Sean’s last post pretty much summed up the conversation we had on Friday as I came home from work. Let me lead by saying as a lifetime A’s fan, and one who has been on board for the entire Billy Beane era, I understand that the A’s have sustained years of success on a budget that doesn’t even turn on the lights at Yankee Stadium, so believe me when I say I trust in Beane’s decisions, and I continue to do so. My initial reaction was incredulous that we didn’t seem to pick up one major league ready player. As I read more about the prospects, I began to feel slightly better, especially when Keith Law of ESPN felt that we had restocked what had become quite a bare cupboard. Keith knows his stuff and I highly recommend reading anything he writes, he does not pull any punches.

My problem is no longer with the haul of prospects we received, I will leave the scouting up to Beane and his staff to assure fair value in return. My problem comes in the timing. Why now? Haren has 3 years left on his extremely fair contract, would his value be any different as the trading deadline approaches during midseason? Why not see what this team has before blowing it up? What if Harden actually makes it through a start healthy? What if Blanton continues to grow (hopefully as a pitcher, not outwards)? What if Chad Gaudin, with a full offseason devoted to starting, can pitch like he did in the first half for the entire season. What if the “Duke” shores up that fifth spot? What if?

That is the question that will haunt me, we will never know. I have watched numerous offensively challenged A’s teams do more with less pitching. Why not wait just to see? While I no longer harbor serious notions about contending, I still worry what Beane must have seen at his “health summit” the A’s held to check on all their injured players. What did he see to pull the trigger so quickly? Are we even going to make a good showing, or are we now relegated to being the Royals West for the next few seasons? What this trade did was rob me of hope. I am sure in the long run the A’s will be fine, especially with the new revenue created by the new ballpark, but that is not going to make this season any easier to stomach.

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