Oakland Athletics’ Offseason Options: Shortstops

Sep 20, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Oakland Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien (10) gets an RBI with a hit during the second inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Last week, we looked at five possible second baseman that could provide a positive impact within the Oakland Athletics. Today will focus on the other side of the middle infield, a position that for the majority of the season has been manned by Marcus Semien. With these lists, I’m not necessarily suggesting that the A’s front office bring in a specific individual to completely replace a current Athletic. However, there are some quality free agents coming up who have skill sets that match the green and gold style of play and could be beneficial to the 2016 campaign.

Having said that, the shortstop position has struggled mightily to carry its weight – especially early in the season – offensively and more importantly, defensively. A .253/.304/.385 slash line isn’t terrible for one’s first full season in the bigs, but Semien could have definitely benefitted from having a veteran teammate to take some of the pressure off him and learn from. Not in the way that he split time with Alexei Ramirez with the Chicago White Sox – because he basically just filled in whenever Ramirez needed a day off – but he needs someone to challenge him on and off the field, essentially being a positive influence.

Semien’s ‘trial by error’ season hasn’t gone as badly as it could have and in comparison to the rest of the shortstops around the league. He has somewhat held his own offensively. He’s tied for seventh in home runs (13), eighth in hits (133), and also eighth in runs scored (61) in comparison to the rest of the MLB shortstops. Despite his efforts, he has still struggled to provide a consistent performance conducive to a playoff team, which is what the A’s strive to be in 2016.

Now it’s time to check out the five possibilities.

Next: A Familiar Face