July, 2017, came a passing mention from The Chronicle: The A’s were engaged with Marcus Semien in talks about a possible extension. Referenced for comparison as a framework for such a deal was the 6 year, $25M contract Tim Anderson had recently signed with the White Sox.
Reaction on AN at the time was, “Cool. Would be nice to keep Semien. Solid complementary piece, great guy, local boy.” But there was no clamoring that the A’s “have to get this done” like there was until Khris Davis was inked to an extension. Nor was anyone suggesting that if it took something like 6/$60M to get it done, the A’s should jump at the chance.