The A’s have acquired 27-year old lefty swinging 1B/DH Kila Ka’aihue from the Royals for 24-year old righty starting pitcher Ethan Hollingsworth. Ka’aihue played in 23 games for the Royals this year and he was 16 for 82 (.195 avg, .612 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 2 homers and 6 RBIs. He has now played in 87 games in his first three years in the majors and he is 61 for 283 (.216 avg, .683 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 11 homers and 32 RBIs. Ka’aihue will get to compete for the 1B job in 2012 in spring training for the A’s. Hollingsworth pitched in 19 games (18 starts) in AA+AAA-ball so far this year and he was 7-5 with 1 save, a 3.76 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.

31-year old lefty swinging outfielder David DeJesus seemed like the perfect “Moneyball” player because of his career on base % coming into this year which was .360. But, DeJesus turned in by far the worst year of his major league career in 2011. He has played in 130 games for the A’s so far this year and he was 104 for 438 (.237 avg, .696 OPS) with 59 runs scored, 10 homers, 46 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. DeJesus has now played in 1,006 games in his first 9 years in the majors and he is 1,075 of 3,793 (.283 avg, .776 OPS) with 560 runs scored, 71 homers, 436 RBIs and 51 stolen bases. I don’t see any way that the A’s make an effort to re-sign DeJesus over the winter.

28-year old righty starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy has had a very nice comeback in 2011. He has pitched in 23 games (all starts) for the A’s so far this year and he is 9-8 with a 3.35 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. McCarthy has only walked 26 batters in his first 155 2/3 innings this year for the A’s and that’s very impressive. He has now pitched in 133 games (79 starts) in his first six years in the majors and he is 29-32 with a 4.21 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. The A’s found themselves a nice pitcher in McCarthy off the junk heap due to his past issues with his shoulder.

26-year old righty swinging 3B Scott Sizemore has played good enough for the A’s since coming over from the Tigers, that he has won a full-time job. Sizemore has played in 80 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 65 for 266 (.244 avg, .772 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 10 homers, 47 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The A’s will probably bring in competition for Sizemore at 3B next spring, but he is more than capable of doing a decent job for the A’s. He has shown surprising power for them and a good glove at 3B.

32-year old righty swinging LF Josh Willingham has turned in a solid year for the A’s. He has played in 120 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 107 for 434 (.247 avg, .798 OPS) with 61 runs scored, 24 homers, 84 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Willingham came into this season with career highs of 75 runs scored, 26 homers and 89 RBIs. If he can stay healthy the rest of the year, he should set new career highs in homers and RBIs. The impressive thing about his production numbers is that he’s putting them up without much help behind or in front of him in the batting order.

When the A’s dealt longtime starting 2B Mark Ellis to the Rockies, they handed the starting job to 24-year old, switch-hitting rookie Jemile Weeks. Weeks came into this season as the A’s #5 prospect according to Baseball America. He has played in 78 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 95 for 327 (.291 avg, .732 OPS) with 40 runs scored, 0 homers, 25 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. If Weeks finishes the year strongly, he will head into the 2012 season as the unquestioned starter at 2B for the A’s.

The A’s have sent 29-year old righty swinging 1B/OF Conor Jackson to the Red Sox for 25-year old righty reliever Jason Rice. Jackson played in 102 games for the A’s this year and he was 83 for 333 (.249 avg, .658 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 4 homers, 38 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He played in 120 games in his two years with the A’s and he is 96 for 390 (.246 avg, .661 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 5 homers, 43 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Jackson became expendable with the play of Brandon Allen at 1B. Jason Rice gives the A’s another strong arm for the bullpen. He pitched in 44 games (1 start) in AAA-ball for the Red Sox this year and he was 4-5 with 4 saves, a 3.69 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. In his first 7 years in the minors, Rice has pitched in 256 games (48 starts) in which he is 26-31 with 24 saves, a 3.91 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. He has only allowed 453 hits in his first 543 innings in the minors while whiffing 589 batters, which is very impressive. But, he has walked 313 batters in the minors and that is way too many. That being said, Rice has a nice upside and this will likely turn out being a good trade for both teams.

UPDATE:  (9/6/2011) - The A’s have lost Jason Rice on waivers to the Cleveland Indians before he even pitched in a minor league game for the A’s.