The Move A's Owner John Fisher Could Make to Signify Times Have Indeed Changed

If A's owner John Fisher were to make this move happen, fans in Oakland would be crushed all over again

A's fans have spent the summer telling anyone that will listen all of their reasons why John Fisher is a terrible owner, and chief among those reasons is that he doesn't spend money and the team never retains its stars once they near free agency. 

We saw this most recently when the A's traded away Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Chris Bassitt, Sean Manaea, and Frankie Montas--and that was just in the last teardown. Not included in this list, but high on grievances for the fans is that Marcus Semien, a bonafide local star, wasn't even given a qualifying offer which effectively ended his tenure with the club and broke up the championship-caliber group the A's had assembled. Instead, they offered him a one year, $12.5 million deal with $10 million deferred and to be paid out in $1 million installments over ten years. 

John Fisher doesn't spend money, but it may be in his best interest to start investing in the roster as he gears up for his planned relocation of the franchise. 

The one way that he could start changing the narrative would be to offer a young player (or two) an extension that would lock them up for a couple of years past their current team control. If you watched the A's in 2023, one player likely comes to mind as an extension candidate is Zack Gelof.

The A's second baseman finished with the most fWAR on the team (2.9) even though he played in just 69 games. In 300 plate appearances he hit .267, had a .337 on-base percentage (OBP), held a 133 wRC+ (100 is league average), slugged 14 homers and swiped 14 bags. His WAR total was also sixth among all rookies, and his wRC+ was tied with presumed NL Rookie of the Year Corbin Carroll. The 23-year-old has future star written all over him. 

With the A's bringing Gelof up after the All Star break, he will no longer have rookie eligibility, be he also didn't reach the 172 days on the 26-man roster in order to accrue a year of service time, so the team will still have six years of team control over Gelof. This is important in determining what a potential contract could entail. 

If you're the A's, you want the deal to be worth enough that he would accept the offer and also be ok with missing out on free agency at the age of 30 (after six years), and instead hitting the market at 32 years old if we're looking at an eight year deal. 

He'll also be in the mix for Super Two eligibility, which is awarded to players that rank in the top 22% in service time, among those that have served between two and three years. If he is granted Super Two status, he would have a fourth year of arbitration added to the mix, which means his earning potential goes up. 

That all said, the next two years will be at the Major League minimum, currently slated for $740,000 in 2024 and $760,000 in 2025. Add that to the $20-23 million or so he could net in arbitration, and you're looking at around $21-24 million. 

The tricky part would be the next two years. Ozzie Albies signed an extension with the Atlanta Braves back in 2019 for seven years and $35 million, but that one is viewed as extremely team friendly. Would $50-60 million do the trick? To make sure Gelof accepted--keep in mind he would be the face of the franchise during the team's relocation efforts--$80 million could be what would need to happen, and it would be another bit of PR work, too. 

That would be $10 million per year for the next eight years, which would also work out for ownership because the likelihood of much else being invested into the roster in the next couple of years isn't high. Then, when Fisher is supposed to open up his checkbook as the team lands in Vegas, he'd have his superstar locked in at $10 million. 

The other key with the $80 million figure is that it would be the biggest contract ever given out by the A's franchise, with the previous high being Eric Chavez's six years and $66 million that was signed right before Fisher bought the team. 

The team is currently waging a public relations battle where every time something negative is said about the move to Vegas and gains some traction a new fluff piece is available in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Instead, they could actually be putting up the money to change the narrative and sign a young and exciting player that would become the centerpiece of the franchise during this tumultuous time. 

This would absolutely crush the fans that have supported this team through thick and thin, despite the numerous teardowns of the roster over Fisher's tenure as owner. And just to rub it in, there is a chance that Gelof could play the next four seasons at the Coliseum if the A's lease gets worked out in Oakland. Fans would be able to come and watch this young, exciting, and locked up player, but they would also know that he would be gone in just a few years--just not the way they're used to. 

It would also tell Las Vegas that Fisher is serious about competing.