Lester to Oakland for Cespedes

[WhiteMamba]

If the A's don't win the World Series or even get to the WS will A's fans be calling for BB's head?

Uh, no. This is how Oakland does things. This is more the norm than an exception.

 

[Loneranger]

I'd put his return at less than 25% - but not at 0%.

The only chance would be if Boston makes him a comparable offer this winter. That is the only thing driving the odds....

We'll know soon enough. Don't be surprised if the Sox are never in it becuz they may be told ahead of time don't even bother. He'll have all kinds of teams after him and Boston already fucked up their chance.

 

[WhiteMamba]

LoneGranger and ringo may be right.

Dan Shaughnessy from Boston Globe doesn't believe he will be back either.

 

[steveringo]

he hinted at it a while ago and he was only playing the game like a freakin pro. If he wanted to stay in Boston he would be there now. They tried to negotiate all season and he wouldn't even respond so you tell me how anxious he is to come back to Boston. He completely ignored them and that speaks louder than anything. I don't believe there is any chance at all he comes back , it makes no sense. He had all kinds of opportunities in the last couple months/weeks to make it happen and he wouldn't even sit at the table. That's all Sox fans need to know

So, they got what they could. Hopefully you can agree that an established outfielder is better than the compensation draft pick they would have gotten if they didn't trade him...

 

[element1286]

I don't believe there is any chance he is back in Boston, getting low-balled and traded isn't a good way to keep the dialogue open.

 

[Loneranger]

So, they got what they could. Hopefully you can agree that an established outfielder is better than the compensation draft pick they would have gotten if they didn't trade him...

yes we agree on that . Hopefully we can agree the Sox royally screwed this up and ended up with a whole lot less than everyone except me expected. They got jobbed on this one and badly

 

[BF4L]

LoneGranger and ringo may be right.

Dan Shaughnessy from Boston Globe doesn't believe he will be back either.

He may not be cause the Sox are gun shy about huge long term deals like Crawford and such. BTW Shaughnessy loves to stir shit.

 

[steveringo]

LoneGranger may be right.

Dan Shaughnessy from Boston Globe doesn't believe he will be back either.

No one from Boston listens to anything that idiot says. I would advise anyone else to ignore it, too...

 

[WhiteMamba]

He may not be cause the Sox are gun shy about huge long term deals like Crawford and such. BTW Shaughnessy loves to stir shit.

lol. Damn you Dan!

 

[WhiteMamba]

Oakland is not done.

Milone and Pomeranz along with some Midland players are on the block.

Trading for a another bat possibly.

BB is busy.

 

[bksballer89]

If the A's doesn't make/win the WS this year....

 

[Loneranger]

Oakland is not done.

Milone and Pomeranz along with some Midland players are on the block.

Trading for a another bat possibly.

BB is busy.

I'd give anything to be on his office right this minute.

 

[WhiteMamba]

If the A's doesn't make/win the WS this year....

This

 

[WhiteMamba]

I'd give anything to be on his office right this minute.

He has such good connections I wouldn't be surprised if he already had something done before this trade happened.

 

[steveringo]

The addition of Lester will give Oakland an incredibly formidable rotation for the balance of the regular season, but perhaps more importantly, in the playoffs. Lester, who has posted a 2.52 ERA with 9.4 K/9, 2.0 BB/9 and a 43.2 percent ground-ball rate, will join fellow trade acquisition Jeff Samardzija, free agent signing Scott Kazmir and homegrown star Sonny Gray atop Oakland’s rotation.

It’s possible that the struggles of Jason Hammel, acquired from the Cubs along with Samardzija back on July 4, prompted A’s GM Billy Beane to aggressively pursue another sizable rotation upgrade. While the loss of Cespedes will hurt Oakland’s lineup, the team can afford to part with some offense; the A’s rank first in the Majors in runs scored, sixth in on-base percentage and eighth in slugging percentage. Gomes won’t replace Cespedes’ power or his .256/.303/.464 batting line, but he’s a formidable opponent against lefties, having slashed .302/.400/.431 against southpaws in 2014 and .279/.379/.495 in his career.

Cespedes will bring the Red Sox a much-needed outfield bat, though he’s only under team control through the 2015 season due to a clause in his contract that allows him to forgo arbitration and hit the free agent market after his initial four-year term. He’s slated to earn $10.5MM next season — the same sum that he is owed in 2014. John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that Cespedes recently voiced a disinterest in playing center field with the A’s, but he did so through a teammate rather than by approaching manager Bob Melvin directly, which likely didn’t sit well with the team ([ame="[MEDIA=twitter]494844176945537024[/MEDIA]"]Twitter[/ame] [ame="[MEDIA=twitter]494844683516796929[/MEDIA]"]links[/ame]).

The pair of blockbuster trades by Beane signifies a clear “all-in” philosophy on the 2014 season. Oakland has traded its best prospect (Addison Russell), a 2013 first-round pick (Billy McKinney) and one of its most dangerous bats (Cespedes) in an attempt at the most dominant pitching staff it can muster for the playoffs. There will be no compensation if (or, perhaps more appropriately given his likely price tag — when) Lester departs as a free agent, as baseball’s collective bargaining agreement prohibits players who did not spend the entire regular season on one team from receiving qualifying offers.

For the Red Sox, who hope to re-sign Lester as a free agent this offseason, this trade at least gives them a chance, perhaps a slight one, to have Lester and Cespedes on the same team in 2015 when the club takes another shot at contending. Beyond that, the addition of a draft pick is an interesting wrinkle, as it allows Boston to enjoy the best of both worlds, in a way. GM Ben Cherington could have kept Lester and extended a qualifying offer in hopes of recouping a draft pick if Lester signed elsewhere in free agency. Now, the Sox will get a bonus pick regardless (albeit a slightly later one), and they also are guaranteed a middle-of-the-order bat for the 2015 season. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Boston engage Cespedes in extension talks either, though that is nothing more than my own speculation at this juncture

 

[Hornsstampede2.0]

I kind of like the deal for OAKLAND.


They were not resigning this Cespedes guy anyways long term.
He has a strange out-clause on his deal that lets him become a FA in a year.
Maybe Boston can resign him with their resources, but he was not going to resign with Oakland.


They essentially got a playoff tested #1/#1 ace rental for a position player rental.

 

[WhiteMamba]

Chase Utley an Athletic before this is over?

 

[molsaniceman]

Great deal for both sides As get a great post season pitcher and sox get the OF bat and fielder they needed so bad

 

[TDs3nOut]

Nothing substantive to contribute, but I feel compelled to add that I hate the A's, the Red Sux, Cespedes, Gomes, and Lester!

 

[mrwallace2ku]

Oakland is not done.

Milone and Pomeranz along with some Midland players are on the block.

Trading for a another bat possibly.

BB is busy.

Always interesting watching teams this time of year "shoring up" for the fall run in baseball. Nice looking pitching staff on paper. Gonna need to continue with offense and get run support thruout. Can the A's pull it off without fucking up the continuity of the current roster?