Oakland Athletics Pass On Qualifying Offer For SS Jed Lowrie

The Oakland Athletics did not extend a qualifying offer to shortstop Jed Lowrie, even without having a major-league ready player in their system to fill the spot.

The Oakland Athletics are rolling the dice on shortstop Jed Lowrie.

Lowrie, a free agent, did not receive the $15.3 qualifying offer from the A’s, meaning he is free to sign with any team with no draft-pick compensation due to Oakland.

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Lowrie had a big first season in Oakland, but slumped in 2014. He also missed about a month with a fractured finger and hit .249/.321/.355 in 136 games, with 29 doubles, six home runs and 50 RBI.

Those numbers were down from his 2013 campaign, when he hit .290/344/.446 in 154 games with 45 doubles, 15 homers and 75 RBI.

Lowrie’s defense did improve in 2014, posting a 0.6 ultimate zone rating, according to FanGraphs.com. He had a UZR of minus-6.8 in 2013, meaning he cost his team almost seven runs with his defense.

By comparison, J.J. Hardy of the Baltimore Orioles had the best UZR among American League shortstops at 13.9; Yunel Escobar of the Tampa Bay Rays was the worst among shortstops with at least 1,000 innings played at minus-17.0.

The San Francisco Chronicle had reported it was unlikely Lowrie would receive a qualifying offer.

But the situation with the 30-year-old Lowrie is complicated by the fact the A’s traded away the top shortstop in their farm system, Addison Russell, in the deal that brought right-handers Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel from the Chicago Cubs in July.

Lowrie was a sandwich pick in the first round by the Boston Red Sox in the 2005 draft out of Stanford. The A’s acquired him in a February 2013 trade from the Houston Astros.

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