Oakland Athletics Trade Rumors: Tracking Hot Updates, News and Reaction

You can be sure that most of baseball will be paying close attention to how the Oakland Athletics perform coming out of the All-Star break, as few teams could have as big an impact on the trade market as the A's.

With multiple pending free agents that are at or near the top of other team's wish lists—specifically closer Tyler Clippard, starter Scott Kazmir and the versatile Ben Zobrist—Oakland general manager Billy Beane could be in a position to move all three for a substantial return as he builds for the future.

Or he could decide to hang onto all of them and add another piece or two as he tries to position the club to make a run at its third division title in the past four years.

Keep it here for the most up-to-the-minute rumblings about the A's, along with analysis and everything that comes with it. While the post date will always show as July 15, simply click to the next slide to see the latest from the rumor mill.

Done Deals

Julie Jacobson/Associated Press

July 23: Traded LHP Scott Kazmir to the Houston Astros in exchange for RHP Daniel Mengden and C Jacob Nottingham

July 27: Traded RHP Tyler Clippard and $1 million to the New York Mets in exchange for RHP Casey Meisner

July 28: Traded IF/OF Ben Zobrist to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for RHP Aaron Brooks and LHP Sean Manaea

July 31: Acquired LHP Felix Doubront from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for cash

July 31: Traded RHP Ryan Cook to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for a player to be named later

Oakland Won't Sell Controllable Pieces

Reinhold Matay/Associated Press

Wednesday, July 29 at 7:50 a.m. ET

With Tyler Clippard, Scott Kazmir and Ben Zobrist all having been traded, speculation on the rumor mill has shifted to players like Jesse Chavez and Josh Reddick.

But general manager Billy Beane was quick to silence that speculation, telling The San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser that he has no intention of trading players that are under team control in 2016 and beyond.

That leaves the A's with only two potential trade chips left to play, veteran relievers Edward Mujica and Eric O'Flaherty. Neither one is going to bring back anything substantial in a deal, so it's safe to say that, barring an offer that forces Beane to rethink his strategy, Oakland is done dealing.

July 28: Traded UT Ben Zobrist to Kansas City

Ben Margot/Associated Press

Ben Zobrist didn't necessarily bring back a huge package of talent for Oakland, but in getting Sean Manaea from Kansas City, Oakland added another young arm that figures to be a part of the team's rotation in the not-so-distant future.

The 34th overall pick in the 2014 draft, the 23-year-old Manaea has been a strikeout machine in the minor leagues, fanning 185 batters over 153.1 innings of work. Armed with a mid-90s fastball, a tight slider and improving changeup, he's got the three-pitch mix needed to stick in the rotation.

His control remains an issue, as he's averaged nearly four walks per nine innings of work, and it's that inconsistency that might hold him back from becoming anything more than an innings eating mid-rotation arm that whiffs a ton of batters—not that there's anything wrong with that.

Aaron Brooks, 25, has pitched to a 4.21 ERA and 1.29 WHIP over parts of five minor league seasons. He's struggled badly in limited action in the majors, allowing 16 earned runs and 18 hits over seven innings of work, and is ultimately nothing more than organizational depth.

July 27: Traded RHP Tyler Clippard

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

Tyler Clippard wasn't part of Oakland's long-term plans, so the A's traded him to the New York Mets for a young right-handed starter that might be, 20-year-old Casey Meisner.

A third-round pick in the 2013 draft, the 6'7" Meisner has put up impressive numbers thus far as a professional, pitching to a 2.89 ERA and 1.21 WHIP over 208.2 minor league innings with three times as many strikeouts (7.9 K/9) as walks (2.6 BB/9).

He's seen his walks increase and strikeouts decrease as he's faced tougher competition, but he's got a quality fastball that sits in the low 90s, a sweeping curve and a changeup that continues to improve. Meisner's ceiling is probably that of a back-end starter, but he could potentially develop into something more.

July 23: Traded LHP Scott Kazmir to Astros

Butch Dill/Associated Press

While Oakland didn't necessarily land a pair of blue chip prospects in exchange for Scott Kazmir, the A's did add two talented youngsters that add depth to the farm system and could be factors in the big leagues in another year or two in RH pitcher Daniel Mengden (pictured) and C/1B Jacob Nottingham.

Mengden, 22, was Houston's 4th round pick in last year's draft and ranked No. 19 on MLB.com's list of the team's top prospects. A tremendous athlete with a four-pitch mix, there's some debate as to whether he profiles better as a reliever or starter, but he's got the tools to stick in the rotation.

Nottingham, 20, has big-time power potential that he's put on display across the lower levels of Houston's farm system this year, with 40 extra-base hits (14 home runs) over 76 games.

Ranked No. 22 in the system by MLB.com, he's got a strong enough arm to stick behind the plate but needs to continue developing defensively if he's going to catch. Shifting him to first base on a full-time basis could find him on a faster track to the big leagues.