Those Thirfty A's

Oakland's at it again. Actually, they have been since the end of the 2007 season, when the Athletics finished third in the AL West with an underwhelming 76-86 record - their first sub-.500 season since 1998. Last year, the A's opened up their wallets like not previously seen, spending over $79 million on the opening-day roster, their highest team payroll of the decade and probably ever (Cot's only goes back to 2000 and I don't have the Elias Sport Bureau to help).

Somewhere after the dust settled, Billy Beane, baseball's prince of price-crunching, decided a change was necessary. That's when the first bomb dropped. First Dan Haren was sent packing. Then Marco Scutaro, Mark Kotsay, and Nick Swisher changed addresses. Since the end of last season, eight players have been traded from the bay yielding - brace yourself - twenty players. Of the twenty, eleven were pitchers - five southpaws - and only six had thrown or faced a pitch in the bigs. The two most "experienced" - heavy quotation fingers flying - players acquired by Beane were outfielder 26 year old Matt Murton (870 major league at-bats) and 22 year old Sean Gallagher (73.1 IPs). Five of the players were among Baseball America's top 100 prospects to go with the other two Oakland already had (Daric Barton, #22 and Trevor Cahill, #98).

Among the departing Oakland players, only Swisher was signed beyond 2009 (Haren had an option). Some of Oakland's starters came at a bargain, but the green and gold never stood a chance to re-sign Harden. Thrifty? Why wait?
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Here's a breakdown of each trade...

• 11/18/07 - Traded INF Marco Scutaro to Toronto for Minor League RHP Kristian Bell and RHP Graham Godfrey.
  
  Ok, so trading Marco Scutaro and his lifetime .259 average wasn't exactly earth-shattering news - if you even noticed in the first place. Scutaro brought his mediocrity to baseball's Mediocrity Heaven at the Rogers Centre (.261/.347/.333, 31 RBIs in 83 games) and Oakland began to build anew. Unfortunately, neither 24 year-old Bell (9.45 ERA at AA) or 23 year-old Godfrey (5.59 also at AA) have shown much in the way of progression.
  


• 12/14/07 - Traded RHPs Dan Haren and Connor Robertson to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for LHPs Brett Anderson, Dana Eveland and Greg Smith, INF Chris Carter and OFs Aaron Cunningham and Carlos Gonzalez.
  
  Merry Christmas, Arizona! Dan Haren, originally brought over to Oakland during Beane's Mark Mulder sale, has solidified Arizona's rotation (2.72 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 8.02 K/9 - all career bests). Too bad Arizona still hasn't learned to hit. Robertson has also sipped from the big cup this season.
  
  Meanwhile, two-fifths of Oakland's rotation is comprised of players acquired in the deal. Eveland, 24, is a horse (6'1", 215 or 240, depending on who you believe) who has quietly put together one of the American League's best seasons. Smith, in his first big league stint, has joined the fun. He's drawn comparisons to Mark Mulder and Ted Lilly (must be the hat) as a soft-throwing lefty. He's been getting plenty of outs, though. In addition, three of Baseball America's top 100 prospects came over in this deal - Carlos Gonzalez, #26; Brett Anderson, #50; Chris Carter, #99. Gonzalez, 22, has shown positive early returns (.276 batting average) but needs to develop some plate discipline (4 BB in 146 ABs, yikes). Anderson was promoted to AA with Cahill and both have been named to the USA Olympic team. If he keeps up his numbers (5.14 K/BB, career minor league), the 20 year old could make the 2009 rotation out of Spring Training. Carter (.576 slg, 27 HRs, 20 2Bs in 340 ABs) has shown tremendous power but needs to hit for more contact and refine his play in the field (he's currently DHing for high-A Stockton) and Cunningham is a good all-around player.
  
  Needless to say, Oakland got a fine return for Haren. Whether or not Haren would have pushed Oakland to the top of the AL West is a topic to be debated, but he couldn't do it last year. Every one of the six players acquired in this deal could see major league time and three of the members could comprise most of Oakland's rotation next season. Not too shabby.
  


• 1/3/08 - Traded OF Nick Swisher to the Chicago White Sox for LHP Gio Gonzalez, RHP Fautino De Los Santos and OF Ryan Sweeney.
  
  The rock star Swisher may never match his power totals of 2005 (35 HRs, 95 RBIs, .493 slg%) and will never be known as a contact hitter (.249 career BA), but this year's numbers (.236, 12 HRs) combined with those of Paul Konerko, are ugly enough to frighten children all over the south side and may ultimately doom the ChiSox championship hopes.
  
  Gio Gonzalez, 22, has straightened the ship as of late (0.95 ERA in his last four starts) and figures to take Joe Blanton's spot in the rotation. He led the minor leagues in strikeout with 185 last season, showing the tiny southpaw has big-time ability. Ryan Sweeney is hitting .301 in 206 at-bats with Oakland. He's never been much of a power hitter, but a .300 average at 23 years old out of the third best prospect in the trade sounds like a success to me. This season he's played at least 10 games at each outfield position and still has not committed an error at the major league level. De los Santos will be out for up to a year after undergoing elbow-ligament-replacement surgery, but was considered a top prospect with Chicago.
  


• 1/14/08 - Acquired RHP Joey Devine, nonroster RHP Jamie Richmond and cash from the Braves for OF Mark Kotsay and cash (about $5 mil).
  
  Oakland had to cough up some cash to unload Kotsay (similar to Edgar Renteria going to the Braves...or to the Tigers for that matter). Kotsay's 2008 average is right on par with his career - .279, .282 respectively - but whatever power and speed he had is long gone.
  
  Joey Devine allowed only three runs in 22 innings and striking out 28 before hitting the infirmary with elbow inflammation. Richmond, a non-roster invitee, has started 18 games for Kane County with a 4.26 ERA.
  
  Beane was able to dump some salary and free a spot for Sweeney in centerfield and get some prospects in return. That's multi-tasking the Billy Beane Way!
  


• 7/8/08 - Sent RHPs Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin to the Chicago Cubs for RHP Sean Gallagher, C Josh Donaldson, INF Eric Patterson and OF Matt Murton.
  
  Beane cast off the oft-injured Harden (only 32 starts from 2005-2007) and spot-starter Gaudin for a mix of talent and potential.
  
  Gallagher filled Rich Hill's spot in the Cubs' rotation after he struggled out of the gate. Since then he has proven an effective starter and, at 22, he has plenty of time to meet and exceed expectations as a permanent member of Oakland's rotation. Murton may never be a star, but he never got the chance to show his ability under Lou Piniella. If 20 HR potential isn't in his future, a career as a role player in the bigs is likely. Patterson is just a spare piece and Donaldson, a 2007 sandwich pick, has turned around a rough season a bit since arriving in Stockton.
  


• 7/17/08 - Acquired INF Adrian Cardenas, LHP Josh Outman and OF Matt Spencer from the Philadelphia Phillies for RHP Joe Blanton.
  
  Blanton finished second last season in innings pitched and has started at least 31 games each season since 2005. His ability to eat innings - not always effectively - and activity by National League competitors are what enticed the Phillies, but it came at a steep price.
  
  Cardenas (#2) and Outman (#4) were two of the Phillies' top 5 prospects according to Baseball America. Cardenas, who turns 21 in October, is hitting .303 in his minor league career (.309 this season at high-A) and has some wheels stealing 48 out of 58 bases. Outman, 23, has a killer slider and could advance to AAA this year and A's bullpen in 2009. Spencer is a throw-in with power potential and not much else at the moment.
  

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As it was, Oakland's 2008 opening day payroll was trimmed by $32 million and several salaries are off the books in 2009. Harden's $7, Swisher's $5.3, and Haren's $5.5 million contracts have all been outsourced. Alan Embree and Mark Ellis both have club options that are likely to be turned down for '09, freeing up another $5-$7 million. Emil Brown, Frank Thomas, Mike Sweeney, and Keith Foulke, all low-cost additions, all come off the books, which further purges the A's system.

All told, it's a fresh start for Oakland. It hasn't received quite as much attention as dismantling the Big Three, but the unloading is there. You can believe if Sweeney, Thomas, or Foulke were productive and healthy, Beane would shop them too. He can't get out from underneath Eric Chavez's albatross of a contract (they're stuck with him at $11 million until at least 2010), but he's done everything in his power to free up space and bring in prospects.

His 2008 incarnation is nothing to sneeze at. The Athletics are first in the league with a 3.38 team ERA, despite trading away three star pitchers. If Huston Street stays, the bullpen has a solid foundation. The offense leaves something to be desired, but that's what happens when Mike Sweeney, Frank Thomas, and Eric Chavez all go down with injuries.

So, what's next? The Athletics' payroll in 2009 projects to be even lower than this season's. The cash is there for a high level free agent or two to build up the offense. It's not the A's mantra, but it would put them right back in competition for next season. Next year's starting pitching will consist of surprise ace Justin Duchscherer and remnants of A's players past. The arrival date for many of these prospects is 2009 or 2010 at the latest, so a multi-year deal for, say, an Adam Dunn makes a lot of sense. It's addition-by-subtraction-and-more-addition.

For all that Oakland has jettisoned, it has gained very capable major leaguers. How long they stay with the Athletics remains to be seen. There are 'if's, as there always are. But if all goes according to Beane's plan, he can hold em and won't have to fold em.