Let's face it, things have been boring since the A's traded Cahill for Jarrod Parker, Collin Cowgill, and Ryan Cook. The next big hump in the 2011-2012 MLB postseason, which was the announcement of which team posted the winning bid for Japanese phenom Yu Darvish, has come and gone. And much to the chagrin of most Athletics fans, that winning bid came from the Texas Rangers. The rich get richer, I guess?

How this affects the Oakland Athletics in coming days should be obvious. Any team that lost out on Darvish has one less impact target to choose from. Latos is already off the table. John Danks and Gavin Floyd are both viable options, but neither of them comes with the obvious luxury of having at least four more years of team control. From recent rumors, it sounds like the second place team in the Darvish bidding was Toronto, who already supposedly expressed real interest in Gio Gonzalez.

Per Slusser, Toronto's farm system is loaded, so trading for Gonzalez "makes the most sense right now." I definitely wouldn't be surprised, and I wouldn't be unhappy. Their farm system really is chock-full of talent. The other teams who have apparent interest in Gonzalez is Detroit (from whom the A's reportedly asked for Jacob Turner, Drew Smyly, and Nick Castellanos), Washington (who has reportedly discussed a four-for-one deal), New York (who are reluctant to include pitching prospects and Jesus Montero), and possibly Kansas City (who is reluctant to include top prospect Wil Myers in any deal).

Things should pick up fairly quickly.