Apr. 20, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Trevor Cahill (35) throws during the second inning against the Atlanta Braves at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-US PRESSWIRE

Each month, Swingin’ A’s will revisit three of the biggest trades that the A’s made this past offseason. We’ll continue by reexamining the deal that sent All-Star pitcher Trevor Cahill and reliever Craig Breslow to the Arizona Diamondbacks. In return for those two pitchers, the A’s received top-pitching prospect Jarrod Parker, outfielder Collin Cowgill, and pitcher Ryan Cook. It was the trade that sent the stage for the Gonzalez, Bailey-Sweeney deals this past winter. 

The A’s set the stage early on during the offseason when they decided to trade their All-Star pitcher Trevor Cahill to the Arizona Diamondbacks for a few young prospects. Oakland also included reliever Craig Breslow in the trade, but Cahill definitely headlines this trade. The A’s did receive a talented prospect in Jarrod Parker, but other than that, the team didn’t fare extremely well in this trade. Like the Bailey-Sweeney trade, the Cahill-Breslow trade didn’t wow me like the Gonzalez to Washington trade did.

Parker, 23, is considered a front line starter and in that sense, the deal works in Oakland’s favor. Trevor Cahill was coming back to Earth in 2011 after posting career numbers in 2010 and the A’s knew it was time to sell high on Cahill. The A’s also got a few extra pieces in Cowgill and Cook, but they’re not nearly as important as Parker.

Parker made his Oakland debut last Wednesday against the White Sox, going 6.1 strong innings. He allowed just one run on seven hits and struck out a total of five batters. He’ll bring his 1.42 ERA into Tuesday’s contest against the Red Sox with the goal of winning his first game of the 2012 season.

Cahill, meanwhile, has posted s0-so numbers in his first full-month on National League action. He’s 1-2 with a 3.70 ERA in four starts with the Diamondbacks. Breslow, baseball’s brightest mind, is doing a little bit better than Cahill. He’s been effective in Arizona’s bullpen so far, posting a 1.80 ERA through 10 innings of work this year. Overall, Arizona is faring pretty well in this trade. They’ve essentially got a solid No.3-4 starter with Cahill and a reliable reliever in Breslow.

The A’s got a potential No.1 or No.2 starter in Parker, but will need more time to really evaluate Parker’s abilities. He’s also had his share of injuries, so the A’s will likely monitor his progress very, very closely. One month into the season and this deal looks like a favorable one for both Oakland and Arizona.

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April 21, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics center fielder Yoenis Cespedes (52) hits an RBI sacrifice fly ball against the Cleveland Indians during the sixth inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE

The A’s may not generate much buzz around the league, but Yoenis Cespedes is definitely a buzz-worthy member of the green-and-gold. Cespedes, who was brought in by the Athletics on a four-year, $36 million deal this offseason, has put up solid numbers in his first full-month of big league action.

Oakland’s center fielder has a .253/.341/.494 slash line entering Monday’s contest against the Boston Red Sox. He also leads the team in home runs (5) and RBIs (19). He’s been one of the very few reasons why anyone should watch the A’s this year. He’s been a major team contributor overall this season and has offered flashes of his enormous power potential. Entering Monday, Cespedes has a .240 ISO.

He’s the best A’s player, in my mind, and is definitely deserving of an All-Star nod. At the very least, Cespedes’ name should come up in conversation about the All-Star game this season. But the small-market Athletics get very little recognition compared to the bigger-market teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, and the power houses that rule the AL West in the Rangers and Angels. The A’s often find themselves in the shadows of those clubs and as a result, players like Cespedes often go unnoticed.

Cespedes, 26, still has a lot of room to grow, but he’s certainly lived up to all the hype that surrounded him when Oakland snatched him up from the competition. He may strike out a ton—he has posted a 26.4 K% thus far—but Cespedes has provided a major spark for Oakland’s anemic offense. Even when he does strike out, Cespedes is an exciting specimen to watch. He makes A’s games, in my opinion, anyway, watchable.

He definitely has my vote as Oakland’s current All-Star representative. Hopefully the rest of the nation takes notice of this guy and helps vote him into the All-Star game this year.

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December 14, 2010; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane (right) smiles while addressing the media as designated hitter Hideki Matsui (left) looks on during a press conference following Matsui signing with the Athletics at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

With the 2012 season officially underway, all eyes—especially mine—will be focused on Billy Beane and the rest of the Athletics’ management as the team enters yet another rebuilding phase.

The Athletics are not expected to compete this year given their demolition of their starting rotation this offseason and because of their unproven offense.

Instead, this season feels destined, really, to be another chapter in Billy Beane’s painfully-penned rebuild.

Oakland has been in this position before, namely back in 2007 when the team sent fan-favorites like Nick Swisher and Dan Haren packing in various trades that landed the A’s plenty of young prospects.

Beane’s inconsistencies in addition to the A’s ever-growing stadium problems have made the team’s rebuilding attempts extremely difficult to watch.

This touchy topic has been covered religiously on this site, especially by our very own Staff Writer Jason Leary, but the A’s rebuilding attempts serve as a reminder that not all clubs succeed in building a winning product. Beane has done a fine job in recent years of acquiring young talent, but holding onto that talent and having the patience with those prospects are another thing.

Perhaps the biggest mistake Beane has made in recent years was the decision to trade for outfielder Matt Holliday prior to the 2009 season. The A’s certainly thought they’d get a lot from Holliday, but for the amount of talent the team gave Colorado in exchange for Holliday and the overall timing of the deal didn’t make complete sense.

For one, the A’s gave up the talented young outfielder Carlos Gonzalez as a way to acquire the older Holliday. In hindsight, that was not a great decision on Beane’s behalf. It should speak volumes of Beane’s abilities to scout young hitting talent.

I just never felt that the A’s gave Gonzalez much of a chance in Oakland. He was shipped out of town essentially for a rent-a-slugger. Holliday, as you’ll all remember, didn’t last in Oakland and was traded by the 2009 trade deadline to St.Louis.

That was the biggest mistake the A’s GM made, in my opinion, anyway, as it disrupted his rebuilding efforts. The A’s were kidding themselves if they thought they could compete in 2009.

Guys like Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill were barely bursting onto the scene and even with an offense that featured Holliday, Jason Giambi, Orlando Cabrera, and Nomar Garciaparra—all of whom with the exception of Holliday, were old and inexpensive sources of veteran leadership acquired by the A’s—the pitching staff wasn’t up for the task of competing.

I think the A’s learned during the 2009 season that rebuilding is harder than it seems. You have to scout well, draft well, and more importantly know how to develop young talent once you have it in your minor league system. Looking at this season, the A’s have yet again laid out a solid foundation of young pitching.

Pitchers like Jarrod Parker, Brad Peacock, Sonny Gray, and A.J. Cole are just a few of the names the A’s are currently waiting for to emerge onto the big league scene. The A’s turned their focus onto their rebuilding efforts this past winter with the Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill, and Andrew Bailey trades, but their commitment is still relatively unknown.

One minute they’re wheelin’ and dealin’, and then the next minute they’re forking over $14 million to Coco Crisp and $36 million to an unproven outfielder named Yoenis Cespedes. The A’s are trying, I think, to build a winning club, but Beane’s recent attempts may not matter in the end.

The A’s are still waiting around —for three years now—for MLB and Bud Selig to deliver their findings about the Athletics’ stadium situation in Oakland. The team is desperately fighting for a spot in San Jose, a territory that the Giants claim as theirs. San Francisco isn’t budging on those territorial claims and the A’s are stuck in the vortex called O.co Coliseum.

So, citing Beane’s inconsistencies during the last few rebuilding years is only part of the organization’s problem. The A’s do need to have better consistency when it comes to evaluating talent and developing talent, but they also need MLB and Bud Selig to step up to the plate and finally deliver their decision regarding the San Jose mess.

Selig has kept the A’s waiting long enough. These past few years have made Beane’s job a little harder and have definitely put a strain on the ever-thining fan-base. No one likes to lose, but the A’s are not in a position to go out and sign a bunch of free-agent talent.

Instead, the team has been forced to tear down, rebuild, assemble, tear down, and rebuild. Will MLB deliver a decision before the A’s are forced to give up on their new crop of young talent (I’m talking about you, Parker, Peacock, Gray, and Cole)?

It’s become an excruciating process.

Beane can assemble all the young talent he wants. Heck, he can even have the patience to develop all that young talent in a way that produces a few wins here and there. But without a place to play, those wins won’t matter, will they?

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