Lane moved on to Cleveland in November 1957. While in Cleveland, Lane gained infamy by trading popular star slugger Rocky Colavito to the Detroit Tigers for excellent hitter Harvey Kuenn, resulting in the so-called "Curse of Colavito." He left Cleveland in January 1961 for an executive position with the Kansas City Athletics, but the combination of Lane and volatile owner Charlie Finley led to an early end to his employment just eight months later. The lingering feud between the two over compensation would result in a lawsuit that took over three years to settle.