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By Steve Adams | at
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Niekro
The Red Sox also had interest, makes no sense Beane never gave either club an option to match or better the offer on the table. The guys they got back never seemed like a “blow you away” deal that had to be accepted immediately. I guess they could have valued Lawrie being an MLB starter as opposed to getting better prospects, and that could have been the difference, as the Red Sox or Yankees were probably not going to part with a starting position player.
Xyrak 2
You nailed it at the end. I remember watching an AA interview on the trade, and he mentioned making a very similar offer to the final one but without Lawrie. Beane came back saying “I cant do that because I wont have anyone to play 3rd.” Instead of “Donaldson isn’t available.” AA said that change in stance is what prompted him to include Lawrie, whom AA wanted to keep to fill the hole at 2nd, and thats when the ball really started rolling.
donniebaseball
Beane didn’t speak with some teams because he didn’t see a specific match, or didn’t value the other teams’ players as much as others do. Also, being a small market team, it’s possible that beane looked for players who aren’t valued as highly as they should be, especially when it comes to future salary purposes. Lawrie’s arbitration numbers won’t be close to Donaldson (which is how it should be). Is it possible that beane actually values superstars less due to salary? Rather than let 3 players take 50% of your payroll, I think he’d prefer more slightly above average players at significant less cost.
Niekro
That would seem to make sense if he didn’t give Billy Butler 30 million dollars. Moving Donaldson “expensive” arbitration in favor of a guy who has nearly ate him self out of the league does not seem very wise.
A'sfaninUK
Yup, it makes no sense…because the possible truth is too sensitive to get into publicly if you believe my other post.
A'sfaninUK
This is total hearsay but makes way more sense than any reality we’ve been presented with: apparently Donaldson’s more criminal family members were stalking him all over America, to the point where it was weighing on his mind and reflected in his poor play in the second half of last year. His relatives are not allowed in Canada due to their rap sheets, hence a Jays trade and why Beane wasn’t even listening to Boston or New York. Donaldson is a lot easier to hide when on the road, but living in Canada he can stay away from distractions.
In the Astros hack controversy it was found out that Brett Lawrie was the #1 more untouchable player in their org, so therefore he went to Oakland.
Sounds weird…but it does makes sense.
Regardless, Stroman needed to be in the deal, not Graveman+Nolin – that makes it pretty even. Even still Lawrie has more HR this year than when Donaldson was 25, and Barreto is now a top 10 prospect (thanks to a lot of late season promotions, but still). It’s a weird trade but we will learn the truth in the years to come.