The Washington Nationals acquired Gio Gonzalez in a trade from the Oakland Athletics, sending four of their top prospects out West. Gonzalez had been rumored to be involved in some sort of trade ever since the Winter Meetings, but according to Bill Ladson of MLB.com, Gonzalez was fairly surprised when he received word that he was on his way to the Nation's Capital.

"I was extremely surprised that I was on the trade block," Gonzalez said via phone. "After talking to Billy Beane, he told me -- straight up -- he would never trade anyone in their prime right off the bat to go somewhere else -- if possible."

Professional General Managers are not known to be the most honest bunch of individuals, so it's not surprising that Beane would say something like this and then finalize a trade for him anyway. I'm a little surprised that Gonzalez didn't see this coming because like I said, he had been rumored to be on the move for about a month now; with speculation about the Nationals really heating up in the last couple of days.

For more on this trade and where the Nationals can go from here, check out Federal Baseball.