This offseason has already been a bit different than usual for the A’s. The team, after announcing extensions for its main brain trust in Billy Beane, David Forst and Bob Melvin, was quite vocal about the possibility of an increase in payroll. And it seems like the team is trying to hold true to their promise between the exercising of Fernando Rodney’s option and rumors about attempts to re-sign free agents like Jed Lowrie, Edwin Jackson, and Jonathan Lucroy. However, even with added payroll I expect the A’s to continue doing what they do best - make smart, under-the-radar moves with the potential to pay off big time.