Dec 5, 2011; Dallas, TX, USA; Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane on the MLB network set during the MLB winter meetings at Hilton Anatole. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

I’ve gone back and forth in my head about what I wanted the A’s to do this year, with a clear opportunity to make the playoffs well within their grasp it’s hard to resist wanting to go for it all.  But that certainly can come with consequences in the form of losing top prospects.  Nobody wanted to see 2012 breakout prospect Dan Straily moved out of the organization, or top draft picks Michael Choice, Sonny Gray, or Grant Green either.  And none of them were.  It appears to me that Billy Beane’s strategy coming in was to try and improve the team now, if and only if he could do so without mortgaging the future.  The market dictated that was not going to happen, so Billy kept quiet.

There’s no telling what kind of deals nearly came to be like the Hanley Ramirez deal that almost was.  But as the Texas Rangers, in perhaps a moment of extreme panic with the knowledge that Neftali Feliz is having Tommy John surgery traded a top 100 prospect in 3B Christian Villanueva for Chicago Cubs starter Ryan Dempster who for a week seemed destined for Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Angels acquisition of Zack Greinke from the Brewers over the weekend, the two main rivals of the A’s made moves for the here and now.  Those moves do not scare me.  Besides Billy Beane has two aces up his sleeve perhaps in the form of rehabbing starters Brandon McCarthy and Brett Anderson who should be activated within the month of August.

The A’s do not have the perfect roster by any stretch of the imagination, as evidenced by last night’s horrific lack of contact in racking up 21 K’s against the Tampa Bay Rays.  But they somehow managed to win that game.  That’s what they’ve often done over the last month or so.  Perhaps a deal could still be in the works as the month of August plays out though, it just becomes a little bit tougher as players have to pass through waivers to be traded.

I think the possibility of picking up someone like Jimmy Rollins would still remain a distinct possibility.  Given the fact that Rollins is in the first year of a 3 year contract with the Phillies for a pretty hefty salary it seems almost guaranteed that he’ll go through waivers untouched.  He’s certainly not the player he once was, but I find it hard to imagine he wouldn’t be a significant upgrade over the Eric Sogard/Brandon Hicks tandem the A’s have right now.  Cliff Pennington has been lost all season and there is serious doubt now that he is actually the A’s SS of the future.  There remains some question as to whether Rollins would allow himself to be traded to Oakland in the first place (The opportunity to play alongside Nate Schierholtz is pretty enticing), but one would really have to think he’d be intrigued by the idea of playing in his home town.  It seems like a crazy idea for the cash strapped A’s to take on a player like Rollins, but aside from the money he really shouldn’t cost much of anything.  Rollins may be the perfect solution as he can help the A’s now, and not risk the bright future of this organization.

We’ll just have to wait and see as all the frantic wheeling and dealing get’s started up once again as the dog days of August roll on.

Carter and Cespedes provided all the power the A's would need. (Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE)

An innefficient yet effective start from Bartolo Colon was able to keep the Orioles off the board for 5.2 innings tonight.  He worked in and out of trouble the whole time he was on the bump, but managed to wriggle out of trouble when he needed to.  Jordan Norberto did an admirable job of eating up half the remaining outs needed to seal the victory, and Evan Scribner finished off the game although he did allow his first run of the season on Nick Markakis’ 9th inning solo home run that spoiled the shutout.

All in all this was a pretty drama free game as the A’s took control of the game and didn’t let up for one moment.  But the play of Yoenis Cespedes really stood out today, not only did he hit a tape measure line drive homerun (which seems impossible, but not with him), he showed off his speed with an RBI triple and made a pretty amazing running catch in left center field to end the 8th inning.  The man can do it all, as much of an example of a 5 tool player as you’ll find.  With his strong play of late he has pushed his season numbers through the roof, his OPS now stands at a very impressive .902.  We are very fortunate to see this blossoming star, and the best is definitely yet to come for Yoenis.

Coco Crisp was pulled from the game unexpectedly before the bottom of the 8th inning, which set the A’s fans into a speculative frenzy that some deal had been reached and Coco was being shipped out mid-game.  But it turned out it was simply a tight hamstring.  But as the trade deadline looms the anticipation of deals to be made leads to all kinds of rumors being started.  The A’s did make a deal today though, acquiring recently DFA’d catcher George Kottaras from the Milwaukee Brewers who was the odd man out when they activated Jonathan Lucroy from the DL.  And as Susan Slusser reported tonight, the player heading to Milwaukee will be reliever Fautino De Los Santos.  FDLS has struggled desperately with his command, and has brought those struggles to Sacramento to the tune of a 7.25 ERA there.  It seems like a little bit of a steep price for what seems like a backup catcher, but perhaps Billy Beane is just executing part of a bigger plan.  At this point it seems hard to envision the A’s doing a whole lot between now and the deadline.  They’ve cooled on Yunel Escobar, and the pricetag on Chase Headley may be too steep, and just about every other option is so marginal it may not be worth the trouble.

The big news coming from today has to be the fact that with the Rangers loss to the White Sox, and the Angels loss to the Rays the Oakland Athletics are in sole posession of 2nd place in the AL West by 1/2 game and are just 3 1/2 games behind the Texas Rangers.  They have made up tremendous ground in a very short amount of time as the two AL West powerhouses have stumbled.  The A’s are so close that they have to keep this roll going and do the impossible by catching the Rangers.  In insignificant but at the same time extremely important news, their record of 55-45 puts them dead even with the San Francisco Giants who gave the Dodgers “some extra batting practice” as one local LA affiliate put it (on a mini vacation in SoCal) in their 10-0 loss to the boys in blue.  It means absolutely nothing as far as playoff hopes or anything, but the amount of abuse that is dealt the A’s fans way makes it sure nice to have a rebuttal like that.  The last time the A’s had a record this good was in 2006, and they went to the ALCS (but we won’t talk about how that went).

The A’s go for the sweep in Baltimore tomorrow as Travis Blackely (3-2, 2.69 ERA) seeks his 4th win in 2012 against Wei-Yin Chen (8-6, 2.82 ERA) who is quietly putting together a very solid season in his first year in MLB for the O’s.  The A’s will bring back their lefty pitcher lineup, so that will likely mean Jonny Gomes and Brandon Hicks will be in there.  They’ve made pitchers pay for their mistakes, and they must do the same tomorrow to put the Orioles hopes of a playoff berth in doubt and to boost their own aspirations.

August 15, 2011; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Fautino De Los Santos (60) pitches against the Baltimore Orioles during the seventh inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE

With a weeks worth of games now in the books, our hometown heroes head to Seattle to start their first road trip of the young season. As the state of the bullpen seems to be solidifying with the spotless work of closer Grant Balfour and newly minted set up man Ryan Cook, questions remain such as the role of second year reliever Fautino De Los Santos. To the surprise of A’s fans, manager Bob Melvin has left De Los Santos whom many pegged as a sleeper for the closer role largely ignored as the last man in the bullpen. Throwing just one shutout inning in the seasons first week, his absence has aroused questions to his health and his managers confidence in him to handle the late innings.

Coming off a season where he racked up a nifty 11.6 strikeouts per 9 innings in just over 33 innings, FDLS as he’s known amongst the Athletics Nation showcased a mid 90′s fastball, a sharp curve, and a biting slider in his arsenal in 2011. He also showed a propensity for extreme wildness as evident by his 9 wild pitches in limited work. While there is no debate to his talent, the hesitancy to put him into late, close, pressure packed situations is understandable… if it was September and the A’s were in a pennant race.

However it’s early, and so far Melvin has gone to the combustible Andrew Carignan twice in extra inning games, and twice he has been battered around and surrendered runs that have led to a loss on opening day to Seattle and nearly led to another yesterday against Kansas City.

If an injury is the reason behind the neglected use of De Los Santos, then it has not been made apparent to the fans. Reliable A’s beat writers Jane Lee and Susan Slusser have yet to mention an injury or a reason why he has been the least used member of the Athletics bullpen. If he was injured I see no reason why Oakland wouldn’t place him on the disabled list and look to fill their ranks with options like Erick Threets, Travis Schlichting, or 40 man roster member Neil Wagner.

It goes with out saying that there will come times this year where the A’s bullpen will be tested, and as the old saying goes your only as good as your last man. Sooner or later De Los Santos will have to be unleashed. Until that day, you can find him patiently waiting in the bullpen ready for his number to be called.

Devin Pangaro can be found ranting and raving about all things green and gold on twitter @devinpangaro, and please follow my fellow Swingin’ A’s scribes @FS_SwinginAs or like us on Facebook