What If... Forst was given a mandate by Fisher to clear Aledmys off the books? Sure, the A's are $20 MM under last year's payroll but Fisher has to pay Alemeda County $45 MM sometime in 2024 for his 2019 purchase of the county's portion of the Colesium complex. So Diaz has to go and since the FO still has the same leadership, the Forst is a Dummy Tax will be in effect. Therefore, the best Oakland can do is get 17.5 BTV in return and their trade partners are limited to the teams that have shown a clear willingness to spend money... The Giants are not an obvious choice for a Soderstrom destination. They have Patrick Bailey as the primary Catcher and they just signed Tom Murphy as his backup but I don't believe the Giants are as settled at the backstop as they appear. Bailey really struggled with the bat in the second half of '23 and Murphy has struggled to stay healthy. The organization values versatility and they pursued Soderstrom during his Draft year but couldn't come to an agreement. They pursued the very top tier of free agency, so they should have the cash reserves to eat Diaz's contract. And the talent they're giving up... Schmitt looks to be behind J.D. Davis and Marco Luciano for playing time. Whisenhunt needs a year to build up innings. Bart is out of options... For the A's, they clear Diaz off the books (which is Task #1). They add a Gold Golve caliber 3B prospect that needs more time to develop his bat and a SP prospect with mid-rotation potential. They also get a cheap Catcher 2.

The bigger tax penalty would be having to watch Diaz go on and hit 265 with a dozen home runs. Then watching Forst trade Whisenhunt to the Red Sox for Outfielder Wilyer Abreu?