Eager to lock up one of the core members of their underrated starting rotation, the Oakland A's have signed Trevor Cahill to a five-year contract extension.

The contract is worth a total of $30.5 million over those five years, making it very similar to the five-year, $30.1 million contract Ricky Romero signed with the Blue Jays last August. Cahill had been on track to become a free agent after the 2014 season, but this deal will lock him up through 2016. In other words, the A's have bought out Cahill's years of arbitration eligibility, and also his first two years of free agency. The deal also gives the A's two option years at $13 million and $13.5 million.

The 23-year-old Cahill finished ninth in the A.L. Cy Young voting a season ago after posting a 2.97 ERA over 30 starts. He isn't expected to remain that successful, as his career ERA is closer to 4 and his repertoire is underwhelming relative to that of other aces, but he gets a lot of movement on the baseball, and should remain an effective arm for as long as he's able to stay healthy. So far in 2011, he's allowed just two runs in two games.