Cubs Trade Samardzija and Hammel to Oakland A's

[Eye Black]

Cubs/A's deal, Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel for top prospects Addison Russell, Billy McKinney, as well as Dan Straily, and a PTBNL.

 

Edit: Apparently no PTBNL according to Jon Morosi and Ken Rosenthal.

[torts]

Wow

[Eye Black]

Helpful win now move for the A's, but I will give it to Theo in that when he does make a trade he seems to get one heck of a nice haul in return.

[igor67]

Is that really that much for what were 2 of the top 5 arms on the market?

[yfinn6]

Aren't the Cubs in need of pitching? How many SS's do they need? Not trying to be sarcastic, just thought they were lacking potential impact arms in their minor league ranks.

[JohnBriggs12]

I'm sorry but I'm glad I'm not a Cub fan. It's one thing to rebuild for a couple years. It's another to keep sticking it to fans who are paying major league prices now. They were playing pretty decent ball in large part because of a very solid rotation. Now for the 3rd straight year, Epstein has gutted the roster at mid season. What a con artist. As long as he can keep expectations low, he's under no pressure to win. Meanwhile the fans that do show up especially in the second half of seasons, are treated to non competing roster.

[SRB]

Top-10 prospect seems like a pretty great return for Samardzija. I guess the bright side for us is that (1) the Cubs can only play one SS at a time... and (2) they put all their eggs in one basket with Russell, as opposed to getting multiple top-100 prospects.

[Eye Black]

Based on the fact they are now armed with a surplus of elite infield prospects, I could see the Cubs emerging as a "mystery team" in the David Price sweepstakes. I realize that seems a little crazy, but they certainly have the prospects to pull it off.

[RockCoCougars]

I'm too tired to get on my normal soapbox regarding Epstein, so I'll just say that I'm glad that these guys were traded out of the division. Either one or both would have been great acquisitions for the Cardinals.

[PrinceFielderx1]

I'm sorry, but I don't understand this at all what the Cubs are doing. Shouldn't they be active in FA or trade and go after 2 top young players that are stars and use the hundreds of millions that they have? Or sign some top older players to 1-2 years deals like bullpen pitchers and perhaps a position player. Like what the Brewers did with ramirez? That fan base must be very upset knowing they have all this money to spend and just want a decent team to follow while having some prospects in the system for a future.

 

Cubs front office are idiots. Cubs fans should be pissed.

[AdvantageSchneider]

Based on the fact they are now armed with a surplus of elite infield prospects, I could see the Cubs emerging as a "mystery team" in the David Price sweepstakes. I realize that seems a little crazy, but they certainly have the prospects to pull it off.

 

No, I don't think so. Read an interview with Theo earlier this week. They weren't going to focus on pitching until the team was ready to contend. No point in getting Price now.

 

Good luck to the cubs. They certainly won't stink like they have recently with all the big bats they have coming up, but I don't see how they are going to put together a rotation and a bullpen that will be able to contend.

[PrinceFielderx1]

Based on the fact they are now armed with a surplus of elite infield prospects, I could see the Cubs emerging as a "mystery team" in the David Price sweepstakes. I realize that seems a little crazy, but they certainly have the prospects to pull it off.

 

Then they should have kept Samardzija and Hammel and then traded for him. that would ahve given them quite the 1,2,3 punch. Then turn to FA for a few positions and then bring up prospects over the next couple years then they can contend. Right now they are 5+ years away. I'm sorry I don't get it. they can buld a complete bullpen in 2 years, and sign 2 big bats in FA and traded for Price, and perhaps still had some bats in the minors to bring up in a couple years to stablize the payroll.

 

Point is they can field a decent team in a short period of time and they can be on short term deals till they find some good long term players.

[trwi7]

Aren't the Cubs in need of pitching? How many SS's do they need? Not trying to be sarcastic, just thought they were lacking potential impact arms in their minor league ranks.

 

They're trying to acquire as many young assets as they can. They can then flip those assets for pitching or if it comes down to it, they have the money to go to the free agent market if necessary.

[PrinceFielderx1]

Aren't the Cubs in need of pitching? How many SS's do they need? Not trying to be sarcastic, just thought they were lacking potential impact arms in their minor league ranks.

 

They're trying to acquire as many young assets as they can. They can then flip those assets for pitching or if it comes down to it, they have the money to go to the free agent market if necessary.

 

With all of the top pitching talent and offensive talent signing extensions that buy out FA (prior to FA) I'd call this a failing strategy.

[berniebrewer4life]

Is that really that much for what were 2 of the top 5 arms on the market?

 

That was my thought as well. Yes, Russell is an amazing talent, but other than that? I'm underwhelmed. I think Hammel by himself could pull in more than McKinney and Straily. To get both pitchers in one deal, you'd think the A's would need to give up a premium.

 

I think it's a decent deal by the cubs, but not really that big of a haul.

[The stache]

Now, I know that prospects don't always work out. BUT, the Cubs system is now stupid loaded.

 

They have the #6 prospect in the game in Javier Baez. (SS)

They have the #8 prospect in the game in Kris Bryant, a guy who is hitting .357 with 29 HR in 311 AA/AAA at bats thus far this season. (3B)

They now have the #11 prospect in the game in Addison Russell. (SS)

They have the #15 prospect in the game in Albert Almora. (OF)

They have the #34 prospect in the game in pitcher CJ Edwards.

They have the #41 prospect in the game in Jorge Soler. (OF)

They have the #71 prospect in the game in Arismendy Alcantara (2B).

 

They already have their first baseman of the future now in Anthony Rizzo, who is only 24. He's hitting .276 with 17 HR and 45 RBI, with a shiny .880 OPS.

They also have Starlin Castro, who is also only 24, and he seems to have come into his own this season, hitting .290 with 11 HR and 50 RBI.

 

The Cubs are going to be getting a lot of payback here very soon.

[SRB]

Now, I know that prospects don't always work out. BUT, the Cubs system is now stupid loaded.

 

They have the #6 prospect in the game in Javier Baez. (SS)

They have the #8 prospect in the game in Kris Bryant, a guy who is hitting .357 with 29 HR in 311 AA/AAA at bats thus far this season. (3B)

They now have the #11 prospect in the game in Addison Russell. (SS)

They have the #15 prospect in the game in Albert Almora. (OF)

They have the #34 prospect in the game in pitcher CJ Edwards.

They have the #41 prospect in the game in Jorge Soler. (OF)

They have the #71 prospect in the game in Arismendy Alcantara (2B).

 

They already have their first baseman of the future now in Anthony Rizzo, who is only 24. He's hitting .276 with 17 HR and 45 RBI, with a shiny .880 OPS.

They also have Starlin Castro, who is also only 24, and he seems to have come into his own this season, hitting .290 with 11 HR and 50 RBI.

 

The Cubs are going to be getting a lot of payback here very soon.

 

Yeah, I agree. I really want to make fun of the Cubs for failing, but I feel like they actually have a very smart strategy. And Russell is a great return for a non-elite pitcher like Samardzija. Let a young core of position players take over in the majors (and they have great young players/prospects that can fill basically any position other than Catcher) and when that position-player core is ready then you trade for a SP in their prime. AKA the exact same thing the Milwaukee Brewers did in 2008 and 2011...

[vegasbrewcrew1993]

brilliant move by the a's. they know that it's now or never for them. billy beane has been patient and has tried to win while collecting a ton of prospects. that move hasn't worked. i applaud him for having the balls to go and improve the roster immediately. this move could finally bring that world series title to oakland. that rotation is looking scary.

[Bazinga]

Is that really that much for what were 2 of the top 5 arms on the market?

 

That was my thought as well. Yes, Russell is an amazing talent, but other than that? I'm underwhelmed. I think Hammel by himself could pull in more than McKinney and Straily. To get both pitchers in one deal, you'd think the A's would need to give up a premium.

 

I think it's a decent deal by the cubs, but not really that big of a haul.

 

The Cubs also got the A's #2 or 3 prospect in McKinney, who is an intriguing talent himself. Straily is about to become Chris Bosio (you guys remember Bosio, ) new pet project. If Jake Arrieta, Scott Feldman, 2013 Travis Wood, Jason Hammel, (now if the Cubs can get Ed Jackson to listen to Bosio) are any indication, then Straily is going to become a really good pitcher.

 

The deal is a little light for my taste, but they still did very well. And should the PTBNL become a "Neil Ramirez" type talent, then this deal becomes awesome. Yes, the Cubs are getting a PTBNL. Morosi and Rosenthal are wrong on that.

[The stache]

The lineup the Cubs have in another two years is going to be downright scary.

[miggs721]

I think this opens the door for Theo to go all in for Price, they have a bad need for pitching, and some of the top prospects to get it done. As long as Theo gets Price to commit long term in Chicago

[Noche]

Great move by the A's. Prospects come and go. Now Oakland is a heavy favorite in the AL.

[torts]

Dont see 2 SP in one deal that often

[LouisEly]

The Cubs traded Samardzija because he refused to sign an extension with them. Theo isn't gutting the roster, he's getting the best return he can for a pitcher who will be leaving one way or another. Hammel has been nothing special until this year so he's likely trying to sell high on him.

 

Delmon Young was a top-3 prospect in baseball for four consecutive years. I don't get too excited about rankings.

[pacopete4]

This also helps the Brewers this year. The Cubs should get easier to beat and they have 13 remaining games against them which is toughly 20% of their remaining games.