Oakland A’s second base search ended exactly where it began

Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty ImagesThe Oakland A’s second base search ultimately ended exactly where it began.

In 2018, the A’s sent their second baseman to the All-Star Game. Jed Lowrie was having his second straight excellent season, but at the end of the year he would be a free agent and he’d be unlikely to find future dollars in Oakland. Indeed, he signed with the New York Mets that winter.

The green and gold needed a new plan at the keystone, and they tried everything. They acquired breakout candidate Jurickson Profar, but he didn’t quite break out in 2019, especially on defense where he had a disastrous experience with the yips. They traded Profar away the next winter, and hoped one of…