Blue Jays: Dissecting the Josh Donaldson trade three years later

Yesterday marked the three-year anniversary of the Josh Donaldson acquisition from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for Brett Lawrie and a mittful of prospects, saying the deal worked out in the Jays favour would be the understatement of the century.

On November 28th, 2014 former General Manager Alex Anthopoulos pulled the trigger on a franchise-altering deal with the Oakland Athletics shipping third baseman Brett Lawrie along with highly touted shortstop Franklin Barreto, Kendall Graveman and Sean Nolin in exchange for Josh Donaldson.

The deal instantly catapulted the Blue Jays into contenders and sent a shockwave across the baseball landscape that the Jays were playing for keeps and were committed to the postseason for 2015 and beyond.

Over the past three seasons, Donaldson has put up MVP calibre numbers slashing .285/.387/.559 with 111 home runs, 300 runs batted in and a 21.1 WAR during his tenure in Toronto. The third baseman has been an All-Star and Silver Slugger winner twice as well as taking home the MVP award in 2015 coupled with a 4th place finish in 2016.

Donaldson is in the final year of his arbitration eligibility and is set to become a free agent at seasons end. The true measure of this trade may be whether or not J.D. leaves after his fourth campaign north of the border.

The prize jewel going back in the transaction for the Athletics then-GM Billy Beane was a the toolsy prospect Franklin Barreto. The 21-year old made his MLB debut last season struggling offensively in his first taste at the major league level. Barreto hit .197 with 2 round trippers and 33 strikeouts in 76 plate appearances.

The disappointing debut is nothing to stress about as Barreto should be the cornerstone of the A’s infield for years to come. In 456 career minor league games the native of Venezuela is hitting .292/.347/.463 with 49 homers and 92 stolen bases.

Brett Lawrie was the piece that Beane requested to finalize the deal with hopes that Lawrie would take over the hot corner responsibilities from Donaldson. The Jays were initially hoping to retain Lawrie and slide him over to second base however eventually they agreed to part the energetic Canadian.

More from Toronto Blue Jays News

• Blue Jays: The goalposts are moving in the right direction
• Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays advance to the Championship Series
• Blue Jays: Comparisons for Alek Manoah’s Second Season
• Blue Jays: Adam Cimber, the unlikely decision King
• Toronto Blue Jays: Has the Shift Killed Kevin Gausman’s 2022 Cy Young Hopes?

Lawrie’s tenure in Oakland lasted only one season before the A’s dealt him to the Chicago White Sox for two low-end prospects. In his only season with the Athletics Lawrie hit .260/.299/.407 with 16 home runs in 149 contests. Lawrie is currently without a contract after being released from the White Sox in the spring of 2017.

Kendall Graveman had made 5 appearances out of the bullpen in 2014 for the Jays before being included in the deal. Since the deal, Graveman has made 71 starts for the A’s going 22-24 with a 4.11 earned run average while fanning 255 batters in 407 innings of work. Graveman projects to be a back of the rotation starter at this stage of the game.

Southpaw Sean Nolin is no longer in the organization after being selected off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers. The 27-year old is currently a free agent searching for a new home this offseason.  Nolin made 6 starts for Oakland in 2015 surrendering 17 runs in 29 innings, good for an inflated 5.28 earned run average.

Next: Blue Jays need to lock up Hernan Perez if non-tendered

No matter what happens with Donaldson and his pending free agency the Blue Jays win this deal a thousand times over even if Barreto lives up to his potential. Pretty sure Beane would love a mulligan on this deal if he had to do it all over again.