The Chicago Cubs have traded the ace of their staff, Jeff Samardzija, and veteran right-handed pitcher Jason Hammel to the Oakland Athletics for their top prospect shortstop Addison Russell, pitchers Dan Straily, Billy McKinney and a player to be named later, Fox Sports MLB expert Ken Rosenthal reports:
DEAL IS DONE: #Cubs send Samardzija and Hammel to #Athletics for Addison Russell, per sources. May be other players and team(s) involved.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 5, 2014
Hammel pitched for #Cubs today. Samardzija was scheduled to pitch tomorrow.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 5, 2014
You know all about Samardzija, one of the most hard luck pitches in Major League Baseball. If any single hurler truly reflects the misleading nature of won-loss statistics for a pitcher, it’s Samardzija. He really had very little run support from the Cubs. He’s the centerpiece of this deal.
Hammel enjoys a five-pitch arsenal which includes 92 to 95 mph four- and two-seam fastballs, a mid 80’s slider, an upper 70’s curveball and a high 80’s changeup. Though he broke into the league with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2006, he has been in Colorado’s (2009-11) and Baltimore’s (2012-13) rotations during the past five seasons. In 215 career games (158) starts, Hammel has produced a 49-59 record, 4.80 ERA and 1.440 WHIP.
Addison Russell, who truly has the Cubs like name ever (Wrigley Field is at Clark and Addison after all), was the A’s 2012 first round draft pick, and is rated the #1 SS prospect in MLB. He’s a huge get for Theo Epstein is his extended long-term rebuilding plan. Yes, despite that the Cubs already have Starlin Castro at shortstop. I’m thinking there’s a third team involved here? Or maybe the regression in Castro in 2013 is a sign of something more that we don’t know of yet? And with Javier Baez in the system at the same position…more wheeling and will be done. Maybe before this trading deadline, may next year. Because we know the Cubs are still going to be really really really bad in 2015 and very likely 2016 as well.
McKinney was the A’s first round pick in ’13 and Straily is a quality arm. So this is a win-win deal. Because the Athletics may have enough in pitching now to put themselves over the top. Their playoff rotation will tough for anyone to top; in either league.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports and Yahoo! The Postgame. He’s been a guest on news talk shows all across the world. Banks has been featured in numerous media outlets including NFL.com, Forbes, Bleacher Report, Deadspin, ESPN, NBC, the History Channel and more. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)