Happy Trade Deadline Day: Boston Sends Jon Lester to Oakland for Yoenis Cespedes

For the last week, baseball fans have been waiting for today to arrive. With more impact players available this season than I can personally remember, it was only a matter of time before some GM for some team decided to press the detonator and blow everything up. And at 10:00 EST this morning, that is exactly what Billy Beane of the Oakland A's and Ben Cherington of the Boston Red Sox did. The Red Sox are sending Jon Lester, Jonny Gomes and an undisclosed amount of money to Oakland in exchange for Slugger Yoenis Cespedes and a competitive balance pick in next year's draft. Buckle up, everyone. Shit just got real.

2013 Team Awards: Oakland Athletics

In order to review the 2013 season, the crackpot staff of Off Base is handing out awards to each Major League team. Please send us $19.95 for the shipping and handling of your team's Hello Kitty stickers awards. Here are the Most Valuable Player, Least Valuable Player, Cy Young, Cy Yuck, Rookie of the Year and Reliever of the Year for the Athletics. 

*Guidelines, prices and participation may vary by author*

MVP: Josh Donaldson

Donaldson followed up his rookie campaign in 2012 by posting a .301/.384/.499 slash line in 2013, contributing to his 7.7 fWAR which was good enough for second in the American League, and probably seventh or eighth in the AL MVP voting. He is walking proof that you can move almost anybody to third base after switching to the position in the beginning of 2012, improving on his 5.5 FRAA from last year, and posting an FRAA of 10.0 this season. I'm also pretty sure that he is the love-child of Woody Harrelson and Hunter Pence...

I can't be the only one who sees the family resemblance, right?

Travis Blackley DFA'd, Hangs out with Fans.

A long, long time ago. I can still remember how the sunshine made me feel inside. I used to play-ay baseball, at a high school in southern California, And two years behind me was this kid Daric Barton.

OK, so I'm not much for making song parodies, but at least I speak da troof. The Oakland Athletics DFA'd a Jordan Norberto, Daric Barton and Travis Blackley yesterday from their Major League roster as spring training dwindles away and Opening Day creeps closer.

Daric Barton was a slight unfortunate for this blogger. Barton is a graduate of Marina High School in Huntington Beach, CA, the high school that just so happens to be my Alma Mater. Barton had seemingly stamped his ticket as an everyday Major League player in 2010 when he posted a .273/.393/.405 slash line, collecting a league leading 110 walks and putting up a bWAR of 5.4. But, after 67 games in 2011, he was diagnosed with a torn labrum and missed the rest of the season. He came back late in 2012, but struggled to the tune of a .204/.338/.292 slash line and a bWAR of 0.3. His spring was looking eerily similar to 2012, so the A's made the decision to send him packing.

Al Alburquerque Loves the Baseball

There are quite a few ways to show up the opposing team. You can hot dog down the first base line after hitting wall scraping home run. You can do the Jose Valverde dance. Brandon Phillips is possibly the best defensive shower upper (pretty sure that's not a term) with his inability to make a routine play, well, routine.

Last night during game 2 of the ALDS against the Oakland A's (Who seem to have remembered that they are, in fact, the Oakland A's), fans were witness to a little bit of showing up done by one Al Alburquerque.