The Oakland Athletics and Toronto Blue Jays reached a deal on Friday night that will send Josh Donaldson to the Blue Jays. With infielder Brett Lawrie, right hander Kendall Graveman, shortstop Franklin Barreto, and left hander Sean Nolin to the A’s.
It looks to me that Oakland might be looking forward to the future yet again. They already lost Jon Lester to free agency and traded away Yoenis Céspedes to get Lester.
The Blue Jays are trying to make it to the playoffs for the first time since 1993, they currently have the longest playoff drought in baseball at 21 years. I think they still need to add some pitching to become a complete team.
Josh Donaldson hit .255 last season with 29 homers and 98 RBIs. He came onto the scene in 2013 after hitting .301 with 24 homers and 93 RBIs. Toronto already has a lot of power in their lineup and I can see Donaldson hitting fifth in the lineup. Donaldson will be 29 in a few weeks and the A’s realized he was at his full trade value, so they unloaded him and got a handful of prospects for him.
Kendall Graveman was unbelievable in the minors this past season, posting a 1.83 ERA and going 14-6 in 27 starts. Graveman was drafted in the 8th round of the 2013 draft out of Mississippi State. He will be 24 in a month and you have to think that he will compete for a job in the starting rotation next season.
Franklin Barreto is an undersized shortstop, standing at 5’9″, but he makes up for that with his speed and ability to get on base. He hit .311 in the minors last season, with an OBP of .384. Barreto also added 29 steals and he’s only 18 (he will be 19 in February).
Sean Nolin has pitched two games in the majors in 2013 and 2014. Both outing weren’t too great, giving up a total of eight runs in the two games. Nolan is just 24 years old and has a career ERA of 3.06 in the minors. I could see him being moved to the bullpen or a number two or three starter.
Brett Lawrie hasn’t lived up to his potential yet, but he’s only 24 years old and still has room to grow. Lawrie hit .247 last season, but struggled with injures and only played in 70 games. Lawrie has a bright future and when healthy will be a great commodity for Oakland.
Overall I like this trade for Oakland, they got some exciting young players and will benefit from this trade in the long run.
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