So it came to my attention yesterday, that those who haven’t been following closely may not understand how a guy who was traded from the Reds to the A’s a little more than two weeks ago, could suddenly be looking to sign with another team.  Let me break it down for you.

The Reds needed to move a $4million contract (Taveras) that sat in a position already occupied.  The Reds already have young, cheap depth in centerfield, with Drew Stubbs and Chris Dickerson- and Jay Bruce if necessary.  So they traded him to Oakland for Aaron Miles who is set to make $2.7 million but had no position in Oakland.  Kind of a swap of contracts, right?  Well, Oakland didn’t really want Taveras, they wanted a relief pitcher that the Reds had in their minor league system.  They were only willing to take the bigger Taveras contract if they got rid of Miles and got the pitcher.  The Reds really had no solid back-up options at 2nd or 3rd so Miles was a perfect fit for them, plus saved them $1.3million, and the pitcher was too far away from helping the major league club to matter, so they made the deal.

Because Willy Taveras was already signed to a major league contract, the A’s had to make a decision right away whether to add him to their very full 40-man roster, or to release him.  The young pitcher had a minor league contract and could stay there until spring training.  Willy though, had to be added immediately or designated for assignment (DFA’d).

Once a player has been DFA’s, the team has 10 days to trade him or release him.  Either way they are on the hook for the value of the contract.  Why would a team make a trade for a DFA’s player if he is going to be released anyway?  Because the team may know the player wouldn’t sign with them anyway, and they want to beat out the other teams that might have a need.  Generally though, if the player isn’t a prospect, teams will just wait for his release.

The other option the A’s had, if they really wanted to keep Taveras, is to take one of their minor leaguers and option him off of the 40 man roster. That player though has to pass through waivers.  If that happens the team could lose that player, and evidently all the players who had that option available were more valuable to the A’s than Willy Taveras.

So what is the upside for the A’s in this deal?  They got a pitcher that they think can help them and in addition to his salary, they paid $1.3million- which is the difference between the salaries of Aaron Miles and Willy Taveras.

Hope that clears up some of the confusion there.