So far this winter, Billy Beane and Co. have positively affected the club for the upcoming 2016 season, but I think the organization can easily put themselves in playoff contention this year by making a few more significant moves. Until this point in the off-season we have revamped the bullpen, acquired Jed Lowrie and Yonder Alonso, and traded away Brett Lawrie, a trade in which I felt like we could’ve gotten more for him, considering his youth and upside. Still, bolstering the pen’ was our main focus in our reload this off-season, and we got it done, so we’re headed in the right direction.

The first step in continuing the retooling project is finding an impact bat. After the two trades that have gone down, I feel comfortable and set with our infield, hoping it will mesh well defensively, and can produce some power offensively. Behind the plate, we have two backstops, both highly skilled and either the offensive or defensive side of the ball. Now this brings us to the outfield and DH. For now, Billy Butler and others can hold down the DH job. I believe that Burns and Reddick are everyday guys, both two-way, productive players. Now we bring up the left field dilemma.

Even though some can see the "Smolambo" platoon working, I am not one of those people. Coco isn’t a viable option in left field either, which means, to elevate our offense, we need an guy who can get on base, and produce in the middle of the lineup. Korean free agent Hyun-Soo Kim fits the bill. Kim posted a .326 batting average and a .438 on-base percentage, to go along with 28 homers and more walks than strikeouts in his 2015 KBO season. Sceptics may retort that the KBO inflates offensive numbers, but Jung-Ho Kang, a KBO product, put that argument to rest by swatting 15 homers and putting up a .816 OPS last year as a rookie. I am confident that Kim can be an everyday player, and hit about .275, with a high OBP, when you add in all the walks he draws.

I think he won’t show as much power as advertised, but I think as he gets more comfortable in the big leagues, his HR numbers will increase. He plays average defense in left field, and can spot start at first, scouts say. Also there have been a couple of reports stating the Athletics interest in Korean left fielder, and that the A’s large scouting presence in Asia loves him, reportedly writing a "glowing" write up on him, intriguing the higher-ups’ in the front office. To top it all of, I recently spotted an article that said he would likely get a deal that was about 3.5-5 million annually, but I assume the AAV would be on the higher end of that range. This would be a bargain for a starting LF. This low price is also partially due to the plethora of free agent OFs still available and yet to sign. Lastly, he is an international free agent with NO posting fee, so this is definitely a realistic move this club could make.

The last splash I think the A’s should make is re-signing Scott Kazmir. This would make for a top tier starting rotation, which every team needs and wants. The main factor is what Kaz’s asking price is, because that will likely be the deciding factor. As reported by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, both the A’s and Kazmir have a mutual interest and are talking. That is always good to hear, and I can see why there’s interest. Kazmir had some terrific looking seasons with the A’s, bonding with array of teammates, most notably Sonny Gray and Sean Doolittle. The starter also felt good with not only the orginization and the environment, but even playing at O.co Coliseum. Additionally, it has been heard that Kazmir wants to get paid more than fellow free agent starter, Hisashi Iwakuma, who is older and received 45 million over 3 years. Also, the A’s usually don’t like to give long contracts to pitchers, taking into account possible costly injuries to a pitcher, a common debacle that hits pitchers. This is why I see maybe a 3 year, 50 million deal for Kazmir, or possibly and year longer, but a less AAV. Kazmir has rumored to be talking to additional teams such as the Royals, Pirates, and Orioles, just to name a few. Kazmir, 31, would be the No. 2 started in the rotation, and a trusty veteran, combining the two things A’s GM David Forst said the team was looking to get. This move would also start to build back previous chemistry and help create it. The 31 year old would diversify the rotation too, so there would be three righties, and two southpaws, which I consider a plus. Even though this signing would be more than the A’s usually splurge for, it would help the pitching staff immensely, now and down the road.

I know what everyone must be thinking...Where’s all of this money going to come from? Well as we have it right now, the A’s have approximately 17 million dollars in cap space. Now we have two options here, either somehow trade a bad contract, or backload Kazmir’s deal slightly after Coco Crisp, or Billy Butler come off the books, but not to the point where we would be overloaded and struggling to find payroll for the backend of Kazmir’s contract. The second, less appealing option would be finding a way to trade Coco’s remaining 11 million or Butler’s 20 million over the next two years. Of course, to make this happen we would likely have to trade one of these bad contracts which seems merely impossible. We could force one of the deals on a team by sweetening the deal with a prospect, which I think would be relatively low ranked, based on the A’s unwillingness to give up prospects this off-season. Or, we could exchange bad contract for another bad contract that is a bit less owed cash than the deal of the player we would ship out.

Ultimately, I think the best way to handle this issue is backload the deal moderately for a year or so, unless someone is actually willing to take a bad contract in a deal the organization would view as worth it. Even though in the recent past, big off-season "splashes" haven’t panned out for clubs, I know that these moves are the types of changes that will propel the team to the playoffs. Currently, the playoffs is where we need to go. Although the A’s always try to be competitive, there is a need to make an even bigger push, because hurlers like Sonny Gray don’t come around very often. This means the club needs to maximize their chances of winning in the next four years, when they have Sonny Gray under team control, and a rich sum of prospects coming up. By making these moves, the Athletics can capture their window to be a potentially great ball club.