Josh Donaldson Trade to Cleveland a Shady Deal

[Vanimal46]

https://deadspin.com/report-rival-clubs-think-clevelands-trade-for-josh-don-1828940340

 

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the news. Rival teams are asking the commissioner for clarification on this trade. Donaldson was not healthy at the time of the trade, which would have taken him off of revokable trade waivers according to WRITTEN(!!) rules.

[Winston Smith]

I think baseball only uses unwritten rules.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Toronto's front office is made up of former Cleveland Indians execs, so...

[Vanimal46]

Toronto's front office is made up of former Cleveland Indians execs, so...

"Josh Donaldson is totally healthy!" (Wink wink)

 

"Oh, you meant healthy right now? Well, no, he's not. But he could be by the playoffs."

[TheLeviathan]

Never trust Canadiens.  

[Tomj14]

blame Canada, blame Canada
With all their beady little eyes
and flappin' heads so full of lies

[nicksaviking]

Toronto probably picked up the NHL rulebook by mistake. If he's breathing he can skate bat.

[Dantes929]

If you read the article, read the comments below.   Some of them kind of funny.

[ashbury]

If you read the article, read the comments below.   Some of them kind of funny.

I posted moderator's warnings on some of them, but they are awaiting moderation.

[Otto von Ballpark]

The intent of this rule is to prevent teams from leveraging an injury to help a guy clear trade waivers. It looks like Toronto may have done that here, although it wasn't necessarily egregious -- Donaldson had just started a rehab assignment, so he probably was clear to be activated at any time.

 

The weirdest part is how an MLB official was apparently involved, warning teams about Donaldson's health ("buyer beware"). Is that normal? I wonder if any of the teams asked at the time, "why is he even allowed on trade waivers then?" Because that warning could have discouraged claims (although it likely discourage Cleveland as much as any contender, and Cleveland had the top waiver priority among contenders anyway).

 

It's tricky, because I think he was close to returning and MLB didn't want to prevent a trade, and at the same time, they didn't want a team to claim him, get stuck with the full contract, and complain they received damaged goods. At the very least, the league probably should have told Cleveland they couldn't keep him on the DL for additional rehab, though.

[Blackjack]

Much ado about nothing.

[slash129]

 

Much ado about nothing.

 

I agreed with Morneau's statement during the game last night along the lines of --> who care's if they want to trade for an injured player.  There is no guarantee that he is going to be healthy and playing in top form by the time the playoffs roll around anyway.

[big dog]

 

If you read the article, read the comments below.   Some of them kind of funny.

Agreed, some are kind of funny and the rest of them are hilarious.

[biggentleben]

The Astros met with MLB and came away satisfied with the answer. Reportedly, MLB reached out to the Red Sox and Yankees to offer the same discussion and were declined.

 

Easier to cry and be rich than to actually talk with the league about what happened.