The Athletics were apparently in on this free agent and made him a good sized offer
The latest report featuring the A’s pursuit for a second baseman has raised some interesting questions for the franchise moving forward. Earlier this offseason, Athletics on SI asked A’s GM David Forst if Zack Gelof is still seen as the team’s second baseman when he’s healthy, and he responded by saying that the healthy qualifier is a big piece of that equation.
On Tuesday night, Ken Rosenthal may have just answered the question for us. According to The Athletic, the A’s reportedly offered free agent Ha-Seong Kim a four-year deal worth $48 million. He also says that the plan for him would have been to have him play mostly at second base, with the occasional outing at shortstop when needed.
Instead of signing a long-term deal with the A’s, he instead decided to go with the Atlanta Braves for one year and $20 million. He’ll have the opportunity to make more money in the long term after taking that deal with the Braves, needing just a three-year deal worth at least $28 million to surpass the A’s offer at this point.
What this means for the A’s moving forward
This would have meant that Brett Harris, Max Muncy and Darell Hernaiz would have all been squished into a competition for third base, while Wilson and Kim took over at shortstop and second. That is no longer the case, though there could be other options for the A’s to consider, as Rosenthal suggests, on the trade market.
He points out that Tampa Bay’s Brandon Lowe could be a similar fit for the club at second. This past season, Lowe ended up hitting 31 home runs with 83 RBI for the Rays, while batting .256 with a .307 OBP. That said, he’s not a great defensive second baseman, accruing -13 outs above average (OAA) last season.
Only Jonathan India of the Kansas City Royals finished with a worse defensive season (-14). The A’s have been adamant about trying to improve the team’s defense the past couple of years, so Lowe may not be a perfect fit for the club, but he could be a decent option to consider if they have trouble acquiring pitching.
Lowe is owed $11.5 million in 2026, which is slightly less that the AAV they just offered to Kim. The catch would be that they’d also have to send over prospects to make a deal happen. He will also be a free agent following the ’26 campaign.
The A’s already have what is expected to be a top-10 offense in baseball, and adding Lowe would certainly improve that group. The question is whether adding more runs to the offense or subtracting runs via upgrades to the pitching staff will be the best way to acquire new talent for the roster heading into 2026.
