Gio to Nats for Cole, Norris, Peacock, and Milone

[A man in a box]

Oakland has already thrown in the towel on the season. It's disappointing but they did get a nice haul for both (yes, for Cahill also). I think Oakland acted one year to soon with Cahill and Gio but an honest assessment of their offense said .500 at best this year.

Gio Gonzalez they could be selling high, but Cahill they could of kept. Why not make an effort to actually build an offense. Its not like these guys where 7th season guys that were 28-29. They got back mostly pitchers not one impact bat. Is Norris going to start over Suzuki? One will DH? Trade Suzuki? Again my feeling is they are tearing this pitching staff not to build the farm system but to fleece taxpayers into a new stadium. Pay the money yourself Wolff.

[kab21]

Oakland has already thrown in the towel on the season. It's disappointing but they did get a nice haul for both (yes, for Cahill also). I think Oakland acted one year to soon with Cahill and Gio but an honest assessment of their offense said .500 at best this year.

Gio Gonzalez they could be selling high, but Cahill they could of kept. Why not make an effort to actually build an offense. Its not like these guys where 7th season guys that were 28-29. They got back mostly pitchers not one impact bat. Is Norris going to start over Suzuki? One will DH? Trade Suzuki? Again my feeling is they are tearing this pitching staff not to build the farm system but to fleece taxpayers into a new stadium. Pay the money yourself Wolff.

Yes, they need offense but rule #1 when making trades states: take the best players and worry about where to play them when they are all in the majors. The DBacks don't have any good MLB hitters (nothing close to Parker) and they weren't getting rendon/Harper from the Nats.

They are not making these trades to fleece taxpayers. The last thing you want to do is piss everyone off when asking for money. Cahill was cheap for 3 more years and then he'll be viewed as overpaid (the option years). If you wait too long then his value goes down and you don't get Parker back. Not to mention that Parker will be getting MLB experience this year and their rebuilt rotation will be ready sooner.

[A man in a box]

Yes, they need offense but rule #1 when making trades states: take the best players and worry about where to play them when they are all in the majors. The DBacks don't have any good MLB hitters (nothing close to Parker) and they weren't getting rendon/Harper from the Nats.

They are not making these trades to fleece taxpayers. The last thing you want to do is piss everyone off when asking for money. Cahill was cheap for 3 more years and then he'll be viewed as overpaid (the option years). If you wait too long then his value goes down and you don't get Parker back. Not to mention that Parker will be getting MLB experience this year and their rebuilt rotation will be ready sooner.

I view their tear down as unnecessary and they could take years to become relevant in their division. Some where picking them to win the West last year. If they attempted to add some outfield bats and kept most of their rotation in tact they gave themselves a punchers chance. Gonzalez was a great sell high and all 4 guys could contribute signifcantly, but the Cahill deal hinges on how Parker pans out. They dropped the ball on him IMO at this point. Billy Beane is good evaluator so these trades are not bad but will they be selling high on these guys that pan out in 2 years? I hope not.

[Frenchiegangsta9]

A man in a box, at least the A's arent the Orioles. Hope that brightens your day slightly

[A man in a box]

Hey Combine the Orioles offense and the A's rotation before the trades, you have a team that could of made the playoffs.

[Frenchiegangsta9]

uh oh, i smell contraction...That would be pretty awesome though if MLB allowed that. O's arms never seem to work out, and Oaklands bats suffer from the same curse. The O's would have to join the A's on the West coast cause they still wouldnt be able to complete in the AL East.

[A Fleshner Fantasy]

A man in a box, at least the A's arent the Orioles. Hope that brightens your day slightly

Come on..

[Frenchiegangsta9]

Fleshner, as a Baltimorean i have waited too damn long for any competitiveness to be practiced on the field of Camden Yards. And with the collapse of the new wave of young pitching, we will have to wait a lot longer.

[AussieDodger]

This is probably influenced by the fact that Gio is/was my favourite A, but I don't like this deal too much.

Norris is my type of player, but he's had two consecutive injury-plagued seasons, and he strikes out way too much at this stage.
Peacock had a spectacular K/9 in 2011, but he didn't generate the ground balls (less then 40% in the minors) to be considered a potential ace (in my book at least)
Milone (allegedly) doesn't have the stuff to match his gaudy minor league numbers. So if he succeeds, he's Dallas Braden. Meh
A.J Cole is an A level lottery ticket. A highly regarded lottery ticket is still a lottery ticket.

Now the A's may prove me wrong and hit with Cole, and get more ground balls out of Peacock, and keep Norris healthy, but I'm not holding my breath.