Billy Beane Goes All-In With Latest Trade

I know it's not a popular in the 2014 sports world but my initial thought on the A's acquisition of Jon Lester for Cespedes is simple--let's see how it plays out.

It'll go down as Billy Beane's best trade of all-time if they A's end up winning a World Series for the first time since 1989. If the October struggles continue? Well, A's fans won't be too thrilled about the prospect of renting a guy for a couple of months and giving up one of the most exciting players in MLB.

Billy Beane is going all-in shows that Beane basically said: "Screw the potential. I want to win NOW."

It also shows that Beane and the A's didn't have much faith throwing Jesse Chavez or Jason Hammel in a playoff series. Chavez has struggled in July (2-3, 5.20 ERA) and Hammel has been awful since coming over from Chicago (0-4, 9.53 ERA).

The A's projected postseason rotating includes Jon Lester, Sonny Gray, Scott Kazmir and Jeff Samardzija. Beane is thinking the offense can produce enough especially if the new rotation can hold teams to 0-to-3 runs

Lester's postseason numbers are great (6-4, 2.11 ERA, 68 strikeouts in 13 games) including 4-1 with a 1.56 ERA during the 2013 World Series run.

Oakland fans will miss the majestic home runs and the outfield assists from Cespedes but all that will be forgotten if they finally have success in October.

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