Will Billy Beane make more moves?

Heading into this offseason, experts were unsure of Billy Beane‘s plans. Add pieces to a contender or rebuild and start from scratch? While questions remain, the signing of Billy Butler appears to indicate a commitment to competing in 2015. This suggests that additional moves for Beane and company could be ahead.

The A’s have a significant hole at shortstop. Jed Lowrie is expected to dart in free agency, leaving Andy Parrino, Nick Punto and others as organizational candidates to take over. These players are defensive stoppers who lack strength at the plate. Filling Lowrie’s potential absence is likely Beane’s number one priority.

Is a more complete shortstop available on the market? Asdrubal Cabrera should be appealing. His price tag might end up too high, especially after the financial commitment made to Butler. Stephen Drew is another available shortstop. His struggles with the bat are enough to create concerns though. Maneuvering a trade for this need also fits into the realm of possibility.

Other team needs include second base and late-inning relief. Eric Sogard is simply too offensively inept to be a regular starter. A positional upgrade is necessary. Sogard and Punto are acceptable as occasional platoon contributors, they just can’t hit efficiently enough to justify consistent starts.

Sean Doolitle locks down the closer role for an effective bullpen, but 2014 setup man Luke Gregerson might skip town during free agency. Beane needs to add another arm to complement Doolittle. Perhaps Rafael Soriano or Sergio Romo would do the trick.

Butler’s arrival doesn’t signal any sort of power shift in the American League, but it’s a definite commitment to winning for Billy Beane and his management team. Butler’s addition was step one, finding a quality middle infield and bullpen reinforcements could be next.