The Athletics extended the contracts of their front office and field managers on Monday. They also announced a plan to increase payroll. Billy Beane:

We’re gonna take a little more strategic view, looking over a longer period of time instead of just one year at a time, which I think is a good way to do it. And we’re having those conversations now. To give you a simple answer, yes we anticipate the payroll going up. …

I’m not trying to be coy or anything (about the precise amount). We’re having those discussions now, but it will certainly go up. And it will go up continually over the next year after year after year. We’ve already had that discussion. Now, how we approach it, we may want to look at it in a pool type of situation, like X amount of dollars over a five-year period, but those are all things we’re talking with John Fisher about, and myself and (David Forst). We’re having a meeting tomorrow on this exact subject.

With that comes the desire to build a new franchise identity by keeping players:

To that last point, there is one more thing Beane said that should be magic to our ears. Over the last couple years he’s begun to suggest that he’d like to see the A’s reduce the constant player turnover that has become their franchise identity, and instead begin to hold on to some star players long-term. He reiterated that desire on Monday: “We’ve had to turn things over (on past rosters) and we’re hoping those days are gonna end very soon.”

I have to believe that part of this is an owner who is less interested in developing real estate and more interested in developing a team. If the Athletics are going in this direction, it’s tough to use the, “We can’t succeed without a new stadium,” line. Maybe the good team should come first.