A’s trade Lawrie to White Sox for prospects

The Oakland Athletics have traded third baseman Brett Lawrie, from Langley, B.C., 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 arbitrationeligible players, down from 12 last week. New general manager David Forst has made 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, a former Blue Jay, 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.

In another trade, the Mariners obtained first baseman Adam Lind from Milwaukee for righthanders Daniel Missaki, Carlos Herrera and Freddy Peralta.

Meanwhile, the Mets filled a key spot by getting second baseman Neil Walker in a trade from Pittsburgh for pitcher Jonathon Niese, while the Detroit Tigers further bolstered their bullpen by acquiring reliever Justin Wilson from the Yankees.

The Arizona Diamondbacks, meanwhile, kept upgrading their rotation. A day after finalizing a $206.5-million deal for big league ERA leader Zack Greinke, they announced their five-player trade with Atlanta that brought All-Star righty Shelby Miller and sent No. 1 draft pick Dansby Swanson to the Braves.

Other teams are waiting for the market to develop, especially for hitters.

Among the 17 elite free agents who didn’t accept qualifying offers, five have reached agreements and all are pitchers: Greinke, Jordan Zimmermann, Jeff Samardzija, John Lackey and Marco Estrada. In addition, Hisashi Iwakuma has an agreement with the Dodgers that remains to be finalized.

Among the remaining 11 are pitchers Wei-Yin Chen, Yovani Gallardo and Ian Kennedy, joined by first baseman Chris Davis, second basemen Daniel Murphy and Howie Kendrick, shortstop Ian Desmond and outfielders Jason Heyward, Justin Upton, Alex Gordon and Dexter Fowler.

Davis appears set to establish the top of the batters’ market after hitting 159 home runs in a four-year span.