Athletics link roundup: The Internet weighs in on the Josh Donaldson trade

Here's what the rest of the Internet has to say about the Oakland Athletics trading Josh Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays. More links will be added in as the day goes on, so keep on checking back for updates.

- Jane Lee has her story on MLB.com.

Beane said on a conference call that he was adamant about not entertaining trade discussions surrounding Donaldson when Toronto came calling. But Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos proved equally persistent, ultimately piecing together the right parts to consummate a deal.

- Susan Slusser has her take at the SF Chronicle.

Lawrie is a third baseman, and one American League exec tells me he thinks Lawrie is, like Donaldson, Gold Glove caliber there, and an "explosive player - when he's healthy."

- Slusser also reports that the Chicago White Sox are making a push for Jeff Samardzija

It's no surprise considering Samardzija's available since Oakland (now) possesses no less than nine viable starters following the big trade late Friday night, and Samardzija is due to become a free agent after the season, with no hope of the A's re-signing him.

- Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports agrees that another big move is brewing in Oakland.

The usual caveat applies: Trades like this cannot be judged immediately. But when you move a player of Donaldson's quality, and give up that much club control, the odds of coming out ahead are more difficult. Beane knows that, but he is not done yet. The Athletics, according to a major-league source, have at least one more significant trade brewing. The source went on to say, "This is Billy re-working the club."

- Nick Ashbourne of Beyond The Box Score calls the deal a doozy due to its significance and complex ramifications.

Put as simply as possible, the Toronto Blue Jays and Oakland Athletics just pulled off a trade that has more angles than a dodecahedron.

- Dave Cameron of Fangraphs sees the merit of the deal, as long as it's of a larger set of moves by the A's this winter.

In some sense, this is a version of buying low and selling high. As I mused on Twitter, this deal would have been seen as completely insane for Toronto just two years ago, when Lawrie looked like a franchise cornerstone while Donaldson was a 26 year old who spent most of the year in the PCL, then didn't hit much in the big leagues when given a shot. Lawrie's stock has since fallen fairly rapidly, while perhaps no in baseball has done more to raise their stature in the last 24 months than Donaldson.

- Jeff Sullivan muses on Oakland's potential next move.

getting an inkling of Chase Headley to Oakland within a week

— Jeff Sullivan (@based_ball) November 29, 2014

- Drew Fairservice of Fangraphs looks at things from the Blue Jays' side.

(Lawrie's) talent is undeniable, Lawrie is perhaps the defensive equal of Donaldson at third base, and like Oakland's Fielding Bible Award winner, Lawrie is a former catcher. Perhaps Oakland can get the countless moving parts of his swing in order and awaken the one tool that brought him to the big leagues at 21.

- Kylie McDaniel of Fangraphs weighs in on prospects Franklin Barreto, Sean Nolin and Kendall Graveman

(Barreto is) a plus runner that very well could end up sticking at shortstop, where he plays now and has made improvements, though most scouts see his actions and size and assume he slides over to second base or out to center field ... That said, the carrying tool here is the bat and more than a few scouts told me they have a 60 on it (on the 20 to 80 scale) ...

Nolin sits 89-91 and will touch as high at 95 mph, particularly to elevate late in the count for strikeouts, with an average curveball that's more consistent than his slider and an above average changeup to go with advanced feel to pitch.

(Graveman) also threw an 84-87 mph cutter that was average but inconsistent and an 81-85 mph changeup that flashed above average, though he didn't throw it enough and at times he would telegraph the pitch by slowing his arm. He worked 91-95 mph in the big leagues later in the year over 5 relief outings, so we know there are a couple more ticks of velo with adrenaline in short stints.

- Mike Axisa of CBS Sports believes his is a re-tooling for Oakland, not a full rebuild.

It's hard for me to imagine a scenario in which the Athletics are better without Donaldson than with him and that is still true even after the trade. But, as is often the case with Beane, more moves are on the way and his roster is far from complete. If he was going to tear it down completely, there would be no Butler signing and others like Jeff Samardzija, Sonny Gray, Coco Crisp, Sean Doolittle, Josh Reddick and Brandon Moss would be all over the rumor mill. We've seen Billy Beane rebuild before, and it didn't look like this.

- Keith Law of ESPN sees this as a win for the Blue Jays, but he does have one interesting note on Lawrie (insider subscription required).

What I don't quite get is the A's portion of this, even if you take fairly optimistic views of all four players they acquired. Is this really enough for four years of control of one of the best players in baseball? ... What (Lawrie) does do well, however, is put the ball in play, a skill GMs seem to be telling us this winter they're valuing more highly than ever (tip your cap in the direction of Kansas City as you read that).

- Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports says this was just the A's being the A's.

Quick: How did the Oakland A's get Josh Donaldson? ... He was the high-upside, could-bust piece of a deal, along with Sean Gallagher, Matt Murton and Eric Patterson, for ... Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin. ... The A's developed Donaldson, nurtured him, extracted his talent and rode him to the postseason twice. ... Part of life in Oakland ... is doing that again, and again, and again, turning a commodity into something valuable at that commodity's apex.

- Trippin' Olney weighed in:

"THINK WORLD WAR Z, MINUS THE ZOMBIES, PLUS BASEBALL, WITH A SPLASH OF CANADA," PITT MUSED ABOUT HIS LATEST WHEELING AND DEALING.

— NOT BUSTER OLNEY (@TRIPPINGOLNEY) November 29, 2014

- Jane Lee on the shortstop situation:

Of shortstop search, Beane made it pretty clear it won't involve the free-agent market.

— Jane Lee (@JaneMLB) November 29, 2014

Dump away in the comments!