Sprowl said:
What we're hearing from the Red Sox is that Donaldson wasn't available -- not that they were outbid, or that Toronto had a better direct replacement. Lawrie is preferable to Middlebrooks, to be sure, but neither one is very good, and the Red Sox certainly could have put together a package deal or three-way deal that was competitive with Toronto's. How many top 100 prospects do the Red Sox have? So many that most are blocked.
Why would Beane deliberately tell one potential bidder that Donaldson was not available, and then sell Donaldson to another bidder? It makes more sense to get two bidders bidding against each other than to sell to only one interested party. That's what doesn't make sense about the Red Sox claims that Donaldson was not available: it makes Beane out to be his own worst enemy.
[SIZE=10pt]I don't understand why that explanation is so incredible. The Donaldson trade, for me, is one of the most confounding in recent memory. Unexplainable, like the Jonah Keri quote posted earlier says. And every time I see the guy come to bat for the Blue Jays, I just incredulously shake my head.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]But I don’t see how the ire can be directed at the Red Sox in this case. Are we to believe that between getting Donaldson in a trade and giving a large contract to Panda (and getting Panda was hardly a guarantee at the time), they just thought the latter was a much better idea? I don’t see it. This, in my view, is all Billy Beane; and yes, in this case, he was his own worst enemy.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]What is most confounding to me is that it’s not even clear Beane tried to create a market for Donaldson. This was one of the most prized assets in MLB. An elite level third baseman with a great contract, controllable for a few year. At the time, at least four teams needed a third baseman – The Sox, the Yankees, the Jays, the Padres and I’m sure there were more that would have loved to trade for him. Yet, other than the Jays, none of those thought Donaldson valuable enough to make a play for him? That makes no sense. There was no iota of a leak that Donaldson was in play or could be had. It's like Sonny Gray now. People ask, but understand when you say he's not in play. Because an asset like that is so valuable, it rarely comes in play. How can you have an asset like that, and not let the word out to people to make you their best offers?[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]The only explanation, to me, is that Beane just loved Lawrie + some prospects Toronto had, and didn’t care to create a market for Donaldson. Or he had a list for each team that he knew had a need, and said I either get this or don’t bother calling me. I don’t see why this scenario would be so out of the realm of possibility – more so than Cherington going on a public forum to lie just so he could save face. This isn’t just the Red Sox. The Yankees decided they’d prefer Headley? The Padres, who were trading anything and everything, that they just loved Middlebrooks better?[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]I get the love for Beane, Moneyball and all that, but the man has had his share of awful trades. And the zooming on players he likes and just ignoring the rest is not unprecedented for Billy. the Samardzija trade to the White Sox happened in similar fashion. Maybe he created a market, but it sure looked like he didn’t; saw what he liked, went for it. What else could he have gotten for Russell if he put him up for open bidding? But I must say, the Donaldson trade takes the cake. If a GM without the aura of Billy Beane did the same thing, he would be excoriated and sent to the gallows. And rightfully so.[/SIZE]