The Oakland Athletics have endured a season from hell that everyone wishes to forget and move on from. They're 42-96. The Kansas City Royals are 43-96 but there isn't anybody else in Major League Baseball with fewer than 50 wins on the season.

The Athletics' -297 run differential is 93 runs worse than the second-worst run differential in the majors; that mark belongs to the Colorado Rockies. The A's have scored the fewest runs in baseball with only 509 and have allowed the second-most runs at 806. Only the Rockies have allowed more runs this season. They've allowed 807. On top of that, the A's have been bombarded with boos from their fans due to their impending move to Las Vegas.

If anybody wants this season to end as soon as possible and begin the offseason, it's the Athletics. The A's are not big spenders; they rank last in the majors in payroll this season with a payroll of $58,914,707 million. They're also knee-deep in a rebuild, making it tricky to find the type of players the A's would actually pay up for. But those type of players do exist. Two, in particular, stand out as targets for the Athletics in the offseason to pursue.

Luis Severino

Speaking of seasons from hell, that's one Luis Severino is having for the Yankees this year. Severino's ERA has skyrocketed and more than doubled from a year ago, shooting up from 3.18 to 6.75. Severino's WHIP has gone from 1.00 to 1.66. Severino dubbed himself the ‘worst pitcher in the game' earlier this season.

So why the heck would anyone want him? Well, before this season, Severino was quite good. Just last season, Severino posted a 3.18 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP, a K/BB ratio of +3.7, and a WAR of +1.6. For his career,  including this wretched, dreadful season he's had, Severino's career ERA is 3.78, his WHIP is 1.18, and his K/BB ratio is +3.7. Among his six seasons in the majors with the New York Yankees where he's made at least 11 starts, Severino has twice as many seasons with his ERA below 3.4 (4) than he has seasons with an ERA above that mark (2).

The Athletics need help any way they can get it. They're last in team ERA on the season at 5.63, team WHIP (1.53), and are fourth-worst in team opponent batting average (0.269). Severino has been more good than bad while in the MLB and represents a nice buy-low opportunity for a team like the Athletics.

Jung-Hoo Lee

The Athletics' pitching hasn't been very stellar, but neither has their hitting. The A's rank last in the majors in batting average (0.224), slugging percentage (0.371), and OPS (0.672). They're also 28th in on-base percentage at 0.301. Only second baseman Zack Gelof has a batting average above .250 on the A's roster with 100 or more at-bats. They need help in every aspect of the word.

There aren't many young bats available as impending free agents in the offseason. There is one that would make sense for the rebuilding A's: Jung-Hoo Lee. Lee plays for the Kiwoom Heroes of the KBO. He has lit up the Korean league during his time there. Lee has posted hitting lines of 0.340/0.407/0.491/0.898 for his career for the Kiwoom Heroes. Those numbers are astronomically better than Oakland's team numbers. Lee would lead the A's in every single one of those statistics except for slugging. He'd be a major upgrade to the team.

Only up from here

The issue is whether or not the A's would be willing to spend big. Luis Severino probably will be available at a discount with the season he's had this year. Surely, Lee will have suitors across the majors, and that would make it tough for the A's to win a bidding war. But the A's need to spend on *somebody.* No one should want a repeat of this season.

Hopefully, they spend to improve their team this season. Luis Severino and Jung-Hoo Lee are two candidates the A's should target if they decide to open the checkbook.