The 2019 season was exactly what the Oakland A’s had been waiting for. Marcus Semien finally lived up to his potential, emerging as one of the best all around players in the game offensively. His career best .285/.369/.522 batting line, with 33 homers and ten steals, earned a third place finish in the MVP vote and had seemingly set Semien up for a large payday in free agency.
His performance also led to a potentially difficult question for the A’s once the 2020 season came to an end – should they extend the Qualifying Offer to Semien?