and traded Josh Donaldson and Jeff Samardzija. It served as another reminder of the harsh reality of operating one of the lowest-revenue teams in baseball and the exorbitant cost of competing with arbitration-eligible and free-agent players.
The A's have stockpiled a strong farm system, but their top prospects likely won't be major league-ready until 2017 or 2018, so we could be looking at another offseason of retooling.
They've already extended manager Bob Melvin for two more years and are expected to promote assistant GM David Forst to GM before the winter meetings (Beane's role will be elevated as well).
As far as the players, the A's have a mixed bag of recent acquisitions to deal with. They're pleased with Rule 5 draftee Mark Canha at first base but disappointed in the lack of urgency Ike Davis has shown. They like the development of rookie Billy Burns in center field but are somewhat disappointed in Brett Lawrie's lack of production. They like the improvements they've seen from shortstop Marcus Semien as the season has gone along, but they thought they'd get more production and leadership out of Billy Butler. Pitching-wise, they love what they've seen from Ryan Dull and Chris Bassitt but thought they'd get more from some of their other bullpen arms.
With that as the backdrop, here's what's next for the A's.
Objective No. 1: Promote David Forst to GM
As I alluded to before, it appears Beane is finally ready to give up his GM title and promote his longtime assistant David Forst to the role. But as with Boston and the Chicago Cubs, this will be a GM in name only. Forst and Beane would share more of the power, but Beane would continue to have the final say.
Trust me on this: Billy Beane does not want to go out like this (with a 90-plus-loss team). He'll see this retooling through before he completely steps aside. At the same time, Forst's work ethic and loyalty has earned him this promotion.
Objective No. 2: Pull off a surprise free-agent signing (or two)
That's right. No one is expecting the A's to jump into the free-agent market and pull out their checkbook, but that's exactly what I'm expecting from Beane this offseason.