Peter Gammons is reporting that Mark Mulder has been traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Danny Haren, Kiko Calero, and Daric Barton.

This is huge!

For everyone who was screaming and boo-hooing about Hudson...this is HUGE!

Billy Beane just told the rest of the non-believers, "EAT IT".

Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle was just on ESPN News saying they A's are going to win 55 games in 2005. He tried to double-back and retract his statement and say the A's might win 65 games. Of Course Ray Ratto didn't even know who the prospects were. Not that any sportswriter understands baseball unless it is major league baseball and as long as the players have been in the league for 10 years.

This is an outstanding move by Beane.

Absolutely OUT-BLEEPING-Standing.
Beane just picked up two proven 1st Round picks in two trades and shed almost $25 Million in the process.

DAN HAREN

Right-Handed Pitcher	Born: September 17th , 1980
Height: 6'5"	Monterey Park, CA
Weight: 220	Drafted by: St. Louis Cardinals
Drafted: 2nd Round of 2001	(71st pick Overall)

Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	H9	W9	K9	whip
2001	Peoria	Midw	21	A	3	3	3.12	12	52	47	22	18	.	8	57	8.1	1.4	9.9	1.06
Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	H9	W9	K9	whip
2002	Potomac	Caro	22	A	3	6	3.62	14	92	90	43	37	8	19	82	8.8	1.9	8	1.18
Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	H9	W9	K9	whip
2002	Peoria	Midw	22	A	7	3	1.95	14	101.2	89	32	22	6	12	89	7.9	1.1	7.9	0.99
Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	H9	W9	K9	whip
2003	Tenn	Sou	23	AA	6	1	0.82	8	55	36	8	5	2	6	49	5.9	1	8	0.76
Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	H9	W9	K9	whip
2003	Memphis	PCL	23	AAA	2	1	4.93	8	45.2	50	25	25	6	8	35	9.9	1.6	6.9	1.27
Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	H9	W9	K9	whip
2003	Cards	NL	23	MLB	3	7	5.08	14	72.2	84	44	41	9	22	43	10.4	2.7	5.3	1.46
Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	H9	W9	K9	whip
2004	Memphis	PCL	24	AAA	11	4	4.15	21	128	136	60	59	19	33	150	9.6	2.3	10.6	1.32
Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	H9	W9	K9	whip
2004	Cards	NL	24	MLB	3	3	4.5	14	46	45	23	23	4	17	32	8.8	3.3	6.3	1.35

There should be some concern of Haren's usage over the past few seasons - simply because he came out of the Cardinals system. Right now, Haren, his family, his agent and all pitchers everywhere should be ecstatic and jumping for joy that Haren got away from Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan.

Haren, Meyer and Blanton make up a new Big Three all of their own.

Haren was the top prospect in the St. Louis Cardinals organization in 2003 according to Baseball America. Haren spent most of 2004 in the unenviable position of being stuck between AAA in the Pacific Coast League and out of St. Louis' bullpen. While Haren didn't light things up in the major league, he didn't have a feel for the bullpen, either.

Haren is a fastball, slider, change-up pitcher and featured a splitter in college. The A's will work with Haren and a few starts for Sacramento before a call to the parent club seems the likely course of action. Haren is the A's 4th or 5th starter for the future. Something the A's had running auditions for too many years to count.

Do not be fooled by Haren's less than spectacular Major League numbers. Haren is not Hudson, or even Harden, but who is?

ENRIQUE NOMAR CALERO

Right-Handed Pitcher		Born: January 9, 1975
Height: 6'1"		Santruce Puerto Rico
Weight: 180		St. Thomas University
Drafted: Kansas City		27th Round of 1996 (799th Overall)

Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	H9	W9	K9	whip
1996	Spokane	Nwest	21	A	4	2	2.52	17	75	77	34	21	5	18	61	9.2	2.2	7.3	1.27
Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	H9	W9	K9	whip
1997	Wichita	Tex	22	AA	11	9	4.44	23	127.2	120	78	63	15	44	100	8.5	3.1	7.1	1.28
Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	H9	W9	K9	whip
1998	Wilmington	Caro	23	A	7	3	2.86	17	97.2	74	33	31	7	51	90	6.8	4.7	8.3	1.28
Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	H9	W9	K9	whip
1998	Lansing	Midw	23	A	1	0	3.78	4	16.2	19	7	7	1	7	10	10.3	3.8	5.4	1.56
Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	H9	W9	K9	whip
1998	Wichita	Tex	23	AA	1	0	9.64	3	14	23	16	15	2	6	5	14.8	3.9	3.2	2.07
Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	H9	W9	K9	whip
1999	Wichita	Tex	24	AA	9	3	4.12	26	129	143	67	59	14	57	92	10	4	6.4	1.55
Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	H9	W9	K9	whip
2000	Wichita	Tex	25	AA	10	7	3.63	28	153.2	141	74	62	16	66	130	8.3	3.9	7.6	1.35
Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	H9	W9	K9	whip
2001	Wichita	Tex	26	AA	14	5	3.33	27	124.1	110	57	46	10	51	94	8	3.7	6.8	1.29
Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	H9	W9	K9	whip
2002	Wichita	Tex	27	AA	1	0	2.25	5	16	10	5	4	2	5	15	5.6	2.8	8.4	0.94
Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	H9	W9	K9	whip
2002	Omaha	PCL	27	AAA	7	7	3.44	20	125.2	112	52	48	11	35	109	8	2.5	7.8	1.17
Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	H9	W9	K9	whip
2003	Cards	NL	28	MLB	1	1	2.82	26	38.1	29	12	12	5	20	51	6.8	4.7	12	1.28
Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	H9	W9	K9	whip
2004	Redbirds	PCL	29	AAA	0	0	2.49	12	25.1	20	8	7	3	11	33	7.1	3.9	11.7	1.22
Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	H9	W9	K9	whip
2004	Cards	NL	29	MLB	3	1	2.78	41	45.1	27	14	14	5	10	47	5.4	2	9.3	0.82

Like Juan Cruz, Kiko Calero is a "failed" starter. Both are about to become the answer to the A's set-up man issues in the bullpen. Luckily, nobody has thought about Calero or Cruz as closers. These guys are multi-batter inning eaters and both sport sub 3.00 ERA's out of the bullpen.

Calero languisehd in kansas City's organization for, well, forever.

Kiko is no longer a lineman for the county.

But, the Wichita Lineman is still on the line.

Calero assumes the role vacated by the departure of Jim Mecir. Even as I write that, it bothers me to no end that some welcome the demise of Mecir. If you really looked at the numbers, Mecir and Justin Duchscherer were the two most effective pitchers out of the bullpen for Oakland in 2004. Mecir got burned by bad management decisions and was forced into a closer's role. He did not do well in the first half, but was there a more effective pitcher out of the A's pen in the second half? No.

Why am I mentioning this?

The A's have shifted. The requisite for being an Oakland Athletic in years past has been - there is something wrong with you. Mecir was born with club feet, Scott Hatteberg can't throw, David Justice was old, The Giambi Who Would Not Slide couldn't play defense or run, etc. Now, to be an Oakland Athletic you need to be bursting with talent and young. It's a youth movement, kids, get used to it.

DARIC BARTON

Catcher	Born: August 16th, 1985
Height: 5'11"	Springfield, VT
Weight: 200	Drafted by: St. Louis Cardinals
Drafted: 1st Round of 2003	(28th pick Overall)
Bats: Left	Throws: Right

Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Org	Lvl	Avg	SLG	OBP	OPS	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO
2003	JC	App	18	Stl	R	.291	.419	.416	.835	54	172	29	50	10	0	4	29	37	48
Year	Team	Lg.	Ag	Org	Lvl	Avg	SLG	OBP	OPS	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO
2004	Peoria	Midw	19	Stl	A	.313	.511	.445	.956	90	313	63	98	23	0	13	77	69	44

Uhm...this is where things get messy. The A's now have five catchers in the minor leagues with Major League ability. At 19 Years Old, Barton's ceiling might exceed Landon Powell and Kurt Suzuki and Jeremy Brown and John Baker. His defense has been suspect under most scouts' noses. His throwing arm has been labeled "adequate" which translates to not adequate. However, footwork can make up for throwing technique and at Barton's age, there is room and time to improve.

Hitting, there is no question that Barton might be the best hitter to switch teams this off-season. I say that now, come back in ten years and see if I'm right. Peter Gammons is likening Barton's minor league numbers to some guy named Albert Pujols...and Barton is a catcher.

Barton might be moving to a new position or at least learning a new one. Hitting talent like his does not come around very often and as the A's have catchers to play an entire infield in the wings - it just makes sense.

Still, if Barton can become a Multi-Functional catcher; catch 60-70 games, play 60-70 games at another position, he could be immensely valuable. Yah, I know, STOP MAKING SENSE.

I'll be summing up the last 72 hours in a post when the dust clears. Hopefully, by Sunday afternoon.