an argument to not trade Cespedes? Don't make the deal because the A's tend to lose in the playoffs? That makes no sense. Seems to me a much better reason for not making a deal would be if the A's usually win in the playoffs. That hasn't been the case, so the A's are going to do something different. They aren't trying to maintain status quo. Rather, they are going for it all, right now, and they've put together a pitching staff that will trot out an ace-type pitcher every single day (just about). 2015 is weakened a bit (not all that much) by losing Cespedes (although a lot of money is freed up), but Billy will worry about that in the offseason.