The Oakland Athletics made a trade with Josh Donaldson going to the Toronto Blue Jays over the Thanksgiving holiday and now Billy Beane could continue to make deals, as Justin Upton, Evan Gattis, Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel have been mentioned in connection to the A's in trade rumors, while the team also reportedly is talking to the White Sox.
The surprising news about Donaldson being traded to the Toronto Blue Jays came on Friday night and he was acquired for a group of prospects along with third baseman Brett Lawrie. Billy Beane has been known to make surprising trades in the past and while Donaldson being moved was surprising, writers like Buster Olney and Ken Rosenthal wrote after the A's lost in the wild card game that the team could get broken down a bit through trades this offseason. Donaldson has been an MVP candidate in the past two seasons and now he gives the Blue Jays a formidable lineup with Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion.
According to Hardball Talk, the Athletics may not be done dealing after Donaldson, as they reportedly have talked to the Atlanta Braves about Justin Upton and Evan Gattis. The Braves already traded Jason Heyward for Shelby Miller and they are desperate for pitching, which is why Samardzija could be the target in that deal. No deal with the Braves is close and reports have Atlanta looking for a big package for anyone trading for Upton.
Ken Rosenthal from Fox also wrote that it would not be surprising to see Beane shop players like Brandon Moss or Josh Reddick next if ge continues to make deals. Hardball Talk reports that the White Sox could be interested in a deal with the Athletics, as Oakland needs a shortstop and Alexei Ramirez has been mentioned in other trade rumors this offseason. Samardzija is a solid arm and he comes in after posting a 2.99 ERA for the A's and Cubs last season.
The Athletics signed Billy Butler to a deal and also added Ike Davis, so the team doesn't look like it's rebuilding, although that was what Josh Reddick called it after reacting to the Donaldson trade. Beane likely isn't in a total rebuild and his quotes from after the trade of Donaldson were in the realm of what he usually likes to do with the budget that Oakland has. Many also were surprised when Beane traded Yoenis Cespedes for Jon Lester and while that deal didn't exactly work out, it was likely the A's would lose Cespedes as a free agent anyway.
