In this morning’s Insider-only blog, ESPN’s Buster Olney writes that he feels a Josh Donaldson trade is likely for the Athletics this offseason. Billy Beane has shown a willingness to trade players at their peak value, Olney writes (citing the Gio Gonzalez and Trevor Cahill trades, among others), and Donaldson’s salary will begin to rise quickly now that he’s hit arbitration. Olney looks at the rest of Oakland’s roster and notes that no other trade candidate has value as high as Donaldson’s, so while Jeff Samardzija would be an attractive chip, Donaldson could help Beane usher in his next roster reconstruction.
Some more news from the American League…
- The Red Sox won’t hold a private workout for Cuban slugger Yasmany Tomas, reports Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. The team did attend his showcase in the Dominican Republic and they’re intrigued by his power, but the team’s glut of outfielders and concerns over Tomas’ strikeout rate in Cuba have tempered their interest.
- Tim Britton of the Providence Journal points to the Pirates’ success in reviving the careers of Edinson Volquez, Francisco Liriano and A.J. Burnett and points to some similar buy-low candidates that the Red Sox could try for on the free agent market. Of course, as he notes, the Sox are expected to pursue Jon Lester and James Shields, so his suggestions of Justin Masterson, Brandon McCarthy and Ervin Santana are intended to be secondary targets.
- Miguel Cabrera turned down his share of the team’s postseason bonus when the time came to sign the paperwork, reports Paul White of USA Today. Cabrera refused to sign, instead stating that he “just wants the ring.” As White points out, Cabrera could be turning down as much as $300K (though that figure pales in comparison to his salary), and that money could be reallocated to other players as well as Tigers staff such as clubhouse personnel, traveling secretaries, etc.
- Justin Smoak’s contract to avoid arbitration last year contained a rare club option, and Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times writes that it’s a virtual lock that the Mariners will buy out his $3.65MM option for $150K and non-tender the first baseman. Smoak, the centerpiece of an ill-fated Cliff Lee trade with the Rangers, hit just .202/.275/.339 and has failed to establish himself as a regular in four seasons with Seattle.
- Also from Divish’s piece, GM Jack Zduriencik called the decision to pick up Hisashi Iwakuma’s $7MM option a “no-brainer,” which certainly isn’t surprising.
Donaldson to the Red Sox?
Donaldson to the Nats?
Both are interesting thoughts. Both teams certainly have the necessity and the capabilities to make a trade.
Doesn’t make sense for the Sox. They’re already too right-handed. An organizational need/target has already been identified: a left-handed hitting 3B. If the Sox get a new 3B, I’m gonna guess Sandoval.
Where would the Nats use him? Zimmerman locked in through 2020 and Rendon isn’t going anywhere.
Zimm is done at 3B and will move to 1B. Rendon would go back to 2B. The Nats have to get either a 2B or 3B this offseason.
Zim in either the outfield or at first base. Rendon at second.
If ATL isn’t in on Donaldson, I’m done with them — not that they have line up well with OAK.
They just locked up Chris Johnson
You mean the guy with a -1.3 WAR in 2014? Yeah, we are ready to write him off, like BJ and half the team.
Much like his extension, that would be a bad idea. Best to let him see if he can turn it around.
The Oakland A’s need a 2nd baseman. Mookie Betts can play 2nd base. Betts+ for Donaldson. It’s a perfect match for both teams.
Straight up that’s a big win for Oakland. They’d need to include other pieces they don’t have.
Mookie Betts is not a guarantee. I don’t see how it’d be a big win for the A’s. Donaldson is already a prove 6+ win player who can play every aspect of the game on an elite level and he’ll be entering his age 29 season and he has no large contract to deal with so the Sox would be free to negotiate one.
Seems like the A’s typically do well with former Sox a la Reddick, Moss, Crisp, Lester, Lowrie. Id try to sell them on Cecchini + one of the Sox young starters (preferably not named Owens). I like Betts for his versatility and it helps that hes shown he can hit at every level now.
“Mookie Betts is not a guarantee.” That seems to be the same thing I read on here every time a team has a productive player they want to trade before they start paying him. The Red Sox could not possibly benefit from his potential production and low salaries the next three years. Donaldson for Betts is at least a reasonable structure for a deal as Donaldson has three years of team control.
Not a guarantee? In 52 games he hit .291 with 34 RS 5 HR and 7 SB and had a WAR of 2.1 playing 3 different positions. While i admit Donaldson is a good 3rd baseman and power threat he is not a good contact hitter aand straikes out too much on top of that the Sox need a LEFT handed hitter in the lineup and Donaldson is a right handed one. Betts is also 7 years younger then Donaldson.
Can’t argue with sample that large.
Wait, what? My goodness, even on a blog with some creatively odd posters making suggestions, this has to be the strangest opinion I’ve read yet. Donaldson is a 6 win 3B just entering arbitration while in his prime. He’ll get significant MVP votes this year. You’re talking about one of the ten most valuable assets in all of baseball given his salary, production on offense and defense, and position (which is a hard one to fill). If Betts were the best prospect in baseball (he’s not) he wouldn’t come close to getting Donaldson Red Sox would have to add at least another top prospect. At least.
I just don’t buy Donaldson that much, I guess. Show me another season like this one from him and I’ll believe it.
Well he’s put together two fantastic years in a row, you’re not going to get more proof than that in most of baseball. Bett’s is still just a prospect.
He put together a fantastic year, and then a very good but appreciably-less year. His first (half) year was below average. His numbers haven’t stabilized to me. Next season is when we find out if pitchers can identify a true weakness since there’s a boatload of tape on him now.
He’s put up more than 14 WAR since 2013 began. He’s incredible. I think Trout, McCutchen, Posey, Cano and Tulowitzki are the only clear-cut better position players. Miggy, Lucroy, Yadier, Longoria if he bounces back, and the Brewer CarGo are right there with him. You’re severely underrating Josh Donaldson. If Cole Hamels is rumored to potentially get Betts, Donaldson gets the moon. I honestly think Donaldson would acquire the biggest haul of any single player in years. He’s likely to finish top-5 in the AL MVP for the second straight year and may win a Gold Glove with Machado hurt, and probably will win the AL Silver Slugger at third base. He’s in his prime, he’s cheap, and he’s got three years of control left. He’s the best asset that might actually get traded that we’ve seen in years.
Josh Donaldson, 2013: 668 PA, 147 wRC+, +12.1 DEF, 7.7 WAR
Josh Donaldson, 2014: 695 PA, 129 wRC+, +16.7 DEF, 6.4 WAR
Josh Donaldson ranked second in the AL in WAR in 2013 and fourth in the AL in WAR in 2014. I can’t stress this enough: Mookie Betts is a starting point in Josh Donaldson negotiations. If Cherington says no, Beane just keeps *the best third baseman in baseball*
I guess this is sort of my point? I don’t see Donaldson as tradeable for anyone, because it wouldn’t make sense for Beane to move him except for a huge haul, but I can’t see any team actually giving it up for Donaldson.
Exactly. Especially not the Red Sox. We’re not gutting the farm for Donaldson.
He isn’t a good contact hitter and strikes out too much. THe reason he is a 6 WAR player at 3rd is there have been few good 3rd baseman in the past couple of years. So he shows up as being better then he really is. Look at his WAR compared to Mike Schmidt or George Brett now who would you rather have his War is comparable to them yet they were a LOT better of players. WAR not a good indicator of him being a great player rather that WAR isn’t a reliable measuring tool.
True. It’s the same thing as how Alex Gordon, although a fine player, gets overrated by WAR. Donaldson has a ridiculously inflated defensive rating because everyone else in the league (except for a 35-year-old Adrian Beltre) at his position basically sucks with the leather. Any left fielder or third baseman who could generate 2.6 or 2.7 WAR just with their defense against a field of anything but crappy players wouldn’t be playing left field or third base in the first place.
Just because you are a red sox fan does not mean that is a lopsided trade proposal
Offer that trade to Beane and he’d take it before Cherington had a chance to change his mind, then put Betts at third for the next four years before flipping him.
If you knew anything about Mookie Betts’ history as a player, you’d know that he started out as a SS and made 7 throwing errors from the hole in his first 14 games. He’s never going to play on the left side of the infield. Ever.
I’m a huge Betts fan but I don’t think you can argue he is worth more than Donaldson. 3 years of a guy who put up 1200 PA of MVP play vs. 6 years of a guy who has less then 250 MLB PA. 53 HR over the last two years playing half the games in that stadium would be nice to have in the lineup.
I don’t think I would want the Red Sox to do it though. As good as Donaldson because I want one homegrown start from the latest run of prospects.
Not unless Donaldson can suddenly start hitting left handed.
Betts is going to be the Sox lead off hitter and starting right fielder. He may not have the power of Donaldson but he is a better contact hitter with 15-20 HR power. If the Sox trade him for anything less then Sale or Strasburg they are stupid. He showed he is a good lead off hitter and that is the #1 thing the Sox missed the 1st half of the year. I could see Donaldson for some of the Sox pitchers but not for Betts.
If Billy Beane trades someone away at that point of their career, I smell a rat. And Donaldson was a few months from his 27th birthday by the time he established himself in the majors. Players who get to that majors that late, even if they play great for a few years, don’t usually last very long. And you know Billy Beane already knows that.
There’s no way I would include a 21-year-old who had 2.1 WAR in a third of a season in a trade for a guy going into his age-29 season who never hit a lick until he was 26. Donaldson is only going to decline; he got to the majors so late that he can’t progress one step from where he started. In fact, he did decline as a hitter in 2014. That is obviously not the case with Mookie Betts.
Donaldson is a bit different than the more typical late bloomers in that he shows well-above average athleticism and defensive ability. He also spent the majority of his minor league career as a catcher, and his offense didn’t truly take off until he made the move to third permanent.
Donaldson was a highly regarded prospect coming out of college and was drafted pretty high. He had that pedigree for a reason.
Good on Cabrera. Even if 300k isn’t much more than a drop in the bucket to him, it’s still a lot of money and he certainly didn’t have to do that. Hopefully it goes toward something nice for people involved with the team that otherwise weren’t going to get anything extra.
We’ll take Donaldson. You can have Drew Hutchison, Daniel Norris, and Franklin Barreto.
I’d rather keep Hutch and Norris, and send Lawrie and Sanchez in their place.
please, please, please don’t trade Donaldson. there won’t be anything left if he’s gone. SPEND SOME MONEY OAKLAND!!!
Cespedes to the Mets
Niese and Murphy to Red Sox’s (Murphy plays 3B)
Red Soxs also sign James Shields
Love Cespedes. Niese is pretty good but hes a no.3 in the AL east at best. Murphy is a real interesting option to remain flexible at 3b for a year. Murphy and Harvey for Cespedes, Betts, Marrero, Brentz and a MAYBE a pitcher like Webster. I know it sounds nuts but the way those teams are constructed now theyd both make the playoffs next year if these were the only big moves each team made. As good as Harvey is I think anyone who has been paying attention to Betts knows what a special talent he is. What a fun trade that would be
I don’t think the Mets would trade Harvey until he’s re-established ace-like value, if they’re going to move him. As good as Betts it, we’ve got a third baseman and a centerfielder. We could put him at his natural second base to be sure, but I’d prefer to keep that open for Herrera long-term or Flores or a future free agent and keep Harvey.
I totally get why a Mets fan would want to hang on to harvey, I just wonder if Sandy feels the same way. Marrero is a fine shortstop prospect and Betts and Cespedes, plus Brentz is a ton of offense. With their other young pitchers the Mets could actually spare harvey if they got enough offense. Betts is an enormous upgrade on herrera you guys need bats.
Brentz has little value left.
Maybe a fun trade for Mets. No thanks.
So a guy who doesn’t play third base, or defense very well for that matter, and a pitcher coming back from Tommy John for the Sox top prospect, a power hitting outfielder, and more pieces on top of that?
You can say that Harvey will be fine and he very well could be. But he doesn’t get a guy like Betts right now.
Murphy’s best position is 3rd base, came up as a 3rd baseman.
I see this argument a lot. The fact is, though, Murphy has played in only 44 games at third in the majors. He’s only played in 196 at third in the minors, and 131 of those were A ball. I don’t know how people come to the conclusion that his best position is third when he has so small of a legitimate sample there.
He also had a terrible fielding percentage when he played there regularly at age 23. He’s not a very good defensive second baseman, I don’t really see why anyone thinks moving him to the hot corner is a good idea when he’s only getting older.
Easy to explain; he’s not very good at the other positions.
You’re extolling it like it’s a selling feature. It’s not. My ‘best position’ would probably be centerfield but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be the worst centerfielder in history.
Could Betts be expected to add the same value at third as Murphy I think he could. The real problem with the Sox going out and getting a 3B is not WMB or Zucchini. It’s that is where Bogaerts is almost destined to end up. Other Sox fans will disagree but that realization is coming soon.
I’m not extolling anything! given his lack of range his best positions are 1st and 3rd. Since his bat doesn’t translate to 1st, 3rd is his best position.
I’d argue that 2nd is his best. 3rd would diminish his offensive numbers and there’s no reason to think that his defense is any better at 3rd than at 2nd.
His defense would be better at 3rd because the position is less vital defensively :), and requires less thinking and more reacting. If this was 2003 I would agree with your point on offensive numbers.
I don’t understand your 2003 comment. Having Murphy, who slugs around .400, as your regular third basemen is a diminishment of his offensive numbers. He has a career high of 13 HR. The reason he has value is because he plays second.
The difference between what was a productive offensive 3rd baseman in 2003 and now, is night and day. A .300 hitter, with .400+ Slugging % is fine in today’s game, even at the hot corner. In 2003, teams wanted .800+ OPS, they will settle for a lot less now.
Daniel Murphy finished second among NL second baseman with 110 wRC+. He would’ve finished 7th among NL third baseman with that number. Once again: his numbers are good because he plays second base. He’d be worth less as a third baseman. Second base is his best position. Today’s game, yesterday’s game, it doesn’t matter.
As far as fielding goes, in very limited sample, Murphy had terrible numbers at third.
David Wright came up as a SS, maybe the mets should put him there, his numbers would look even better.
Murphy hasn’t played third regularly in years. His 16 games there this year left a lot to be desired. The Sox tried moving a 30 year old to the hot corner once before with Youk and that was a disaster. No way they part with Betts and other prospects for the chance to do that again. Murphy is not going to the Sox.
Didn’t say he was Rev, just pointing out his best position.
Based on what? He doesn’t play there regularly and when he does, he’s not very good. He’s not a great defensive player to begin with, but there’s little to suggest he’d handle third better than second.
Youk was a 3B, remember 2004? He rode the bench as a 3B substitute.
I know Youkilis’ history quite well, he was one of my favorite players for a long time. Moving him back there in 2011 when he’d had injuries and was older was a huge mistake. He was an adequate fill in for Lowell when he was injured, but full time was a tall order.
Tim Wakefield came up as an infielder, Mookie Betts was a 2B, Brock Holt was a 2B, Mike Napoli was a C, Allen Webster was an infielder. Just because they came up there doesn’t mean they should stay there. These just come to mind as a Red Sox fan.
They moved him because of a guy named Wright.
Donaldson to the Cubs for Baez Almora and Edwards
Cubs move Bryant into RF or LF
Cubs add a front line starter and another starter for mid-back end
NL Central Champs
A’s then trade Samarjadzia (can’t spell) to Red Sox’s for Cecchini Brentz and Owens
One year of Shark for Owens and Barnes and more, when the A’s got him and Hammel for ONE prospect? Oooooookay.
Take out Barnes, its very fair now
No, I… No.
That one prospect is someone many consider a top-5 or 10 prospect in baseball, and is elite.
The Cubs aren’t going to from their glut of position player prospect to acquire a position player. The Cubs certainly don’t have a shortage of infield prospects.
Baez hasn’t shown me enough to be the centerpiece of a deal for a top 5-ish position player yet.
Susan Slusser quotes an A’s official as saying the team would be “stupid” to trade Donaldson, and she’s a lot closer to the situation than Buster. As it is, the team is weaker against lefty starters than righties.
The Sox and the Yankees will be getting some damaged players back in April. The Sox have some young pitchers that will compete. If Cespedes is traded a comp would be Donaldson but the A’s won’t pay either , obviously. My guess Cespy would fit the Mets , Marlins, Philly, Braves, Nats, Angels, Giants, etc. He’s a pretty good chip.
Betts is a nice chip that’s blocked and the Sox have a player in Coyle that will spend a year in AAA and be ready in’16.
The Sox are loaded with young pitching and they have money to spend on FA pitching. Unlike the Patriots the Sox will spend the money to protect their Asset, The Red Sox Logo. 2015 will see some major changes in the Sox 25 and 40 man rosters.
If Sandoval leaves the Giants Boston would a welcome landing spot–either at 3B or at 1B.
I don’t think that Cespedes is getting traded. I think that the only way he gets traded is that the Sox have a year like last year and can’t/won’t resign him.
Unless Cespedes can play another position besides the outfield he does not fit on the Marlins.
Betts is not blocked. He is not playing second base but he will start in right or Center next year with some positional versatility. He could get traded but the Sox are not going to trade him unless the return is more than people think. No, he’s not a sure thing but he is as close to a sure thing as you will find given his first 200 at bats and minor league stats (particularly his peripheral stats) as you will find.
Betts isn’t blocked in the outfield. Who would be blocking him Victorino? Come on Betts is a better hitter and 16 years younger. Victorino will end up gatting traded or will be the backup on the team with Betts starting in RF or LF and leading off. Coyle will end up as a first baseman. Cecchini will be the SOx new 3rd baseman hopefully and they will hopefully NOT sign panda spend the money on 2 top tier Starting pitchers. Lester and Shields/Masterson. Maybe make a run at Scherzer if and only if Lester says no to coming back.
Gio and Cahill were both expendable. How are Beane and his sleepy offense going to replace Donaldson?
Especially after trading Russell for Shark/Hammel. Russell is going to hit and field. Brand is going to be losing sleep over that one.
*Beane not Brand. Sorry for the typos my computer is fried and I’m trying to get used to “tablet typing.”
Oakland is far more likely to trade a starting pitcher than Donaldson. Offense is in much shorter supply than pitching in Oakland.
Donaldson to Tigers for Nick Castellanos, Robbie Ray and Eugenio Saurez.
Though IDK if Oakland is too eager to trade with the Tigers after the last few years. But thinking about it, Oakland gets a Jed Lowrie replacement at Short for the Future, a Donaldson Replacement in the trade, and a solid Lefty who can touch 93. Also, this improves them against Left-Handed Starting Pitching, with Saurez over Lowrie.
Donaldson and samarjia to the dbacks for lamb, Blair, and Ahmed/gregorious
Beane and the A’s just consummated the canine. Its going to take a little longer than an off season to right the ship. Did what they had to do…but there’s some serious competition in the division and for the wild card
Class move by Miggy.
Thank goodness the Smoak era in Seattle will soon be over. It might be succeeded by an equally disappointing Logan Morrison era, but it’s pretty clear Smoak isn’t going to be more than a replacement player.