Jed Lowrie returning to A's means Forst/Beane have more moves in mind
The winter months are the coldest - at least that's what they say. For the Oakland Athletics, however, that's when things really heat up.
The club's brain trust, Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Billy Beane and general manager David Forst tend to be at their most active in the months after the World Series ends.
'Hot Stove' season has officially hit Oakland, as the A's have made a handful of deals over the past week or so (including signing Rich Hill and trading Jesse Chavez). The latest: reacquiring infielder Jed Lowrie from the Houston Astros in exchange for minor-league reliever Brendan McCurry.
On paper, the move is a bit of a head-scratcher. Lowrie left the A's after the 2014 season and signed a three-year deal with Houston, only to see himself uprooted just one (injury-plagued) season into the contract.
Lowrie didn't seem to have much of a role in Houston once Carlos Correa showed up, and trading him away implies that the Astros may rely on Luis Valbuena more in 2016. As for the A's, Lowrie joins an infield that was already a bit crowded...which indicates that Beane and Forst aren't done making moves.
With Lowrie in tow again, the A's infield now features the following: Brett Lawrie (third base/second base), Danny Valencia (third/second), Eric Sogard (utility), Marcus Semien (shortstop) and Mark Canha (first base/outfield).
After hearing that he was being sent back to Oakland, Lowrie told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he wasn't yet sure how his new/old employers planned to use him:
Will Lowrie, signed through the 2017 season with a club option for '18, be on the A's Opening Day roster? Or will he be sent along somewhere else, just as the A's did with shortstop Yunel Escobar last winter? Or, on the flip side, will Valencia or Lawrie find themselves moved around the league again? All this chaos and uncertainty is par for the course regarding how the A's usually do business in a given offseason, and it's obviously time once again to start pontificating regarding what the club's end game is this time around. For what it's worth, Slusser and Jane Lee of MLB.com did pass along some quotes from Forst that imply a potential role for Lowrie:
Beane tends to make trades that don't necessarily 'make sense' at the time they're announced. This is one of them, and will almost assuredly portend more moves to reshape the roster in hopes of improving the A's fortunes after a dismal 2015.
