As good as the Oakland A's lineup is right now, imagine this: They could have had Edwin Encarnacion in it as well. Before we get there, however, let's back up a bit. Not to Texas, where Encarnacion began his professional career. Not to Cincinnati, where Encarnacion reached the big leagues but never won over the Reds' front office, in part because he was a lousy third baseman, in part because of an incident early in the 2007 when he didn't run out a pop fly, in part because they couldn't move him to first base with Joey Votto around. No, let's go back to June 21, 2010, when Encarnacion was hitting .200 with nine home runs for the Blue Jays in 37 games. The Jays were 38-32, 5½ games out in the tough AL East. (Remember when the AL East was the best division in baseball?) They needed space on the 40-man roster for a pitcher named Scott Richmond, who was ready to return from the 60-day disabled list. Richmond had posted a 5.57 ERA in 2009, but, hey, maybe the Blue Jays were desperate for pitching help. Anyway, that didn't last long. Hoffpauir wasn't any good, and Encarnacion was soon back with the Blue Jays in early July. He hit .269/.310/.491 the rest of the season. He hit five home runs the final four games of the season. Now we get to the A's part. The Blue Jays non-tendered Encarnacion, worried about a potential $6 million salary via arbitration and a wrist injury that had forced him to miss time. The A's claimed him on waivers. GM Billy Beane said he wanted some right-handed power. So the A's did have him. Maybe you knew this already; maybe you forgot. There was a time when nobody wanted Encarnacion, now one of the best hitters in baseball. Sound like a familiar story? The Blue Jays certainly didn't want him, at least not for $6 million. See how that works out?