One Month Review: The Trevor Cahill/Craig Breslow Trade

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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