The A’s head into what’s all but certain to be a noncompetitive season, one which is more about gauging the progress of young players than short-term results. That’d point towards 24-year-old Nick Allen being the favorite for the shortstop job. Long seen as one of the more intriguing prospects in the system thanks to his defensive ability, Allen indeed impressed with the glove over 809 innings in the middle infield as a rookie. He paired that with well below-average offense, however, posting a .207/.256/.291 line with only four home runs and a meager 5.8% walk percentage through 326 plate appearances.
General manager David Forst was noncommittal about the shortstop position over the weekend, telling reporters he doesn’t “know that we have anything penciled in” (link via Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle). Forst pointed to veteran utilityman Aledmys Díaz — signed to a two-year, $14.5MM free agent deal — as an alternative. Díaz has plenty of experience throughout the infield and is better suited for second or third base defensively, though he’s a more consistent hitter than Allen has yet proven himself to be.
Concerns about Allen’s offense have persisted since his time in the minors, thanks largely to questions about how much impact potential he has in a 5’8″ frame. The former third-round draftee showed decent bat-to-ball skills as a rookie but only made hard contact on 22.3% of his batted balls — the fifth-lowest rate among hitters with at least 200 such events. Forst noted that Allen could continue to see work at second base as well. Aside from Díaz, veteran Tony Kemp and offseason pickup Jace Peterson can work at the keystone and/or at third base.
In other news out of Oakland:
- Kawahara also notes there could be an opportunity for non-roster invitees Jake Fishman or Garrett Williams to crack the roster as a left-handed bullpen option out of camp. That’s in part due to some health uncertainty for southpaw Kirby Snead. As noted by the MLB.com injury tracker, Snead has been shut down from throwing indefinitely after suffering a strain in his throwing shoulder late last month. Acquired from the Blue Jays last spring as part of the Matt Chapman deal, the 28-year-old pitched in 46 games for the A’s last season. He allowed a 5.84 ERA across 44 2/3 innings, striking out a below-average 16.7% of opposing hitters. Snead, who still has a minor league option year remaining, had been vying for a job as a second lefty behind Sam Moll in the relief hierarchy.
- The A’s hosted the Reds for a series in Las Vegas over the weekend as part of Cactus League play. While a pair of exhibition games won’t have any impact on the franchise’s ongoing stadium uncertainty, it naturally led to some renewed attention about the matter. Forst downplayed the series’ relevance to the stadium search, pointing out that the A’s Triple-A affiliate plays in Vegas (link via Martín Gallegos of MLB.com). The GM indicated he didn’t have any preference regarding the franchise’s ultimate destination. “I don’t take sides,” Forst said of the cities. “I have to be focused on us getting a ballpark. (Team president Dave Kaval) is focused on where it’s going to be. We (in baseball operations) really can’t spend a lot of time thinking about the ‘where’ right now.” At the Winter Meetings in December, commissioner Rob Manfred pointed to January 15, 2024 as something of a deadline for the A’s to have a binding stadium agreement (Associated Press link). Under the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, the A’s would lose their status as a recipient of revenue sharing payments if no deal is agreed upon, either in Oakland or elsewhere, by that date.
2 of the worst stadiums I’ve been to are Olympic Stadium in Montreal and that concrete garbage can in California AKA Oakland Coliseum
At least at Olympic Stadium I could bare-ass it on the toilet if I had to drop a deuce before the 7th inning stretch. You do that at Oakland and you’re gonna catch something other than a foul ball during the game 🙂
What an idiotic comment
Agreed pb. But it’s to be expected with his idiotic pen name.
You got zero sense of humor.
Passed_balls literally shaking with rage rn lol
Olympic Stadium was not a good baseball facility but it was so much better than O.Co. Olympic Stadium is connected to the underground city, it has its own metro stop Pie IX, parking was super easy, it is not surrounded by a gang-infested, decaying nightmare, it has plenty of clean bathrooms, and it is in Montreal not in Oakland.
Guess you didn’t hear about that Metallica/ GnR gig.
Just joking, I live Montreal.
It’s insane that a major league team is allowed to play there in 2023. There are nicer high school fields than that dump.
Like I’m not knocking their fans they’re generally good ppl but that stadium is blasphemous
The Oakland-Alameda County Mausoleum.
You should have been to Jarry Park, the Expos Original Home. 1st time 45 degrees on Aluminum seats.
I was! Even back then it seemed insane it was a major league ballpark.” Jarry Park was insane. But I’d still take Jarry Park over Oakland’s ballpark. Jarry Park is in a safe, really nice area in an amazing, world class city.
I saw the Amazin METS at Jarry Park in 1968. Also, season ticket holder for BASH BROTHERS in Oakland. Park wasn’t that Bad at that time.
They ruined that ballpark in Oakland when the Raiders moved back. And they never updated the place to keep it nice. Fenway, Wrigley and Dodger Stadium have been kept up. Oakland just has a dumpster fire. The A’s should move to Montreal. I know it’s east coast, but so what?
Montreal was/is a Great Baseball Town. They Deserve MLB TEAM. I was in College in US about 3 hrs from Jarry saw 5 or 6 games. Loved the City.
It really is a great city. Jeff Loria ruined the Expos intentionally, and MLB rewarded him for it. Montreal is much larger than many MLB cities. It is cleaner, safer, has better public transportation, more corporate $, and overall is a much better baseball city than any other option for relocation or expansion.
I don’t understand why Pittsburgh’s ownership gets ripped all the time about being cheap when the A’s owners do the exact same exact thing. The A’s have been pocketing revenue sharing money for years!
I think people rip them both equally and for both similar and different reasons.
The A’s just publicly and quietly accept their own realities and also blame their stadium situation whereas Nutting enjoys the attention using spin to justify their non-spending.
The A’s have won a lot more games in the past twenty years than the Pirates have.
sneed
A’s are making the playoffs
Should never have moved them out of Philadelphia.
They could.move back, move Tor to.the Central, KC to.the West….. get rid of.the “balanced schedule” and save gas to please.that Norwegian/Swede?girl…save money and time.as.well…..makemthe schedule more regional, renew rivalries and make.the play offs.meanmore than.they do but I see that rarely or is never considered. They could claim its a green move and…maybe gain some fans…..
I doubt they could.do what they do in…….Philadelphia…..
You had me at ‘They’, and lost me at ‘could’.
As soon as I saw Stadium Notes I thought why is that even Mentioned.
The A’s should lose their status as revenue sharing recipient regardless, you can keep rewarding this kind of behavior.
This franchise just keeps getting worse. The stadium issue needs to be resolved immediately. This is a lost franchise and a lost city for that matter. It’s not safe. It would be better for all if the club moved to Las Vegas. People don’t want to go that park. And the players are caught in the middle.
If they move back to Philly, I expect…someone would be forced to act like he cares…or…
If the A’s move to Vegas , Pete Rose will turn over in his grave.