Good things come to those who wait, or so the saying goes. 

So what should I make of the Oakland A’s bursting into life this week and picking up three new players, while most teams are merely laying groundwork for possible deals? 

The natural reaction would be one of interest but little excitement.  David DeJesus is a relatively punch-less outfielder who has had injury problems of late;  not the sort of player that the A’s are exactly short of already.  Edwin Encarnacion brings some much-needed power, but he doesn’t have the most refined approach at the plate and his fielding at third base leaves a lot to be desired.  Hisashi Iwakuma(*) might be a revelation, or he could follow the disappointments of Daisuke Matsuzaka and Kei Igawa in failing to justify their posting fees from Japan.

All of which makes it unlikely that the reigning American League champs, the Texas Rangers, will be overly concerned that the A’s have greatly improved. 

However, I can’t help but be optimistic about what General Manager Billy Beane has done over the past week.  I’m not suggesting that the A’s had to pounce before others snapped up DeJesus and Encarnacion.  They are potentially useful players, no more than that.  In fact Encarnacion might even be dropped before Spring Training comes around. 

However, there are other potential targets out there that could help push the A’s from being a promising group to genuine contenders in the AL West.  Beane has decided to strike early, not to set up his team for the 2011 season, but to set up the rest of the A’s offseason.

The 2010 Oakland A’s had an impressive pitching staff and one of the best defences in the Majors, two factors that give the team genuine hope that they can compete for the West in 2011.  However, the offense didn’t pull its weight.  The A’s hit just 109 home runs compared to the American League average of 158, a deficiency that can’t just be explained by their pitcher-friendly home ballpark. 

Several expensive contracts have come off the A’s books this offseason (Eric Chavez and Ben Sheets to name the two most notorious) and some fans had dreamed that the team might use their payroll flexibility to pick up a big bat or two.  Beane has been quick to play down expectations though, noting that flexibility on the 2011 budget doesn’t help much with free agents like Jayson Werth and Adam Dunn as they will be looking for, and will get, multi-year deals. 

So, as always, the A’s have to be creative and that’s where these early deals come into their own.  Iwakuma will add yet another arm to a strong, but young, pitching staff and as every knows, you can never have enough good pitchers.  If they need to flip a pitcher to get a hitter, they will not be left short even after trading Vin Mazzaro for DeJesus.

DeJesus himself is a useful player and the A’s can now look towards the rest of the offseason knowing that they’ve already got some pieces to mix and match in the outfield if they can’t add an outfielder with power the rest of the way.  As already noted, Encarnacion has his limitations, but he does provide some thump and, again, that could be useful if another infielder cannot be landed.

The A’s can’t just go out and get the players they want.  More than most teams, they have to give themselves plenty of options before seeing how the Hot Stove pans out and taking advantage of what opportunities arise a few months down the line.  These three deals leave them well placed to do just that.

(* I should add that Iwakuma hasn’t actually signed a contract with the A’s yet, but everything I’ve read makes it seem like the A’s are very confident an agreement will be reached)