 On March 15, 1978, Huffman was part of a massive trade that sent him to the Oakland Athletics, along with Dave Heaverlo, Gary Alexander, John Henry Johnson, Gary Thomasson, Alan Wirth, $300,000 (and Mario Guerrero, who was named later), in exchange for Vida Blue.Huffman began the 1978 season pitching with the Jersey City A's in the Eastern League AA league.Partway through the 1978 season, he was promoted to San Francisco's AAA Vancouver Canadians minor-league club.