Report: Lawrie 'likely' to be traded by A's in wake of Lowrie's return

By foxsports
Published

The Oakland Athletics made an intriguing move on Wednesday, reacquiring infielder Jed Lowrie from the Houston Astros in exchange for minor-league pitcher Brendan McCurry. 

The deal carried out by GM David Forst and Executive VP of Baseball Operations Billy Beane was noteworthy in that it created a logistical issue with the A's infield -- and now it appears that Brett Lawrie might be the one most likely to find a new team soon. Of course, trading Lawrie before Opening Day would rob A's fans (or the media) of the gift of a 'Lawrie/Lowrie' infield in 2016. 

The trade made either Lawrie or Danny Valencia presumably expendable, and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle indicated that Lawrie is attaining the most interest: 

Both are drawing interest from American League teams, according to big-league sources, but Lawrie, obtained in the Josh Donaldson deal with Toronto last winter, is considered the better bet to be traded: He can play second and third well, he has an enormous amount of natural ability and he turns 26 in January.

Lawrie, who will turn 26 in January, is still an intriguing talent even if he hasn't quite put it all together at the big-league level. An energetic if inconsistent player, Lawrie hit .260/.299/.407 with 16 home runs and 60 RBI in his first season in Oakland since coming over in the Josh Donaldson trade. Despite his up-and-down year, Lawrie did manage to stay healthy enough to play in 149 games -- which, given his injury history, isn't something that happens very often.

Should the A's indeed find a suitor interested in trading for Lawrie, they could theoretically use the deal to improve their farm system or use him in a bigger deal to acquire an impact bat or pitching depth (all areas of need for the club as it looks to improve upon 2015's woes).