Time to update this piece, as I have not done so in a few weeks. Mark Mulder and Danny Haren were traded over the offseason to clear payroll and get younger players in Oakland, and to obtain an ace in St. Louis. Let's see how this deal between two giants of trading (Jocketty and Beane) has played out so far:

Danny Haren, age 24
ERA: 4.28
RA: 5.29
DERA: 4.73
K/BB: 2.03
K/PA: .172
K/9: 6.64
BB/9: 3.26
H/9: 8.66
HR/9: .900
BABIP: .300
VORP: 5.0
WARP1: 1.8
PRAA: -2
Salary: $325,000

Mark Mulder, age 27
ERA: 4.30
RA: 4.63
DERA: 4.58
K/BB: 2.00
K/PA: .142
K/9: 5.38
BB/9: 2.69
H/9: 9.57
HR/9: .753
BABIP: .313
VORP: 10.0
WARP1: 1.6
PRAA: -1
Salary: $6,550,000

As you can see Mark Mulder is having a season with more value in it, but his peripherals are not that much better than the younger and inexperienced Danny Haren. We can also see something very important in the last statistic: salary. Mulder is making $6,250,000 more than Haren to do what is essentially the same thing. Their performance thus far is essentially a wash, with Mulder having the slight edge. If Haren can improve ever so slightly he can tilt the scales of this deal to the A's in more ways than just saving money.

The other deal is not working out as well yet, but that is mostly because Dan Meyer was slowed down by injury:

Dan Meyer (AAA)
ERA: 6.62
RA: 7.14
K/BB: 20/18 (1.11)
K/9: 5.10
BB/9: 4.59
H/9: 10.96
HR/9: 2.55
BABIP: .300

Tim Hudson
ERA: 3.36
RA: 3.58
DERA: 3.62
K/BB: 1.41
K/PA: .134
K/9: 5.21
BB/9: 3.69
H/9: 9.33
HR/9: .651
GB/FB: 2.47
BABIP: .307
VORP: 19.6
WARP1: 2.5
PRAA: 8

Hudson has been very good so far, and Meyer will straighten himself out in Triple-A in time. Remember he was considered major league ready before hurting himself early on in the season. Check out his 2004 numbers:

Greenville (AA)
ERA: 2.22
K/BB: 86/12
K/9: 11.91
BB/9: 1.66
H/9: 6.92
HR/9: .14

Richmond (AAA)
ERA: 2.79
K/BB: 60/25
K/9: 8.80
BB/9: 3.67
H/9: 9.10
HR/9: .88

He is in his age 24 season, so he has time to turn it around and revert to pre-2005 levels. The A's could use another pitcher, but that might come via trade, or they may just continue to use Etherton and Saarloos until Meyer shows a readiness for the big leagues. In time, both of these trades (especially considering the other players involved, most notably Daric Barton) will work out for the Athletic's.