On Friday night the Oakland Athletics traded All-Star third baseman Josh Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays in a five-player deal. Donaldson will be a part of another one of the league's best offenses in 2015.
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweeted late Friday night that the Athletics had a major deal in place. It was originally speculated that starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija was involved in the talks, mainly because at least 10 teams have expressed interest in him, but that wasn't the case.
Donaldson was sent to Toronto in exchange for third baseman Brett Lawrie, right-hander Kendall Graveman, left-hander Sean Nolin and minor league shortstop Franklin Barreto. Lawrie has had his last two seasons shortened due to injury, but he'll only be turning 25 years old so the A's will have some time to work with him. Graveman and Nolin were perhaps two of Toronto's most prized young starters after finishing strong at Triple-A Buffalo in 2014. Barreto is only 18 years old and will take a bit longer to reach the big leagues despite a good season with Class-A Vancouver.
Blue Jays' general manager Alex Anthopoulos shot down speculation that the team was heavily pursuing third baseman Pablo Sandoval a little over a week ago. He reiterated he and the front office was taking their time to evaluate the payroll situation after they signed catcher Russell Martin to get a better idea where they stood in terms of signing more free agents or executing trades.
The 28-year-old Donaldson will add even more power to an impressive Blue Jays offense. Over the past two seasons Donaldson has batted .278 with 53 home runs and 191 RBIs. He finished fourth in the MVP voting in 2013 and eighth this past season. Although he contributed significantly for Oakland, general manager Billy Beane said he was "overwhelmed" by Toronto's offer.
Lawrie will jump in at third base immediately for Oakland and Graveman and Nolin appear to be MLB-ready. They'll join Samardzija, Sonny Gray, Scott Kazmir, Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin to compete for a spot in the starting rotation. However, it will be interesting to see what else the Athletics do this offseason, because it's been speculated they would trade Samardzija, and first baseman Brandon Moss has emerged as a target of the Miami Marlins.
While the Blue Jays have filled a need at a crucial position, the Athletics got a lot of value in return. The acquisition of Barreto fills a void left when Oakland traded shortstop prospect Addison Russell to the Chicago Cubs early in July. The 18-year-old Barreto was ranked the No. 2 prospect in the 2012 international free-agent class and has impressed in the minors.
Although this deal helped both teams, they still have some work to do this offseason. Expect more to happen when the MLB Winter Meetings take place from December 7-11.
