[The Elephant Walk is my somewhat regular column on Oakland Athletics baseball. Results, performances, transactions or other thoughts I might have about the A’s]

Well, I think this signifies a long year to two year period for Oakland A’s fans like myself. Billy Beane said that the only way he was going to trade Dan Haren is if he was going to unload the whole freakin’ ship. Well, Haren’s gone, so one would have to assume Blanton and Street could follow soon and be packing their bags for a glorious, NL destination like New York or Los Angeles. Right now it looks like a lot of people are giving the nod to Arizona for “winning” the trade by not having to give up any major league ready talent. Naturally, I was disappointed, with dreams that Haren could bring the likes of Phil Hughes to Oakland… but I guess in the long run what is the use of an uber-prospect like Hughes in Oakland if they have to rebuild? By the time the guy hits full gear it will be time to lose him to free agency or a trade such as this one. No, I think I finally get what Billy Beane did; he gathered six prospects who project to be major league ready anywhere between two and five years. With one player he re-stocked the minors for the A’s. Not too bad when you think about it.

So in my opinion - which is completely biased, and rightfully so - the A’s are the team that wins this deal. Things were looking more and more grim for the team’s 2008 chances in terms of having enough pitching to compete, and signs didn’t really point to anything improving greatly in the next few years. With this trade, the A’s get the #1,3,7, and 8th ranked prospects in the Arizona farm system - according to Baseball America. In the deal, they get two AAA pitchers who might be able to be counted on in 2009 and even the latter part of 2008, and another in AA who might be three years out? I also think that people are failing to note that all three pitchers acquired are lefties, and in a rotation and bullpen dominated by right-handers, I think the A’s know damn well that success at the big league level tends to accompany a good lefthanded starter (i.e., the pre-Giants Barry Zito).

Also, after making numerous trades to try and shore up their outfield last year, the team gets two outfield prospects. Aaron Cunningham projects to be a fourth outfielder, but instead I think that he will be given every opportunity to play full time in centerfield in three years or so. The gem of the deal, Carlos Gonzalez - who was ranked the 18th prospect overall prior to the 2007 season by BA - looks like he will be best in right field or center field, although I don’t know then what the A’s would do in left… and this is a complete guess, but I would think they want him in right because of his arm strength. I’m scared though that they use him in center and he ends up pulling hammies a la Milton Bradley and Rocco Baldelli. Finally, they get Chris Carter who will probably be in high A in 2008 so he is easily 4-5 years out. Dan Johnson should be long gone by then.

So ultimately I think then Billy Beane’s plan comes down to gaining a great deal of talent. If one out of the six become All-Stars, the trade is at minimum a push. If three or more make an impact at the big league level, then its a clear win for the A’s.

In the end, all I have to say to doubters or those who think I must be sniffing glue for thinking the A’s won this trade: let’s not forget what happened to bring Danny Haren to the A’s in the first place. Who really thought that the A’s were getting the best end of the deal when they grabbed two minor league pitchers (Kiko Calero and Dan Haren) and a catcher prospect in A ball (Daric Barton) from St. Louis for the (then) stud lefty Mark Mulder?