The Athletics have traded third baseman Brett Lawrie, as the club had been expected to try to do during baseball's winter meetings, sending him to the Chicago White Sox for right-hander J.B. Wendelken and minor league left-hander Zack Erwin.
The A's announced the trade Wednesday night, leaving them with five remaining arbitration-eligible players, down from 12 last week. New general manager David Forst has made an improved pitching staff a priority.
Oakland had a full infield after acquiring shortstop Jed Lowrie from Houston on Nov. 25, leaving third basemen Lawrie and Danny Valencia as possible options to be dealt.
Lawrie hit .260 with career highs of 16 homers and 60 RBIs in his lone season for the A's, also staying off the disabled list for the first time in five major league seasons.
>>Mets Pirates Make Trade
The Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Mets are teaming up on a good old fashioned veteran-for-veteran trade. The two teams have agreed to swap second baseman Neil Walker and starting pitcher Jonathon Niese. The deal is done, pending medicals, reports Jon Heyman.
Walker will take over at second base for the Mets after free agent Daniel Murphy departs and the club missed out on signing Ben Zobrist, who went to the Cubs.
Walker, 30, is one year away from free agency. He hit .269/.328/.427 with 32 doubles and 16 home runs last season for the Pirates. He can generally play league average defense at second. Maybe after next season they'll know more about if they want to hand the keys to Dilson Herrera at second. Walker buys them a year here.
Niese, 29, is also likely a free agent after next season, as there is a $10 million club option for 2017. He was 9-10 with a 4.13 ERA and 1.40 WHIP last season for the Mets, moving to the bullpen for the postseason.
With the Pirates, Niese right now would be the fifth starter behind Gerrit Cole, Francisco Liriano, Charlie Morton and Jeff Locke. It's still possible they add a cheap free agent, such as Justin Masterson, to the mix.
At second base, the Pirates could probably play Josh Harrison at second base with Jordy Mercer at shortstop and Jung Ho Kang at third, but there's room for shifting in there.
As far as the Mets, they have Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler, who is returning from Tommy John surgery.
>>Mets Add SS Asdrubal Cabrera
The Mets on Wednesday agreed to terms with free-agent infielder Asdrubal Cabrera, CBS Sports MLB Insider Jon Heyman has confirmed. Heyman also reports that Cabrera is guaranteed $18.5 million over two years.
Cabrera, 30, is coming off a 2015 season in which he batted .265/.315/.430 (105 OPS+) in 143 games for the Rays. For his career, Cabrera owns an OPS+ of 104 across parts of nine big-league seasons.
Cabrera has been a primary shortstop throughout his career, but he has also spent significant time at second base. Per Ken Rosenthal, Cabrera's expected to spend most of his time at short in New York but also second and third, thus providing the Mets with much-needed infield depth at three positions.
