The Oakland A’s officially have Jed Lowrie under contract for 2018 after exercising his $6 million option, the team announced Thursday.
Lowrie was one of the best stories on the A’s this year. He’d finished 2016 with horrid numbers, thanks largely to injuries that also ended his season in early August. But he finally sorted out his health issues over the offseason and returned in full force, eventually putting up arguably the best performance of his career. The turnaround from boring stopgap to resurgent star was every bit as unexpected and glorious as Yonder Alonso’s, though the latter got more attention.