Jessica Kleinschmidt takes a look at five of the A's most-pressing needs this offseason.

Heading into the 2020 season, A’s manager Bob Melvin said it was the most excited he’s been about an Oakland squad since he arrived. And rightfully so.
The A's finished 36-24 during an unprecedented season and dealt with everything you could imagine while going through a 60-game season during a global pandemic.
The loss of two-time Platinum Glove Award-winning third baseman Matt Chapman came on the tail end of a 2020 campaign that included a positive coronavirus test, important social injustice matters and looming free agency decisions.
The A's won the AL West but once again fell short in the playoffs, losing to the Houston Astros in the AL Division Series.
With the offseason here, let's look at some of the holes the A's need to fill to have an even more successful 2021 campaign.

The A's didn't think starting pitching would be an issue entering the 2020 season.
But that wasn’t the case. What the team needs to do during the offseason is go out and get an ace. If they have to wait until the trade deadline, they have enough to hold them over, but c’mon ... do something.
A.J. Puk was poised to join the starting rotation, but that didn’t happen as he faced a setback undergoing a procedure on his left shoulder.
He's slated to be back by spring training.
Puk, along with fellow rookie lefty Jesús Luzardo, were expected to be two-fifths of the A's rotation. That only was the case for Luzardo, though. He finished the season boasting a 4.12 ERA with 59 strikeouts in just as many innings, which was good enough for a 1.271 WHIP.
Both Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas left something to be desired in what was expected to be a breakout season for both starters.While Manaea and Montas struggled, it was Chris Bassitt who exceeded expectations.
Bassitt, who at one point was vying simply for a spot in the rotation turned out to be the team’s most dependable starter.
The right-hander recorded a 2.29 ERA, 1.159 WHIP and an 0.82 walk-per-nine inning rate in 261 batters faced this season. While he didn't rack up the strikeouts, Bassitt showed that when a runner got on base, they stayed there.
And, as Dallas Braden loves to say -- the dude is an absolute #athlete.

So, this sucks.
Marcus Semien might have played his last game in an A’s uniform.
After six seasons ins green and gold, the Bay Area native will enter free agency. He was third in AL MVP voting in 2019 when he had a league-leading 747 plate appearances and started all 162 games for the A’s at shortstop.
Don’t worry -- the A’s really, really want him back, and a dip in his 2020 numbers and the weird state of the free-agent market during a global pandemic might make it possible. But, we need to be prepared just in case.
The A's have options, as we saw when Semien had some left side soreness. Matt Chapman slid over to start in his place, but the A's need him to stay at the hot corner.
For now, Vimael Machin is a great option to replace (ew, I hate that word) Semien. He can get on base, and while he didn’t have as much exposure during the season, Melvin noted that all he needed was more at-bats to make a difference in the lineup.
Nate Orf also is an option. The team has raved about Orf’s range as did the pitchers who know he is able to cover ground behind them. However, he played in just six games this season and you’re talking about replacing thee Marcus Semien.
Chad Pinder could be an option -- you really could put the guy anywhere. No seriously, anywhere, and he will give you a productive game. He’s arb-eligible in 2021, but not a free agent until 2023.
Tommy La Stella, who also will be a free agent, is at the top of the priority list of the A’s this offseason. He also could be a possibility.

The A's have a lot of arbitration-eligible players heading into the offseason from the bullpen.
That means, yep -- Liam Hendriks, and his cardboard cutout feline friend Winnie Sanderson Hendriks, might be seeking out another home.
The A’s had a league-leading 2.72 bullpen ERA during the regular season led by Hendriks, Jake Diekman -- and the very, very dependable Yusmeiro Petit who came into the game in the most difficult scenarios.
But Petit also would slice and dice dudes up at the dish. He has absolute ice in his veins. That 19.3 percent strikeout rate says it all. Really though, you just have to watch him. It’s impressive.
This isn’t necessarily a hole to fill, but a hole to maintain if you will.
The bullpen can’t take any steps back. It's a huge strength of the team knowing no matter who Melvin has to grab out of the pen, they will be able to do their job.

It had been reported A’s executive vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane would leave the team if his special purpose company completed a merger with Fenway Sports Group.
The Wall Street Journal was first on the report in what might be a conflict of interest. Fenway Sports Group owns the Boston Red Sox and Premier League champion Liverpool. Anyone who knows Beane knows he loves European soccer. It’s essentially a match made in heaven which would have him moving on from the Oakland front office after 30 years.
The “Moneyball” era has been synonymous with the A’s for decades, and while it has been somewhat effective, the team never has gotten over the playoff hump.
Yes, the team broke the wild-card curse, but … like all teams, they want more.
Should Beane leave, there could be a different view of how to construct an A's team that continually has come up short.
... and there would be a lot less Brad Pitt GIFs.

One of the main missions for the A’s this past offseason was to acquire a left-handed infield bat.
They got a good one when they picked up Tony Kemp from the Chicago Cubs. Kemp was able to bring speed and athleticism to the team.
However, before the team acquired La Stella, they weren’t sure who would be the starter at second base.
Pinder got the nod on Opening Day, meaning Matt Olson remained the only lefty bat in the infield. The team also got free agent Jake Lamb after Chapman was knocked out, and he did a fine job hitting in just about every game since being signed.
Lamb will be a free agent, and we’re still unsure about La Stella despite the love the A’s have for him.
It appears, either way, the team would want to add another lefty bat to the squad to even things out.