There is much uncertainty regarding the future of the Athletics franchise, but to their credit, they have been making moves in free agency to at least give the team some air of respectability after coming off a 69-win season in 2024. They have broken precedent by spending $67 million on a three-year deal for Luis Severino — blowing their previous free-agent record contract out of the water. And they continued making moves, with Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reporting that the A's have come to terms on a free-agent deal with third baseman Gio Urshela.

Urshela, who is a former New York Yankees player like Severino, isn't the flashiest free agent, and signals a familiar spending pattern for the Athletics. While the financial terms of his contract with the A's were not disclosed, one would expect that the 33-year-old third baseman did not require the team to break the bank in any capacity.

The newest Athletics third baseman is coming off an uneven 2024 in which he split time with the Detroit Tigers and Atlanta Braves. The Tigers released Urshela after he struggled from the plate, tallying a subpar OPS of .619 with the team in 92 games (325 plate appearances). He later latched on with the Braves, where he put up 0.8 WAR (per Fangraphs) in 36 games (136 plate appearances), owing to an uptick in offensive and defensive production (he put up a .711 OPS with Atlanta).

The Athletics did not receive much production from the hot corner in 2024. They went through a revolving door of contributors at the position, with Abraham Toro and Brett Harris getting the lion's share of starts at the position. And to end the year, no one had established himself as the number one starter at the position. Urshela should at least provide some stability at the hot corner for them in 2025.

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Athletics not done making moves in free agency?

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Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The next three years will be difficult for the Athletics as they move away from Oakland, the place they've called home since 1968. They will be settling in West Sacramento, and at a Triple-A ballpark, no less, as they await the completion of their new home in Las Vegas.

Regardless, the MLB's revenue-sharing rules and the payroll repercussions those have mean that the Athletics will have to get their payroll up to at least $105 million in 2025. And seeing where their payroll is at the moment, there is plenty of room for them to bolster the roster.