Facing a limited free agent market and even more limited options internally, the Oakland Athletics are unlikely to make shortstop Jed Lowrie a qualifying offer. The team has until 5:00 PM EST Monday to make a final decision.
Should Lowrie reach the open market, it’s expected that he could draw a significant amount of interest considering his ability to play either shortstop or second base. The bulk of Lowrie’s playing time to date has come at shortstop (489 career games) but the versatility he offers is a feature that teams have placed an increased value on in recent years. Lowrie actually has more time at third (83 games) than second (58) but the middle infield is where he seems best suited.
The A’s will reportedly continue talks with Lowrie as the market develops, according to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser, but it’s unclear how far they’ll be willing to extend themselves in order to retain his services. Slusser expects that the team won’t go beyond a three year deal.
Lowrie batted .249/.321/.355 this past season in 566 plate appearances, missing some time late in the year with a fractured right index finger. He’d add 29 doubles and six home runs, a step back from the strong showing he put up in his first season with the A’s in 2013 when he had 45 doubles and 15 home runs while hitting .290/.344/.446.
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Numerous teams are expected to be in the market for a new middle infielder including the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays, Washington Nationals, among others. Lowrie hasn’t been linked to any of them directly as of yet, but there should be some level of interest given the limited market. Asdrubal Cabrera and Lowrie represent the most appealing options on the market after Hanley Ramirez.
Oakland’s most likely internal option to replace Lowrie was moved at this past trade deadline, when the team sent Addison Russell to the Chicago Cubs. The team is high on Daniel Robertson, who hit .310/.402/.471 at High-A this past season, but as Slusser notes he’s still at least a year away from being MLB ready. She believes that the team could look to the trade market to potentially find a replacement, citing the middle infield depth of the Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks as potential targets.