The Arizona Diamondbacks made a substancial 'win-now' move on Friday afternoon, acquiring Trevor Cahill from the Oakland Athletics along with reliever Craig Breslow and cash considerations. In return, the club sent prized pitching prospect Jarrod Parker to Oakland, as well as outfielder Collin Cowgill and right-handed pitcher Ryan Cook. D-backs GM Kevin Towers released an official statement on the deal and why it was made:
"We feel very fortunate to add a young, talented started like Trevor to our rotation and an extremely durable and successful reliever like Craig to our bullpen," said Towers. "It's never easy to part with a prospect, but we feel like the surplus of talent that our scouting and player development staff has generated puts us in a position to build on what we accomplished this season and truly improve our team in 2012 and beyond."
It is unlike Towers to deal a young, promising prospect such as Parker, but the time is now to strike in Phoenix. The Dodgers are without proper ownership, the Rockies have no pitching, the Giants have no offense and the Padres are in the rebuilding stages. Cahill solidifies the back-half of the rotation and brings a solid punch after Ian Kennedy and Daniel Hudson.
According to the release, Breslow, 31, has appeared in 295 games in six big league seasons, posting a 3.06 ERA while holding opposing hitters to a .225 average. The southpaw has held left-handed hitters to a .227 average during his career while also enjoying success against right-handers (.224 BA).
Over the past three seasons, Breslow has appeared in 219 games, the most among all American League relievers and fourth among all big league pitchers behind Carlos Marmol (231), Nick Masset (231) and Matt Guerrier (223). During that period, he has posted a 3.36 ERA while striking out 170 and walking 79 batters.
This deal appears to work nicely for all parties involved and Arizona will feature one of the better starting rotations in the National League next season. The loss of Parker may hurt for years to come, but you have to give up talent to get talent.
For more on the deal, head on over to AZ Snake Pit.