There was a time when teams were apprehensive about making trades with the Oakland A’s for fear of being fleeced by Billy Beane and his analytics crew. You may have seen the movie.

Alas, those days are long gone, just like the premise this A’s ownership would fund anything worthy of the big screen.

In recent years, the focus of the A’s front office morphed from building contenders to slashing payrolls, as per owner John Fisher’s orders. General manager David Forst has kept the boss happy with a healthy bottom line – Oakland still has MLB’s lowest payroll ($63.3M, per Spotrac) by a healthy margin for the second straight year. But it’s come at a cost.

Despite playing better lately, the A’s aren’t far off pace for their third consecutive 100-loss season for the first time in over 100 years. And the team’s setbacks haven’t been limited to the field. The most devastating losses for the A’s in the past three years have come in the offseason, where Forst’s biggest trades have had disastrous consequences for Oakland’s ongoing rebuilding efforts.

Stars Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Sean Murphy, Chris Bassitt and Sean Manaea were all headliners in five separate regrettable trades during the A’s mass teardown of 2022, netting Oakland 17 players. Most of those 17 players, at least those still in the organization, have been huge disappointments. The A’s missed so badly on seven of them that they’ve already been released – that number doesn’t include once-hot prospect Cristian Pache who was traded for a minor league reliever who was released himself by Oakland a few months later.

One indictment of those acquired in the 2022 deals can be found in MLB.com’s minor league system rankings, where the A’s fell three spots from last year to No. 25 of 30 clubs this season. Also, none of those players from ‘22’s busy off-season are among the A’s Top 10 prospects.

With the July 30 MLB trade deadline approaching, the A’s recent trade history is troubling enough to wonder if they’d be able to get suitable returns by trading their most attractive pieces, fast-rising slugger Brent Rooker or rookie phenom Mason Miller.Wondering how the A’s recent rough trades stack up among the worst in Oakland history? Wonder no more:

A’s worst trades

1. Nov. 28, 2014: 3B Josh Donaldson to Blue Jays for SS Franklin Barreto, 3B Brett Lawrie, SP Kendall Graveman, P Sean Nolin

Billy Beane stunned the baseball world and angered A’s fans by shipping the popular Donaldson to Toronto for what turned out to be a woefully insufficient return that contributed to three straight last-place finishes from 2015-17. For Donaldson, who developed into an elite third baseman who finished in the Top 10 of MVP voting his final two years in Oakland, the A’s got three huge underachievers and a decent pitcher (Graveman). Meanwhile, the Blue Jays got the 2015 AL MVP.

2. Dec. 12, 2022: C Sean Murphy to Braves, RP Joel Payamps to Brewers for OF Esteury Ruiz, P Kyle Muller, P Freddy Tarnok, C Manny Pina, P Robert Salinas

Murphy was arguably the game’s best young catcher when he was dealt, but here was another case where the A’s desire for quantity over quality in their prospect returns bit them hard. Worst part of the deal was Oakland deciding to make it a 3-team trade by flipping emerging Braves catcher William Contreras to the Brewers because it was enamored with Milwaukee’s Esteury Ruiz a lot more than most teams and scouts. Despite an early stolen base tear, Ruiz doesn’t appear to be an MLB regular. Contreras, though, has become one of MLB’s top 3 catchers and he still has three more years of team control. Oh, and the A’s dumped RP Joel Payamps to Milwaukee, where he became one of the most dependable setup men in the game.

3. July 31, 1997: 1B Mark McGwire to Cardinals for RP T.J. Mathews, P Eric Ludwick, P Blake Stein

Because of this trade, McGwire went from the face of the A’s to the face of Major League Baseball as he smashed HR records while hitting 220 of them in four years with the Cards, including his epic 70-HR year in 1998. He had a 19.3 bWAR in St. Louis. In return, the A’s got two pitchers (Stein, Ludwick) who made a combined 31 appearances and one (Mathews) who was a middling setup man. The A’s trio had a combined -0.4 bWAR.

4. July 31, 2014: OF Yoenis Cespedes, 2015 competitive balance pick to Red Sox for SP Jon Lester, OF Jonny Gomes and cash

Trading star outfielder Cespedes in the middle of a postseason push was even more stunning than dumping Donaldson eight months earlier. Like the Donaldson deal, the results turned out to be just as disappointing. The psychological effect that dealing Cespedes away had on his teammates was said to be not insignificant. While Lester did well during the regular season to help make up for the loss of Oakland’s best offensie performer, the left-handed pitcher had a rough go in a stunning Wild Card game loss to the eventual champion Royals. Lester gave up six runs in the A’s 9-8 defeat.

5. March 15, 1978: SP Vida Blue to Giants for OF Gary Thomasson, SS Mario Guerrero, C Gary Alexander, SP John Henry Johnson, RP Dave Heaverlo, P Alan Wirth, P Phil Huffman and $300,000

The last vestige of the A’s early 1970s dynasty departed when the uber-popular Blue was sent across the Bay to the Giants in a trade that brought seven players and $300,000 in cash to the A’s. Neither the players nor the money lasted very long or had much of an impact. The only player who spent much time in Oakland was Guerrero, who was the starting shortstop. An indictment on his impact came after he left in 1980, when coach Clete Boyer said candidly: “We’re better off at shortstop because we don’t have Mario Guerrero.”

6. Nov. 10, 2008: OF Carlos Gonzalez, RP Huston Street, P Greg Smith to Rockies for OF Matt Holliday

The A’s gave up Gonzalez, who turned into a certifiable star while in Colorado while winning three Gold Glove Awards and the 2010 NL batting title. Street became one of the game’s most consistent closers. Meanwhile, Holliday had a hard time hiding his disappointment for having to play in Oakland.

7. Dec. 16, 2004: SP Tim Hudson to Braves for P Juan Cruz, P Dan Meyer, OF Charles Thomas

The first of the Three Aces -- Barry Zito, Mulder and Hudson – to leave town, Hudson was traded two days before Mulder went to St. Louis. While Hudson continued to be the same, gritty, bulldog pitcher for years with the Braves, the A’s got virtually nothing good out of the trade. Thomas batted .109 in 30 games with the A’s while Cruz was 0-3 with a 7.44 ERA in 28 games and Meyer was 0-6 with 7.98 ERA.

8. March 16, 2022: 3B Matt Chapman to Blue Jays for INF Kevin Smith, P Zach Logue, RP Kirby Snead, P Gunnar Hoglund

Two days after Olson was sent to Atlanta for a deal headlined by Langeliers, two-time Platinum Glove winner Chapman went to Toronto in a deal that was eerily similar to Donaldon’s eight years earlier in that there was little visible positive return. Smith was a washout, as were both Snead and Logue. However, the A’s best hope for some ROI in this trade – and, sadly, perhaps all five of the 2022 deals – lies with the 24-year-old Hoglund. The former 2021 first-round pick of the Jays was recovering from Tommy John surgery when acquired. He’s finally healthy and is 9-4 at Double-A Midland with a 2.84 ERA and 97 strikeouts in 104 2/3 innings over 19 games.

9. June 15, 1975: INF Chet Lemon, P Dave Hamilton to White Sox for SP Stan Bahnsen, P Skip Pitlock

Oakland gave up the 20-year-old Lemon to add a veteran back-end starter in Bahnsen,who won 15 games in three seasons with the A’s. Lemon, who was moved to center field in Chicago and later was a key player for the 1984 champion Tigers, was one of the most underrated players of his generation. The three-time All-Star had a .797 OPS in 16 seasons.

10. Dec. 16, 2004: OF Nelson Cruz, P Justin Lehr to Brewers for 2B Keith Ginter

The A’s were allured by Ginter’s power – he hit 19 home runs in 2003 – but wound up giving up Cruz, who became one of the game’s top sluggers over the past two decades. Cruz was a seven-time All-Star who hit 464 home runs and drove in 1,325 runs in a 19-year career. Ginter lasted just 51 games in Oakland while batting .161 with a .497 OPS and hitting just three homers.