In a four-player trade between the Oakland Athletics and San Diego Padres, the A’s picked up Kevin Kouzmanoff and a minor leaguer for Scott Hairston and Aaron Cunningham. Kouzmanoff, a very underrated player, is coming off his best season as a major leaguer. He his 18 homeruns with 88 RBIs for the Padres in 2009. The trade marks the end of the Eric Chavez era in Oakland, not that he played much the last few years.

The Padres made the trade to cut some future payroll as Kouz is poised to make dough with those offensive skills. Plus he’s a tremendous third baseman after breaking the third baseman fielding percentage record for the National League last season. San Diego now has a very young outfield consisting of Will Venable, Tony Gwynn Jr., Kyle Banks, and Aaron Cunningham.

Grade for Athletics: A; I’m a fan of Kouz. He’s a great fielder and a solid hitter. That is exactly what the A’s wanted and got from Chavez at third for years. They didn’t get up much and they have a cornerstone at a demanding position for years to come.

Grade for Padres: C; Just another way to cut salary, even when its not costing them now. I worry for this franchise because I know that Kouz was a big fan favorite in San Diego.

Also, Friday was the deadline for filing for arbitration. Some notable players that are likely in line for some big raises include Giants P Tim Lincecum, Mariners P Felix Hernandez, Phillies OF Shane Victorino, Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, and Rays OF BJ Upton.

The Dodgers avoided arbitration with two of their players, OF Matt Kemp and SP Chad Billingsley. Kemp will make $11.55 million over the next two seasons and Billingsley will make $3.85 million next season.

Many other players will be avoiding arbitration out of the total 128 who filed by Friday. More to come.