The Blue Jays acquisition of Josh Donaldson last offseason has been said to be due to the dogged persistence of Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos, and Joel Sherman of the New York Post echoes that sentiment, noting that Yankees GM Brian Cashman touched base with Billy Beane regarding Donaldson early last offseason. Cashman, however, was told that Donaldson simply wasn’t available in trades. Anthopolous, though, continued his pursuit despite being told the same. “Alex is and was certainly relentless,” Athletics assistant GM David Forst told Sherman. “That is his personality. But we didn’t trade Josh to make Alex go away.” Forst adds that the A’s had a list of Blue Jays players they had strong interest in, and eventually the Jays offered enough from that list to make them cave. Donaldson’s MVP-caliber season notwithstanding, Forst said the A’s still believe the players they got in the deal have bright futures that will even out the transaction in the future. Sherman notes that Franklin Barreto — who is ranked among the game’s top 50 prospects or so — and Kendall Graveman held particular appeal to the A’s.
Here’s more from the AL East…
- Brad Boxberger’s recent comments about potential overuse from the Rays sparked some controversy, but agent Scott Boras tells Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that he believes Boxberger is a good fit for the Rays and will benefit from a more defined role in the future. “[Manager Kevin] Cash has given him an opportunity and he’s taken advantage of it and become an All-Star, and when you have things like that happen for a young player, you’re in a good place,” said Boras. The agent, however, acknowledged that the Rays may eventually struggle to keep Boxberger for financial reasons — a comment that is less a reflection on Boras’ reputation than it is of the Rays’ well-documented payroll constraints. Boxberger has saved 36 games this season, and a full 2016 season as the Rays’ closer would set him up for a hefty payday in 2016 which could soar by 2017. Comparatively, Greg Holland received $4.675MM for his first arb-eligible season in 2014 with just 67 career saves under his belt. That figure jumped to $8.25MM in 2015. Boxberger has already saved 39 games in his career and offers similarly high strikeout numbers, albeit with a higher ERA as well.
- Also from Topkin, the Rays are shutting down Nate Karns for the remainder of the season due to tightness in his right forearm. Karns and Cash both feel that the issue isn’t serious in nature, and Karns added that at a different point in the season he might’ve pitched through the pain. With Tampa Bay having fallen out of playoff contention, though, it makes sense for Karns to focus on his health. Rookie catcher Curt Casali may also see his season shut down, Topkin notes, due to a lingering hamstring injury.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Yup, it makes no sense…because the possible truth is too sensitive to get into publicly if you believe my other post.
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.