At least the A’s have had chances. That’s more than most teams in their situation can say.

At least, that’s my belief. As it is, as much crap as Cust has taken here from me and others, he’d be a great fit lower in the order with some legit hitters here.

Brown? Again, you lose someone who, regardless of the criticism he’s received here, is one of the best on the team at driving in runs – for whatever that’s worth.

What value does Crosby have to others? Even Barton’s got a lot of question marks. I don’t see what the A’s have to deal with from a position of strength when it comes to sending position players at the Major League level out in exchange for quality hitters. I just don’t.

Even if you do bring in two quality hitters, the holes in the lineup are still huge. You’ve got Suzuki who’s doing well. Sweeney hits for a good average but he’s been dinged up all year long. Gonzalez is still learning how to be a Major League hitter. Their entire infield has hit like crap all year. How are a couple better hitters going to make the whole team good enough to be a contender? It’s going to take more than that.

Trade from a position of strength: pitching. Get some prospects in return and draft well.

They haven’t drafted completely well in terms of shoring up the problems at 3B/SS but they’re trying some things there within the system. There are some good-looking young hitters on their way up the ladder that will have a chance to earn a spot.

Meanwhile, they sacrificed things completely by trading Harden, Blanton and to a lesser extent Gaudin in exchange for MORE prospects and young talent, reinforcing their system even further. We already mostly know what we have from the Haren/Swisher trades and the early returns on those deals are pretty favorable.

Now we have a situation where a few of these position players are most likely going to develop further and be of value to the team whether that means wearing an A’s uniform or not. Then, the team will be able to, if they choose, move some pitching AND hitting prospects for better players.

It’s a risk, but no greater risk than shipping some of these guys off now and going for broke. I don’t want to go for broke like Florida did twice only to return to last place after winning the World Series. I want a team that can be built back up into a consistent contender.

I think that’s what Beane is trying to do. Knowing how he operates, he’s not going to do it in what many think is the conventional way. He’s taking some chances that could succeed or fail, but he’s trying.

This is my interpretation of the plan I see within the organization. Agree with it or not, that’s up to you.

I think this conversation is over. You’ve clearly proven you have no idea what you’re talking about.

In what universe is Cardenas (as ONE example) “no offense in return now or in the future”?

I think Beane would say, accurately, that there was no playoff race – that the A’s were bound to fall back with or without those pitchers.