Oakland A's Acquire OF David DeJesus

And the offseason begins.  In the first major trade of this offseason, the Oakland Athletics have acquired outfielder David DeJesus from the Kansas City Royals.  The Royals get SP Vin Mazzaro and SP Justin Marks.  DeJesus hit .316 last year for the Royals, but did not supply much pop (5 HR in 91 games) or speed (3 for 6 in stolen base attempts).  He is entering the last year of the 6-year/$19.3M extension he signed in 2006, so Oakland gets a year of David to see if he'll be a productive enough bat for their outfield.  The Royals got a decent deal, as the 24-year old Vin Mazzaro pitched 122.1 innings last year for Oakland.  His ERA sat at a decent 4.27, but his peripherals were a bit low (5.8 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9).  Still, he is young and should be a decent number three starter for Kansas City.  Justin Marks seems to be a low-ceiling prospect, who was more of a throw in.  The 22-year old pitched his first full year, throwing almost 130 innings with a ERA of 4.87. 

This deal looks fairly even, with a high-contact hitter going to Oakland for a young pitcher who has bit of an upside going to Kansas City.  (Image courtesy of croixdestick.com)