Franchise-Defining Offseason Looms for A's Ownership

This offseason is going to be a franchise-defining one for the Athletics, as it's their last offseason before results matter for the Las Vegas move, where they expect to open up a new ballpark in 2028.

On the to-do list are getting a new President of Baseball Operations or GM (or both) and adding pitching to the roster to set the team up for success in 2027. Those are the two big pieces of the offseason. 

Making each of those a little more challenging will be an expected lockout, which will leave the A's to make a mad dash to bring in the upgrades they're after either via free agency or trade.

With less time to work their magic and sell free agents on the A's franchise, the move, and the new ballpark, money will be doing most of the talking. 

At the same time, the A's have 10 players on the 60-day IL, which means complicated roster decisions will have to be made to add them back to the 40-man roster.

Players who have undergone surgery, such as Brent Rooker, Jacob Wilson, Tyler Soderstrom, Justin Sterner, and Gunnar Hoglund, will be unable to speak with the franchise during the lockout, which means the recovery process has another hurdle. When we asked interim GM Dan Feinstein about potential ways to account for this, he said:

"I don't want to speculate on anything labor related. We're planning for a normal offseason and we'll do our normal preparations in anticipation that we'll report to Arizona in February." 

For the A's to have success, they'll need these players ready to contribute next season. We've already seen what happens when they're not available — the A's finished with a bottom-three record in 2026 as a result. 

The lockout would be ownership-led, with owners locking out the players. That would also leave A's owner John Fisher with a little more to lose given where his franchise is at in its relocation process and the stakes of landing in Vegas after another 90-plus loss season, which would hinder the team's initial surge in a new market. 

That lack of communication could also play a big role on the A's young roster, some of whom will be heading into their first offseason as big leaguers and may need more guidance than the veterans. 

These are the less flashy things that could have an impact on the A's offseason.

One of the bigger ones will be how much ownership decides to spend on the roster. The Houston Astros won the AL West with an 81-81 record this season. That's a pretty low bar to win the division, and it should be seen as an opportunity to make a push this winter to help build momentum for Vegas. 

Ownership will have to nail the GM hire in order for the franchise to have success not only this offseason but also for years to come. That's a role that hasn't had much turnover in Fisher's tenure as owner, with the job passing from Billy Beane to David Forst over the course of two decades. Both were already with the franchise when Fisher bought the team. 

Ownership will also have to spend to attract free agents who would benefit the club. We've seen over the past two seasons that Sutter Health Park isn't exactly a pitcher's paradise. That's before even mentioning that it's a minor-league ballpark and not exactly at the top of anyone's list as a destination. It's more of a last resort for free agents.

That's where the money comes in. 

With the most winnable division in baseball and a plethora of returning sluggers from the IL, the pieces should be in place for the A's to be in contention in a weak division in 2027.

Of course, that happening depends on how many of these needles ownership can thread. Having a contender in 2027 would only help the franchise's fortunes as it heads to Vegas in 2028 and beyond.