The Around the Horn series, which features a position-by-position look at Oakland's projected starters and backup options heading into the season, shifts to shortstop.
Who's at shortstop?
Marcus Semien enters his fourth season with the A's and, at just 27 years old, is their longest-tenured player. He recently avoided arbitration in his first year of eligibility by coming to terms on a one-year, $3.125 million deal -- a significant bump from his 2017 earnings, which totaled $545,000.
Semien remains under club control through 2020, and it's unclear whether he's in the A's long-term plans as they build for the future; last spring, the two sides engaged in extension talks, which were tabled when Semien suffered a right wrist injury that later required surgery, which forced him out of action for nearly three months.