The Oakland Athletics have dealt Josh Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays for Brett Lawrie and three players you've never heard of, per the team's Twitter account.
#Athletics trade Josh Donaldson to Toronto for Brett Lawrie, Sean Nolin, Kendall Graveman and Franklin Barreto
— Oakland Athletics (@Athletics) November 29, 2014
The central question here is not whether general manager Billy Beane got a fair return in the trade, but why the American League West club would trade Donaldson at all.
The third baseman is affordably priced and ridiculously productive.
MLBTradeRumors.com projects that the 28-year-old will make $4.5 million via arbitration in 2015, and he can't become a free agent until after the 2018 season. Donaldson ranked No. 6 in WAR in all of baseball last season (per FanGraphs), finished as the runner-up for the AL Gold Glove at third base and clubbed 53 home runs at the cavernous O.co Coliseum over the past two seasons.
What's not to like about that?
One response is that the team is simply rebuilding. But if that's the case, why did Beane bother to dish out a three-year, $30 million deal to designated hitter/first baseman Billy Butler earlier this month?
Another response is that Beane's not done—not even close.
Next up on the trade block could be Josh Reddick. The right fielder shared his thoughts on the decision to jettison Donaldson via Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Josh Reddick tells me he is shocked by Donaldson trade. "This doesn't make sense to me. We just traded our best player the last 2 years."
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) November 29, 2014
Josh Reddick says it's clear to him and other #Athletics players that team is now in rebuilding mode.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) November 29, 2014
Regardless of your line of work, it's never a good idea to publicly question your boss. After all, it was just a couple of weeks ago that Donaldson fired a shot at the club's brain trust on Twitter.
Should have never sent this tweet: pic.twitter.com/PeJmWVvu2x
— Karl Buscheck (@KarlBuscheck) November 29, 2014
In the wake of the trade, Beane said that he had never even heard about that tweet.
A's GM Billy Beane said he wasn't aware of Josh Donaldson's recent twitter comments about A's finances, so no they didn't play a role.
— Athletics Farm (@AthleticsFarm) November 29, 2014
Still, not everyone is buying that line.
Billy said he had no clue Donaldson called the organization cheap on Twitter last week, bout as believable as me turning down 2nds yesterday
— John Middlekauff (@JohnMiddlekauff) November 29, 2014
Even if Reddick's comments don't lead to his departure, Oakland has much bigger chips to deal than the 2012 AL Gold Glove winner.
Outfielder/first baseman Brandon Moss knows he could be on the clock with the Athletics.
“The whole world noticed,” said Moss, via Slusser, after the team added Butler and Ike Davis in rapid succession. Like Moss, both are capable of playing first. “You never know; the front office likes to mix [it] up. I’m trying not to let anything surprise me, because I don’t want to be blindsided."
Jeff Samardzija is another high-profile player who has no excuse to be blindsided if he gets a text from his agent in the next couple of weeks. The right-handed starter is set to become a free agent at the end of the 2015 season, and Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports wrote in the beginning of November that Oakland would take calls on Samardzija.
According to John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group, the team could part with the 29-year-old in order to land a big-time bat.
#Athletics talking with #Braves about Justin Upton, Evan Gattis sources say. Jeff Samardzija may be the bait.
— John Hickey (@JHickey3) November 29, 2014
Rosenthal also tabbed Scott Kazmir as another Athletic who could be on his way out of town. Like Samardzija, the lefty starter will become a free agent at the end of next season.
Reddick, Moss, Samardzija and Kazmir are some of the names at the top of the list, but really anybody on the roster could be moved between now and spring training.
That's just how Beane does it.
Now, the only questions are who's next and whether Beane can once again, inexplicably, build a contender in 2015.
If you want to talk baseball, find me on Twitter @KarlBuscheck.
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