There’s nothing like an unpopular trade to get players to talk about how “baseball is a business.’’
When that phrase is uttered, it’s a good bet the player is going for the easiest justification.
And when there have been three trades in five days as has been the case with the A’s, with three proven and popular big leaguers shipped off to make pennant race runs elsewhere, that baseball-as-business is the handiest crutch around.
The way to have prevented the trades of Scott Kazmir, Tyler Clippard and now Ben Zobrist would have been to win more.