The Oakland Athletics made a trade with Josh Donaldson and now the A's could be targeting a deal for Justin Upton and Evan Gattis with the Atlanta Braves, as beat writer John Hickey reports that Billy Beane may look at trading players like Jeff Samardzija, Brandon Moss or Josh Reddick after moving Donaldson to the Blue Jays.
The Athletics stunned many in baseball with the Donaldson trade, as he was coming off of two great seasons and had been playing at an MVP level. According to MLB Daily Dish from SB Nation, John Hickey writes that the Athletics could be looking into a deal with the Atlanta Braves regarding Upton and Gattis, as those players have reportedly been on the trade block this offseason. Hickey writes that no deal is close and it's still unclear what the Athletics ultimate plan is after acquiring Brett Lawrie from Toronto for Donaldson.
The Athletics still have moves to make most likely and while this will be a hard one to pull off, no one in baseball would put it past Billy Beane. Getting Upton would be an intriguing move though and not something many would expect, as he is in the last year of his deal and will be a free agent. Beane is not likely to give up Samardzija or Moss without getting Gattis in that deal, as Upton will be at best a rental. The Mariners are still in the mix for him despite signing for Nelson Cruz, as they need more than that to be true contenders.
If the Braves are rebuilding, Samardzija isn't a great option since he is in the same boat as Upton. That actually could make the deal work since both sides are trading so called "rental players" but each likely would ask for a prospect in return. The Athletics don't operate like everyone else, which is why they traded Donaldson, a player that had been great over the past two years but potentially could be on the decline. Donaldson is better than Lawrie, but Lawrie is four years younger and is under team control for longer.
Upton had a very solid season last year while hitting .270 with 29 home runs and 102 RBI and while $14 million is a lot for one season, it's just one season for the A's. Adding Upton and/or Gattis would take the sting out of trading Donaldson for some A's fans and would signal that the team is not rebuilding. Gattis is a power bat in the definition of the term and he has 43 homes runs over the past two years and he could be a solid DH and catcher option in the American League.
The Athletics traded Donaldson for Lawrie and some prospects and that means the Blue Jays are likely all in on this season after also signing Russell Martin. The Jays have been big spenders the past few years, while the A's have continued to do things in the Oakland way and that includes making some head scratcher trades. The team added Jon Lester for Yoenis Cespedes and many felt that was a wild move and now Beane could be at it again.
