Arizona Diamondbacks acquire Trevor Cahill and Craig Breslow from Oakland Athletics

The Oakland Athletics sent starting pitcher Trevor Cahill and lefty reliever Craig Breslow to the Arizona Diamondbacks for prospects Jarrod Parker, Ryan Cook, and Collin Cowgill. Cahill is really an overrated No. 3 starter, while Breslow is a ho-hum middle reliever. The A’s acquired two middling prospects in Cook and Cowgill, but they were also able to nab one of the best 20 prospects in baseball; Jarrod Parker. Cook’s value is at its highest point right now because of his low ERA’s last season in AA and AAA. He also pitched in 7.2 innings in the Bigs.

Parker is generally regarded as a pitcher with ace upside who will more likely end up being a solid No. 2 or 3 starter for a team. His upside is higher than Cahill, which is why many people really like this deal for the Athletics. Parker and Cahill, however, are the same age and some say that Parker is an overrated prospect. They believe that Cahill is a proven Major League pitcher and is thus better. There are two different sides to it, but everybody will agree that the future success of Parker in the Bigs will make or break this deal. If he he ends up being better than Cahill- certainly within reason given his upside- then this deal was a steal for Billy Beane.

Kevin Towers has done a commendable job through his first year in Arizona, as the former Padres GM has turned a bottom-feeder into a contender. He revamped their bullpen, bolstered their rotation, and the development of Justin Upton gave the team some offense. Towers has helped his team in the short-term for sure, because Cahill will slot in comfortably in the No. 3 spot in the rotation. Breslow will join J.J. Putz, David Hernandez, Joe Paterson, and former Athletic Brad Ziegler in Towers’ constantly improving bullpen.

The Athletics, on the other hand, aren’t going to be competing in their western division any time soon. Beane knew that it was time to trade two expendable pitchers for three prospects; one of those guys has the chance to be a very good pitcher one day. They really didn’t have much use for a decent starter and an average middle reliever; they needed that pitching prospect with upside.

The Diamondbacks are about to do a little something called addition by subtraction, as the acquisition of Trevor Cahill has made below-average (what was up with that Haren trade?) starter Joe Saunders even less important to the D’Backs. He’s a poor pitcher to begin with, but the team now has absolutely no need for him. They are actively shopping him on the trading block, and they will likely get some low-line prospect. The free agent market for starting pitchers is weak, and a team looking for a back-of-the-rotation starter will likely deal for Saunders.

Trevor Cahill was worth about 2.5 WAR last season, and that’s where his true value is. He’s a solid No. 3 starter, but he really isn’t more than that. Cahill’s sinker will definitely help him out in homer-happy Chase Field, but Cahill is an overrated commodity due to his 2010 season. He broke out and was worth 2.2 WAR, but people weren’t willing to look past his stellar 2.97 ERA and 18 wins. That low ERA was based on a .236 BABIP, but it is interesting to note that Cahill gives up more homers than most sinker-ballers (1 per nine innings in his career).

Cahill has good off-speed stuff, but he doesn’t strike out enough hitters (6.37 K/9 last season was a career-high) and walks too many (3.38 BB/9). However, he does well for himself by inducing groundballs on about 56% of batted balls during the past two seasons. He should fit in well for the Diamondbacks, and he is definitely a good addition to their rotation. I don’t see Josh Collmenter repeating last season’s performance, so it was important Towers to add a solid starter to further the team’s improvement. They need to keep improving in the NL West, because the Giants and their monstrous pitching staff aren’t going away any time soon.

Craig Breslow is a fairly boring pitcher who owns a career 3.80 FIP and is a league-average reliever who is best utilized as a middle reliever. That being said, he is a solid MRP who has been worth exactly 0.4 WAR during the past three seasons. You know what you’re going to get out of Breslow, and the Diamondbacks just added another guy to a bullpen filled with average to solid pitchers; and headlined by the revived J.J. Putz in the closer spot.

As with quite a few trades, I like this deal for both teams. Too many people are stressing who “won” and “lost”, but I would honestly pick the A’s as the winners of this trade if I had to. I love the upside of Jarrod Parker, even though it’s nothing more than upside. Craig Breslow isn’t much anyway, and Ryan Cook and Collin Cowgill hold the same value as Breslow at the very least. The A’s aren’t going to do any damage in the recent future, so it was important for them to bring in a high-upside starter. The Diamondbacks want to continue to bolster their rotation to combat the Giants and become contenders in the NL West for the foreseeable future. Two of the better GMs in the league just hooked up and made an interesting deal that helped out both parties involved. Man, I can’t wait to watch Parker pitch in the Majors.