Oakland Athletics outfielder Josh Reddick just landed himself a brand new winch for free, and all he had to do to get it was give up his uniform number.
When professional athletes with a strong uniform number preference arrive at a new club where that number is already taken, a deal between two players is often reached to exchange that number. Those deals usually involve a good chunk of cash or some expensive item (such as a car or watch) sent to the player previously in possession of the number
However, when Billy Butler arrived in Oakland earlier this winter and saw that his No. 16 (which Butler wore with the Royals since 2008) was already claimed by Reddick, the two negotiated a bit of an odd trade. Butler sent a winch to Reddick, and the number was his.
Hey @BillyButlerOAK thanks for the winch! Fair trade for a number I believe! pic.twitter.com/8FbrrrcGWB
— J-Red (@RealJoshReddick) December 3, 2014
Being the inept little child that I am, I really have no clue what a winch is…but a quick Google informs me that the particular model that Reddick was gifted from Butler retails at around $1000. That’s not exactly chump change, but we’ve seen numbers exchanged in the past for a whole lot more value than that.
[Lookit]