The A’s have dealt 31-year old righty reliever Brad Ziegler to the Diamondbacks for 25-year old lefty swinging 1B Brandon Allen and 24-year old lefty reliever Jordan Norberto. Brandon Allen should get a shot with the A’s this year. He played in 11 games for the D-Backs this year and he was 5 for 29 (.172 avg, .834 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 3 homers, 7 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 65 games in parts of three years in the majors and he is 38 for 178 (.213 avg, .730 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 8 homers, 27 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Allen has big time power but with that power comes a lot of whiffs as he has struck out 73 times already in his career. The A’s are one team that doesn’t worry about whiffing though. Jordan Norberto pitched in 41 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the D-Backs so far this year and he was 6-2 with 1 save, a 4.25 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. He got his first taste of the big leagues in 2010 for the D-Backs and it didn’t go too well. Norberto pitched in 33 games (0 starts) for the D-Backs last year and he was 0-2 with a 5.85 ERA and a 1.90 WHIP.

Brad Ziegler pitched in 43 games (0 starts) for the A’s this year and he was 3-2 with 1 save, a 2.39 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. He pitched in 223 games (0 starts) in his four years with the A’s and he was 11-13 with 19 saves, a 2.49 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. Ziegler was a solid reliever in his time with the A’s.

The A’s couldn’t resist making this deal because of Brandon Allen’s big time power potential. He is the key to this deal for the A’s.

The A’s have placed 32-year old righty reliever Michael Wuertz on the 15-day disabled list with a thumb injury. Wuertz has pitched in 34 games (0 starts) so far this year and he is 0-0 with a 4.88 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. Well at least we know that Wuertz won’t be traded until August (at the earliest) with the trade deadline tomorrow. The A’s have called up 27-year old lefty reliever Jerry Blevins to replace Wuertz in the bullpen. Blevins has pitched in 16 games (0 starts) for the A’s so far this year and he is 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP.

I think the A’s could blow up their disappointing roster this week and why not? Any player who isn’t a part of the A’s future (I count at least 16 of them) will likely be on the trading block this week. The whole A’s starting outfield (Josh Willingham, Coco Crisp and David DeJesus) could be on the move and they each have decent value trade wise. DH Hideki Matsui and outfielder Ryan Sweeney also have limited appeal to other teams on the trade market. Conor Jackson, Kevin Kouzmanoff and Daric Barton will also be on the trade block this week but none of them will bring much of a return on their own. Righty starting pitchers Rich Harden and Brandon McCarthy will be on the block with teams like the Red Sox, Yankees, Tigers and Cardinals having interest in them. The bullpen is going to bring back nice returns for the A’s if they decide to move a lot of them. Lefty relievers Brian Fuentes, Craig Breslow and Jeremy Blevins likely appeal to the Red Sox, Yankees, Brewers, Cardinals and Diamondbacks. Righty relievers Grant Balfour, Brad Zeigler and Michael Wuertz will likely draw attention from the Tigers, Twins, Rangers, Angels, Braves, Pirates and Diamondbacks. A’s GM Billy Beane might try to make a few package deals to maximize his return for the players he’s willing to deal. I see the A’s looking a lot different on August 1st than they look right now.

31-year old righty submarining righty reliever Brad Ziegler burst onto the scene for the A’s back in 2008. He was awesome that year but in 2009 and 2010, he was merely ordinary for the A’s. This season though, Ziegler is back to dominating. He has pitched in 37 games (0 starts) for the A’s so far this year and he is 3-1 with 1 save, a 1.82 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. Ziegler has now pitched in 217 games (0 starts) in his first four years with the A’s and he is 11-12 with 19 saves, a 2.40 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. It will be interesting to see if some team comes calling about Zieger at the trade deadline.

The A’s have designated 27-year old lefty reliever Jerry Blevins for the second time this year. Blevins pitched in 16 games (0 starts) for the A’s this year and he is 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP. He has now pitched in 141 games (0 starts) in his five years with the A’s and he is 3-5 with 1 save, a 3.96 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. With a lack of decent lefty relievers on the trade market, the A’s should be able to get something for Blevins this time around.

UPDATE: (7/20/2011) - The A’s have sent Blevins to AAA again.

23-year old lefty starting pitcher Brett Anderson has underwent Tommy John Surgery. He will miss the rest of the 2011 season and most if not all of the 2012 season. Anderson pitched in 13 games (all starts) for the A’s this year and he was 3-6 with a 4.00 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. Anderson has pitched in 62 games (all starts) in his first three years with the A’s and he is 21-23 with a 3.66 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. This is a big blow to the A’s as Anderson is one of the best starting pitchers they have.

The Oakland A’s finished the first half of the 2011 season with a 39-53 record which has them in last place in the A.L. West, 12 games behind the Rangers. The A’s are also 16 games behind the Yankees for the A.L. Wild Card. The A’s have been really disappointing with the bats so far this year as they are only hitting .233 with a .636 OPS as a team and that’s pretty anemic. They are only averaging 3.4 runs scored per game and they have wasted a lot of good pitching this year. The A’s have a 3.14 ERA as a team and a 1.26 WHIP which doesn’t exactly go with a 39-53 record. Here’s the players who made the biggest impact in the first half of the 2011 season:

Team MVP: 25-year old lefty starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez has been outstanding for the A’s so far this year. He has started 18 games for the A’s in 2011 and he is 8-6 with a 2.47 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. Gonzalez has only given up 92 hits in his first 113 innings this year and he has whiffed 111 batters and he has been electric so far. He has walked 52 times this year but it hasn’t hurt him yet.

Biggest Surprise: The A’s turned to 27-year old righty Guillermo Moscoso when injuries ravaged the starting rotation this year and he has done an outstanding job. Moscoso has pitched in 10 games (8 starts) for the A’s so far this year and he is 3-4 with a 2.16 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. He has only given up 34 hits in his first 50 innings with the A’s this year as he has been very solid. The A’s hope that Moscoso keeps rolling in the second half of the 2011 season.

Biggest Disappointment: This is a tie between 25-year old lefty swinging 1B Daric Barton and 29-year old righty swinging 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff began the season as starters for the A’s but they are both in AAA-ball now. Barton has played in 67 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 50 for 236 (.212 avg, .592 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 0 homers, 21 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Kouzmanoff has played in 46 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 30 for 136 (.221 avg, .615 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 4 homers, 17 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. I don’t expect either of them will get back to the majors until they are either dealt to another team or until rosters expand on September 1st.

The A’s have released 31-year old lefty starter/reliever Bobby Cramer. Cramer pitched in 5 games (0 starts) for the A’s earlier this year and he was 0-1 with a 1.08 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP. He pitched in 9 games (4 starts) in parts of two years with the A’s and he was 2-2 with a 2.53 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. I don’t think that Cramer will be unemployed too long as he’s left-handed and he has had little trouble getting major league hitters out so far in his major league career.

26-year old lefty swinging outfielder Jermaine Mitchell has been recently promoted to AAA as he’s starting to open some eyes in the A’s organization. Mitchell has played in 79 games in AA+AAA-ball so far this year and he is 116 for 328 (.354 avg, 1.026 OPS) with 71 runs scored, 10 homers, 53 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. He also has an amazing 13 triples so far this year. Mitchell has now played in 594 games in his first six years in the minors and he is 627 for 2,205 (.284 avg, .812 OPS) with 376 runs scored, 44 homers, 262 RBIs and 120 stolen bases. If Mitchell keeps playing and hitting the way he is right now, he could get his way to Oakland by the end of the 2011 season.

25-year old lefty starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez will be the A’s only representative in next week’s All-Star game. Gonzalez broke through in 2010 with the A’s. He started 33 games for the A’s last year and he was 15-9 with a 3.23 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. There were a lot of skeptics thinking that Gonzalez’ 2010 was a fluke as it literally came out of nowhere. But, Gonzalez has been pitching even better in 2011 for the A’s. Gonzalez has started 17 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 8-5 with a 2.31 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. He only has given up 85 hits in his first 109 innings this year and he has 106 whiffs, which shows how nasty he can be. His only weakness is his control as he has walked 49 batters already this year. If Gonzalez could tighten his control up a little bit, he would be even more dominating than he is right now.