DeJesus, who will be making $6 million in the 2011 season and has the option of becoming a free agent in 2012, will be joining the team with a career batting average of .289.  On top of that, he recorderd this years best average, swinging the lumber at .318 with five home runs and 37 RBI’s in 91 games with the Royals.  He unfortunately missed the last two months of play due to an injury to his right thumb. He will be set to return post surgery without medical constraints when the 2011 season rolls around. Now, I have to wonder with DeJesus joining the line-up, will this make the team a fighting contender for the playoffs?   John Ortiz from the Daily Pitch says, “The veteran left-handed hitter probably won’t fill Oakland’s desperate need for power – his career best in homers is 13, in 2009 – but he’ll team up with Coco Crisp and Ryan Sweeney to form one of the top defensive outfields in the majors.”

Meanwhile, Mazzarro, who was set to become the a fifth starter with the A’s and who led the AL with a 3.58 ERA last season, will be leaving with a record 5-2 and a 2.84 ERA in his first nine starts.  He finished out the 2010 season 0-6 with a 5.60 before being traded. Apparently, Mazzaro was expecting this to come down, but not as quickly as he thought. Although, he is supposedly in good spirits about the deal saying that “I think this is a good thing for me and my future” Mazzarro may be right on the money by going to the Royals. They are coming off of the league’s highest ERA at 4.97.  Mazzarro will add to a rotation that has not been as even keeled as other teams within the AL.  None of its starters finished below 4.10.  Justin Marks will also leave the team with a 6-13 record and a 4.87 ERA in 25 games and 24 starts.  The minor league lefty spent the 2010 season with the both Kane County and Stockton, the A’s Single-A affiliates.

With this new trade on the books, one question needs to be answered.  Where does this leave A’s 2009 Organizational Player of the Year OF Chris Carter?  He is described as the best power hitter in the outfield and was called up to Oakland during the tail end of the 2010 season with a 0-3 in his first game over the Mariners, and snapping his 0-33 streak with a single in sixth inning play against the Whitesox.  Joe Stiglich from the Oakland Tribune says that Carter could slide to the designated hitter spot if management decided to let Jack Cust walk.  Whether they indeed do that remains to be unseen.   For now though, it seems that the A’s are continuing to throw caution to the wind while they slowly pick and choose who they want to add to their possible play-off winning roster.

Good as Gone? If the A's land Iwakuma, will they hold onto him, or trade him? What will the team do with Vin Mazzaro? (Photo Courtesy of yardbarker.com)

According to FOXSports analyst, Ken Rosenthal, the Oakland A’s could surprise the baseball world by landing Japanese pitcher, Hisashi Iwakuma. The A’s, Rangers, and Mariners are all figured to have submitted bids for the Japanese pitcher. Rosenthal notes that the highest-bidder has not been determined yet, but believes that the A’s are in good standing with their strong push to sign the pitcher.

The A’s, who led the American League in ERA this season, have enough pitching, but could deal some of their young arms for a bat this offseason. If the A’s were to acquire Iwakuma, they could potentially deal him right away as part of a package deal to land a bat. The A’s could also ship away pitcher Vin Mazzaro, who is talented, but did not play well down the stretch this season. Mazzaro, 24, has spent a lot of his career in the Minor Leagues as a dominant force, but has not enjoyed the same type of success in the majors yet. He finished the season with a 6-8 with a 4.27 ERA in 18 starts with Oakland.

The A’s, while they improved this season by finishing with a .500 record, have a very lackluster offense. So, landing Iwakuma could potentially open up new doors for offensive additions this winter for GM Billy Beane and staff. The A’s failed to attract any big talent last winter, so landing Iwakuma could be huge. The A’s, as Rosenthal suggests, could go after Milwaukee’s 3B Casey McGehee. Having Iwakuma would give the A’s even more flexibility with their pitching, and since the Brewers obviously need pitching, the A’s could put together a deal that helps them offensively.

If the rumors are true, this is only the beginning in what figures to be a very busy winter this year for Beane and Co.