A's exec Farhan Zaidi expects team slump to end soon

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ATLANTA - Oakland's front office wasn't timid at the trading deadline, sending outfielder Yoenis Céspedes to the Red Sox for left-hander Jon Lester and outfielder Jonny Gomes.

The bolder the move, though, the bigger the potential backfire. So how is the A's brass feeling about the deal with the club in the blahs since then? Oakland fell to the Braves 4-3 on Saturday at Turner Field, the A's sixth loss in seven games. The team is 7-9 since the Céspedes deal; Lester is on the mound for Oakland on Sunday, trying to avert an Atlanta sweep; he has won all three of his starts with the A's.

And what the swap comes down to in the end, A's assistant general manager Farhan Zaidi said, is the simple question: "Is that trade worth Jon Lester?"

For the A's front-office members, the answer is yes, obviously, but they knew they were trading a valuable player - or the deal couldn't have been completed. The risks in sending away Céspedes were understood.

"There are very few trades where you can have your cake and eat it, too," Zaidi said.

A's players watch from the dugout during the ninth inning of their sixth loss in seven games. Oakland is 7-9 this month. A's players watch from the dugout during the ninth inning of their sixth loss in seven games. Oakland is 7-9 this month. Photo: Dave Tulis, Associated Press Photo: Dave Tulis, Associated Press Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close A's exec Farhan Zaidi expects team slump to end soon 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Zaidi is on the team's 1-5 road trip and he chalked up much of Oakland's struggles this month to playing the Royals in series at the Coliseum and Kansas City; the A's went 2-5 in those games.

"Kansas City is playing maybe better than any team in baseball right now and over the last 15-20 games, that has been a big chunk of it, if you want to be cherry picking games," Zaidi said before Saturday's loss. "We were 2-5 against the Royals and we're (7-9) this month."

The A's have scored three or fewer runs 13 times in the past 17 games.

"What people have said about our team offense being a little bipolar is probably fair, but teams go through stretches where they hit well with runners in scoring position and other stretches where they don't," Zaidi said. "And when you're in a stretch where you're not getting hits with runners in scoring position, it can look worse than it really is. It doesn't last."

Of course, until July 31, the A's had one more power hitter to help generate some runs. With Céspedes gone, other players have moved up the order - Brandon Moss, Derek Norris - and Céspedes' bat essentially has been replaced by a combination of Stephen Vogt against right-handers and Gomes against lefties. Moss, Norris and Vogt have had slumps lately.

"Look, Yoenis was our cleanup hitter, so while we have guys and acquired guys we thought would fill the void, I don't think we had any illusions it would be a totally seamless transition," Zaidi said. "I think there have been some guys with the timing - during a little dip in their season - has sort of amplified the issue. I think a lot of guys would tell you they were struggling even before the trade."

As for using a platoon to try to replicate or even improve on Céspedes' output, Zaidi said, "If you look at his numbers against left-handed pitchers with us, they were awesome. He's a huge, huge threat. It's not apples to apples to replace an everyday player with a platoon. Even if you add up platoons as 'as good or better,' there are now in-game decisions you have to make now that you didn't before. A manager on the other side knows you have only one bullet to fire.

"And if you replace one player with two players, that leaves you one less roster spot to do something else with."

Are some of those players pressing in the absence of Céspedes? Vogt, for one, has said he was initially.

"I think it's totally natural to feel that way," Zaidi said. "The important thing to communicate is there's no need for anyone to feel they have to do more, just to keep doing what they were doing. Our belief is if everyone plays the way they were playing all along, we'll be all right.

"We had spells like this when we had Yoenis, too. It's just something we've gone through in the past and we've come out of and been fine."