There’s a mantra in Oakland and most of the fanbase had given up on it this year, while few of us asked the naysayers for patience. That mantra is “In Billy We Trust.”

“In Billy We Trust” refers to the Oakland Athletics‘ general manager Billy Beane. Since the 2014 July 31st trade deadline, Beane had been in the gutter with the majority of the Oakland fan base. They cried when he traded Yoenis Cespedes to the Boston Red Sox for ace left-hander Jon Lester. They were outraged when he traded away Josh Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays for third baseman Brett Lawrie and three prospects.

It was all down hill for “In Billy We Trust” once 2014 All-Stars Derek Norris, Brandon Moss and Jeff Samardzija were all traded to the San Diego Padres, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox, respectively.

Still there were some who believed. Why would Beane sign designated hitter/first baseman Billy Butler to a three-year $30 million deal if he were just planning on tearing the team apart and rebuilding?

That was the first thing that didn’t make sense and, of course, there should have been the silent support that Billy had a plan based on his track record.

He hasn’t gotten this far in this business without having a plan or an idea of what he was trying to do. He picked up Ike Davis to split time with Butler at first. Davis has had a couple of poor seasons since his breakout season in 2011, but that’s not reason to believe he won’t bounce back.

Beane also grabbed a super utility man in Marcus Semien who can play in the infield and outfield.

He still has Coco Crisp in center field, but with some back up now because he dealt with injuries all throughout 2014, and Gold Glover Josh Reddick in right field. He’s got Craig Gentry too, who has speed and excels in the outfield.

The A’s have pitching depth starting with Scott Kazmir and Sonny Gray to Jesse Chavez, Drew Pomeranz and Jesse Hahn. He’s got new prospects that are MLB ready in Sean Nolin and Kendall Graveman.Then there will be the mid-season returns of Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin, both of whom are expected to comeback strong after having had Tommy John surgery prior to last season.

With all that depth their bullpen is still solid, probably still one of the best in baseball.

Beane put what look like they may be the finishing touches on his 2015 team on Saturday by trading catcher John Jaso (yes, the A’s still have a catchers in Stephen Vogt and young Josh Phegley), along with top prospect shortstop Daniel Robertson and outfield prospect Boog Powell to the Tampa Bay Rays for two players who will fill the A’s most desperate need, help in the middle infield.

Beane brought in a seriously super utility man in Ben Zobrist, 33, a switch-hitter who can play any position except behind the plate and on the mound. Since leading the league with an 8.7 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) mark in 2011, he’s been ranked fourth-highest in that category in the American League behind the likes of Mike Trout, Miguel Cabrera and Robinson Cano.

Teams had been interested in Zobrist recently, since the Rays brought in Asdrubal Cabrera to play second base, the position Zobrist will primarily play for Oakland. Still Zobrist remained one of the most underrated and undervalued players in all of baseball.

Along with Zobrist came a capable, experienced shortstop and career .276 hitter, in Yunel Escobar, 32. These additions are serious upgrades for Oakland at both positions which were manned collectively last season by Alberto Callaspo, Eric Sogard and Jed Lowrie.

He’s also accrued prospects while maintaining strength in his rotation and bullpen, and upgrading the lineup and defense in the infield.

MLB,com’s Richard Justice calls Beane “absolutely fearless” as well as says that Beane’s able to “ignore the noise” that the fans were making clamoring for him to lose his job. Justice writes, and he is right on the mark here,

“He’s been doing this stuff long enough that he trusts his judgment and that of his assistants. That’s the lesson of this offseason in which Beane has taken the A’s apart and put them back together again. And he has put them back together. Beane set out to do two things: replenish his farm system and keep the Major League team competitive. He appears to have done that.”

It may take time for all the new pieces on the A’s to gel together as a team but that is where having a manager like 2012 Manager of the Year Bob Melvin comes into play. Justice writes of Melvin,

“No manager is better at transforming a group of individuals into a cohesive team.”

With that issue seemingly taken care of, it appears that the A’s are ready to compete. They are not rebuilding as many had speculated and they never were. Saturday’s trade is proof of that.

All that said, competing in the Amerian League West will not be easy. The A’s will have to go up against the Los Angeles Angels, improved Seattle Mariners, a healthy Texas Rangers team and the up-and-coming Houston Astros.

However, while winning the division is a nice touch to a good season, it doesn’t mean everything as we learned just this past World Series between the Wild Card Kansas City Royals and the Wild Card San Francisco Giants.

The A’s team that Beane has put together is absolutely good enough to compete for a Wild Card spot, if not sneak in and steal the A.L. West away from one of the supposed frontrunners, just like they did from the Rangers in game 162 of the 2012 season.

Going deep into October had been a problem for the A’s in the last decade or two but we are not at that point yet. There is still over a month until pitchers and catchers report for spring training.

Still, the fact remains that people in Oakland and in the baseball world need to have a bit more faith that Beane knows what he is doing. He’s always got a plan.

His plans may not succeed 100 percent of the time, however, since 2000, the A’s have played in the postseason eight times. That’s something many teams only dream of.

Oakland A’s fans should remember that and remember that in Beane they should trust. As one, I know “In Billy I Trust” and that’s how other A’s fans should feel.

The mantra,”In Billy We Trust,” should never have been in doubt and hopefully the angry fans that had been calling for his dismissal can understand that now.