Jonathan Lucroy doesn’t regret vetoing trade to Indians

Jonathan Lucroy wants to let you know that he’s good, man. According to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN, the elite catcher doesn’t regret vetoing a trade that would have shipped him from the Brewers to the Cleveland Professional Baseball Team at the trade deadline.

Back on July 30, news broke that the Brewers and Cleveland had agreed to a trade for Lucroy. Less than 24 hours later, the prized catcher had vetoed that trade after reportedly asking them to waive his 2017 team option worth $5.25 million. Considering Cleveland had decided to part with top prospects in the deal, and the option represents a substantial amount of Lucroy’s value, Cleveland rejected the proposal and, just a day later, the catcher was headed to the Rangers.

With the Rangers getting swept in the ALDS, and Cleveland now headed to the World Series, Lucroy’s decision has made for an interesting storyline. When asked whether he regrets the decision via text (!!!!), Lucroy responded:

"I'm good, man. There's too much drama with all that. I'm not worried about it at all. It's over with and in the past.''

It makes absolute sense for Lucroy to have moved well beyond this by now. In vetoing a trade to a contender, Lucroy surely weighed the likelihood of winning a championship there. Instead, he made a life decision to remain with the Brewers until they found another suitor—one that hypothetically might not have even been in contention. As it turns out, the Rangers ended up being that suitor, Lucroy was unable to veto, and he ended up on the roster with the best postseason chances in the American League.

Lucroy will be subject to his $5.25 million team option with the Rangers, but attempting to leverage that on teams at the deadline was his prerogative. Sure, it may have backfired a bit, but the Rangers’ 2017 postseason prospects appear very good, and he will still reach free agency at the conclusion of that season—when the qualifying offer is higher, and salaries will likely be even more inflated—if he so chooses.

Hopefully this report puts this to rest, regardless of what happens in the World Series. Whether Cleveland wins or the Cubs win has nothing to do with a decision Lucroy made nearly three months ago.