The A’s have signed 28-year old righty starting pitcher Anthony Lerew to a minor league deal. Lerew pitched in 6 games (all starts) for the Royals last season and he was 1-4 with a 8.54 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. He has now pitched in 20 games (11 starts) in parts of five years in the majors and he is 1-7 with a 7.48 ERA and a 1.76 WHIP. Lerew will likely start the season in the minors and he will only get called up if he’s pitching well.

22-year old righty starting pitcher Trevor Cahill has finished 9th in the voting for the A.L. Cy Young Award. Cahill started 30 games for the A’s last season and he was 18-8 with a 2.97 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. He has now started 62 games in his first two years with the Oakland A’s and he is 28-21 with a 3.76 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. Cahill has a ton of talent and I wouldn’t be surprised in the least bit to see him winning a Cy Young Award or two in his major league career.

The A’s have traded 30-year old righty swinging outfielder Rajai Davis to the Blue Jays for 25-year old righty reliever Trystan Magnuson and 23-year righty reliever Danny Farquhar. Davis played in 143 games for the A’s last season and he was 149 of 525 (.284 avg, .697 OPS) with 66 runs scored, 5 homers, 52 RBIs and 50 stolen bases. He played in 369 games in his three years with the A’s and he was 319 of 1,111 (.287 avg, .721 OPS) with 159 runs scored, 11 homers, 119 RBIs and 116 stolen bases.

Danny Farquhar came into last season as the Blue Jays’ #14 prospect according to Baseball America. Farquhar pitched in 53 games (0 starts) in AA-ball last season and he was 4-3 with 17 saves, a 3.52 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. He has now pitched in 122 games (0 starts) in his first three years in the minors and he is 8-9 with 39 saves, a 2.62 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. Farquhar has only allowed 111 hits in 171 2/3 innings in the minors while whiffing 184 batters showing that he is pretty nasty. Trystan Magnuson was the #22 rated prospect in the Blue Jays’ system coming into last season according to Baseball America. Magnuson pitched in 46 games (0 starts) in AA-ball last season and he was 3-0 with 5 saves, a 2.58 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. He has pitched in 113 games (24 starts) in his first three years in the minors and he is 8-10 with 6 saves, a 3.53 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. A’s GM Billy Beane made the Blue Jays pay a heavy price for Davis, who the A’s didn’t really need anymore after acquiring David DeJesus.

The A’s have signed 25-year old righty swinging outfielder Jai Miller to a minor league deal. Miller played in 20 games for the Royals last season and he was 13 of 55 (.236 avg, .645 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer, 4 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Miller has now played in 21 games in parts of two years in the majors and he is 13 of 56 (.232 avg, .634 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer, 4 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Miller’s biggest issue in the majors is his bat appears to have a hole in it as he has whiffed 24 times already this year. I don’t see him doing much with the A’s this year.

The A’s have claimed 27-year old righty swinging 3B Edwin Encarnacion off waivers from the Blue Jays. Encarnacion played in 96 games for the Blue Jays last year and he was 81 of 332 (.244 avg, .787 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 21 homers and 51 RBIs. He has now played in 652 games in six years in the majors and he is 580 of 2,250 (.258 avg, .790 OPS) with 308 runs scored, 100 homers, 337 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. This was a good move for the A’s who are trying to improve the offense for 2011 and adding Encarnacion & David DeJesus is a good start.

UPDATE: (12/2/2010) - The A’s have decided not to tender a contract to Edwin Encarnacion making him a free agent.