A's to trade Cahill, Breslow to Arizona

[love_that_reefer]

D'Backs Close To Acquiring Cahill, Breslow: MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com

It really sucks to read the A's blowing up their young core of talent because they can't get a new stadium deal. Gonzalez and Bailey are also in trade talks. I wish the powers that be would just give the A's what they want!

[Kingdom]

Gio G for Texas' Martin Perez seems to be a hot rumor too

[Kingdom]

Even if they get Jarrod Parker and Perez, and continue to have a nice farm of arms.........bats anyone? Hitters? Offensively talented prospect people?

Eh?

[love_that_reefer]

It appears the deal is done. Cahill and Breslow to the Dbacks for Parker, Cowgill and another player.

[Kingdom]

Oh, Cowgill. Offense saved, Beaney!

[DirtyKash]

Is it just my impression or do the A's and Dbacks trade a lot with each other? You had the CarGo-for-Haren trade, Conor Jackson trade, Ziegler trade, and uh.. the Juan Cruz trade.

Kind of like how the Phillies always end up with the Astros' star players.

[realmofotalk]

Is it just my impression or do the A's and Dbacks trade a lot with each other? You had the CarGo-for-Haren trade, Conor Jackson trade, Ziegler trade, and uh.. the Juan Cruz trade.

It's because Billy Beane and everybody who's worked in the San Diego and Boston front office teams led by Larry Lucchino, including current and former Dbacks GM's Kevin Towers and Josh Byrnes, have something of a circle jerk going on in the baseball industry.

[Kingdom]

More info from Keith Law,

I'm a big Jarrod Parker fan, and have been ever since I first saw him pitch in high school in Kendallville, Indiana, the population of which probably dropped by half when all the scouts who came to see Parker left town. But as much as I believe he's going to be a star and pitch at the top of a big league rotation someday, I can't see him as sufficient return for an established major-league starter with plenty of remaining upside -- a starter who is under nine months Parker's senior.
Part of my thinking here is my belief that Trevor Cahill is going to be a star as well, and a lot sooner than Parker is. Cahill is just 23 years old and signed a reasonable contract that will be dirt cheap if he reaches his upside, keeping under team control through 2016 for $29 million total, with two club options beyond that.

He throws a sinker mostly from 88-91 but up to 94; as you'd expect, it generates a ton of ground balls, but he doesn't command the pitch as well as he could, and leaves it up in the zone more often than he should. His slider, mostly 81-85, has some late tumble like a splitter rather than the hard tilt of a typical slider, but when he gets it down it's also tough to hit in the air; his curveball is less effective, with a soft downward break and less velocity than the slider, and given his tendency to hang it he'd be better off reducing it to show-me status. His changeup is his best off-speed pitch, with good separation from the fastball and downward fade.
What he needs to go from league-average starter to No. 2 status or better is maturity and confidence; he has the raw tools, a delivery that works, and nearly 600 major-league innings of experience at an age when many pitchers are just reaching the majors. He's very bright and a hard worker, all of which feeds into my belief that he's about to turn a corner and become a much more valuable pitcher. The Diamondbacks also get Craig Breslow, who, despite his boorish manners, is an effective middle reliever, 90-92 with a hard but light-breaking slider; he's good enough against righties to be more than a specialist, but isn't so effective against lefties that he would be deployed as a specialist.
Parker is the real return here for Oakland, a six-foot right-hander with a golden arm, 91-96 on the four-seamer with a new two-seamer at 90-92 and a plus changeup at 80-82; his slider hasn't been as sharp since his 2009 Tommy John surgery, but the two-seamer can get him groundballs and the changeup is going to miss a lot of bats. He needs time to continue to build arm strength and work on locating both fastballs, as well as the art of setting up hitters. In Oakland, with a big ballpark and good defense behind him, he'll be in good shape to continue his development and perhaps even accelerate it, with the eventual ceiling of either an ace of a very good No. 2 starter, probably two or three years down the road.
Collin Cowgill is an extra outfielder who earns the "grinder" tag because ... well, mostly because his tools aren't that special. Ryan Cook is 90-95 with a hard-diving slider in the low 80s, but doesn't command either pitch and has a wicked hook in his delivery as well as a lot of effort; he could peak as a setup guy, could be a middle guy, could spend years bouncing up and down because major-league hitters won't chase either of his pitches the way AAA hitters do.
Neither of the latter two guys has much impact on this deal -

- it's Cahill for Parker, and while Parker is going to be very good, Cahill is ahead of him developmentally, and is already tied into a team-friendly contract.