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What I love about him most is that he doesn't really give a rip about who he's got (or what they've done) but only about how to improve his team in the short to medium term.
In Zobrist he acquired one of the most valuable commodoties in the game, in the sense that every team would love to have him and every team can afford him.  Zobrist will address every contending team's lineup hole come June.  And each and every team can trade with confidence for him because they know they'll get the 2nd year of him or get the QO draft player back in return, which makes up for the nice player they sent to get Zobrist in the first place.
Basically the A's have given up a young SS and a young OBP OF (Robertson and Powell).  Robertson hit well in the Cal League, but who doesn't?  The A's just got Seimens who can play SS, anyway.  Powell has zero pop, none,  Jaso?  Everybody trades him.
In return they ended up with Zobrist and Tyler Clippard (via the 2nd swap).  I have no doubt that BB can get better than he gave (in terms of young talent) if/when he trades Zobrist and Clippard.   Clippard, btw, has large street value, too.
And in getting Zobrist and Clippard he can look-see as '15 starts, getting a sense of the A's chances and the value of keeping those guys the entire year.
He's the Titanic Thompson of MLB.