23-year old righty starting pitcher Jarrod Parker came over in the big Trevor Cahill deal with the D-Backs last winter. He wound up finishing in 5th place in the A.L. Rookie of the Year voting in 2012. Parker pitched in 29 games (all starts) for the A’s last year and he was 13-8 with a 3.47 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. Parker gave up 166 hits and he walked 63 batters while whiffing 140 of them in 181 1/3 innings last year. Those are some pretty impressive numbers and he is just going to get better.

27-year old righty swinging outfielder Yoenis Cespedes finished 2nd for the Rookie of the Year Award and he was also #10 in MVP voting in the A.L. Cespedes played in 129 games for the A’s last year and he was 142 of 487 (.292 avg, .861 OPS) with 70 runs scored, 23 homers, 82 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. A’s GM Billy Beane was openly questioned by a lot of “experts” when he gave Cespedes a big deal last winter, but who is laughing now? Beane as usual. Cespedes is going to make a real run at the MVP Award in 2013, if he can stay healthy.