Athletics seek free agents amid move to minor league park
In meeting with potential free agents — especially Severino and other starters such as Sean Manaea and Walker Buehler, the latter two still unsigned — Forst and his group have done a lot of upfront explaining to address concerns about amenities, ability to seating, weather, living arrangements and, in particular, daily trips to the clubhouse.
“I think there are a lot of unknowns,” Forst said in his Dallas hotel suite during last week’s winter meetings. “This is not a city that many players have been to. When we were trying to get guys to Oakland, at least it was a place the guys had been. They had stayed in San Francisco, they had taken the bus to the stadium , they knew what the stadium was like.”
The A’s expressed interest in Severino shortly after he rejected the New York Mets’ qualifying offer on Nov. 19 and filled his agent’s inbox with PDFs leading up to their initial meeting 10 days later.
One of them showed information about how a change in usage patterns could help Severino improve his performance, after a year in which he went 11-7, with a 3.91 ERA in 182 innings, for a Mets team that became one of baseball’s biggest surprises last season.
The other was a series of slides with plans, photographs and key information about improvements being made at Sutter Health Park, particularly an updated irrigation system to help the natural grass withstand the rigors of two teams playing in the heat. of the summer, and a new two-story clubhouse consisting of locker rooms, showers, offices, dining rooms, lounges and neighboring batting cages.
However, that space is located beyond the left field wall, requiring a fairly long walk outside every time players go to and from the field. It is not a minor problem.
“That’s the biggest difference from the major league experience in most places, is that you kind of associate walking across the field to the locker room with minor league players,” Forst said. “We’ve just been upfront in saying, ‘Hey, there was nothing we could do about it. But the locker room itself is going to be Major League.'”
On December 6, Severino held his introductory press conference in the ballroom of the Kimpton Hotel in downtown Sacramento, next to the arena that houses the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. He then crossed nearby Tower Bridge and toured a baseball stadium that is still under construction.
“Right now it’s a disaster, but they say it will be ready for the start of the season,” Severino said. “There’s still a lot of work to do, but they’re going to do everything they can to make their players feel comfortable.”
Severino wasn’t too worried about playing in an area that regularly sees 100-degree temperatures in the summer — “I’d rather it be hot than cold,” he said — but he did ask questions about Sutter Health Park’s preference by the players. hitters. The A’s told Severino they believe he will play relatively neutrally, at least relative to the other ballparks within the hitter-friendly Triple-A Pacific Coast League.
Severino also asked if the A’s intended to continue adding players to complement their young core, a group of position players consisting of Jacob Wilson, Lawrence Butler, JJ Bleday, Shea Langeliers, Tyler Soderstrom, Zack Gelof and, finally, Nick Kurtz , the number 4 pick in this year’s draft. They responded, quite categorically, that they would.
Severino’s signing was followed by a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays for another starting pitcher, Jeffrey Springs, a 32-year-old left-hander who has shown potential when healthy. On Thursday, they fulfilled their wish for a starting third baseman by reaching an agreement with Gio Urshela. The A’s could still add a left fielder and have been open to signing another starter for a rotation that could still use help. They have also made public their desire to retain Mason Miller, their young star closer, and have shown interest in extending the contract of Brent Rooker, their best hitter.
In some ways, they have no choice but to spend.
The A’s are scheduled to receive 100% of their revenue sharing fund for the first time under the current collective bargaining agreement, which stipulates that teams must contribute 1½ times that amount to their major league payroll. An industry source estimated that the A’s will receive approximately $70 million in shared revenue next season, confirming a report from The Athletic, meaning anything less than $105 million in 2025 would expose them to a complaint from the baseball union. players.
That’s a sizable increase for a team that opened the 2024 season with roughly $60 million committed to players and finished it without a single financial commitment beyond that date, and there’s still a gap. After adding Severino and Springs, the A’s luxury-tax payroll — which is used to determine how teams allocate revenue-sharing money — is projected to be $89 million, according to FanGraphs. (The terms of Urshela’s deal have not been disclosed.)
“That’s one thing we know,” Forst said of the CBA clause. “I can’t say that’s the reason we’re spending. We’re trying to get better.”
The A’s have finished last in payroll in each of the last three seasons, and have been among the industry’s least willing to spend teams during John Fisher’s 20 years as owner. But its top officials have promised to increase payroll in the run-up to Las Vegas, a natural source of frustration for an Oakland fan base that spent years clamoring for them to make bigger financial commitments.
The agreement with Severino, which gives him the ability to terminate his contract after the second year, is a good start. It’s $1 million more than the largest contract in team history — a six-year, $66 million extension given to third baseman Eric Chavez in 2004 — and surpassed his previous high in free agency, a four-year deal. years and $36 million with outfielder Yoenis Céspedes. Before Severino, the last A’s player to receive more than $15 million and sign for more than two years was reliever Ryan Madson in December 2015.
Money was probably the most important factor in Severino’s decision; The A’s offered more than most projected, especially considering the penalties associated with adding a player who had turned down a qualifying offer.
But when Severino met with the A’s on Nov. 29, he talked about how impressed he was to see them win two of three games against his Mets in mid-August. He told a group consisting of Forst, Kotsay, pitching coach Scott Emerson, coach and performer Ramón Hernández and assistant general managers Dan Feinstein and Rob Naberhaus that it reminded him of the 2017 team led by Matt Olson and Matt Chapman , young stars who helped lead the A’s to three consecutive playoff appearances before being traded in this latest rebuild.
At one point in the conversation, one of the A’s staff members laid out a goal that, for Severino’s group, reflected the group’s conviction: to create a logistical nightmare for Major League Baseball by qualifying for the playoffs in a stadium in the minor leagues.
Instead of comfort and security, the A’s are offering hope and opportunity.
Also, in a surprising twist, money.
