A’s Nearing A Trade?
Update: Ken Rosenthal suggests the A’s are talking trade, but not Samardzija related.
Sources: Trade #Athletics are discussing does NOT involve Samardzija.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 29, 2014
So now you can speculate wildly about almost anything you want.
Well, this is interesting.
I am hearing rumblings that the #Athletics are close to a fairly significant deal that involves Jeff Samardzija.
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— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) November 29, 2014
#Athletics would be getting back several pieces, and they're targeting hitters, an ML source tells me.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) November 29, 2014
Again, source tells me that #Athletics nearing major deal that involves Samardzija for several players, team targeting hitters.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) November 29, 2014
The A’s paid a very high price to land Samardzija last July, so if they’re going to move him this winter, it would figure that they’re getting a pretty nice return back; selling for pennies on the dollar wouldn’t seem to serve any purpose.
The most obvious fit would be with the Red Sox, who have every good right-handed hitter alive and no pitching to speak of. Yoenis Cespedes would be an interesting piece given that he just went from Oakland to Boston, but I’d imagine the Red Sox would have to sweeten the pot quite a bit to get the A’s to swap those two. And if the acquisitions of Billy Butler and Ike Davis were designed to push Brandon Moss back to the outfield, then Cespedes doesn’t necessarily fit the A’s needs anymore either.
What Oakland really needs is middle infield help. Of teams with depth at 2B/SS, the one most obviously in the market for a short-term rotation upgrade is the Rangers; perhaps the A’s are willing to bet on Jurickson Profar’s health, or really like Rougned Odor? It would be a pretty daring move to make that large of a trade within the division, but the pieces would seem to line up to some degree, and Billy Beane and Jon Daniels have made a number of trades together over the years.
Are there other fits out there that I’m not seeing? Feel free to speculate wildly, since we have limited information at this time. And you probably want to start following Susan Slusser on Twitter, if you weren’t already.
Dave is the Managing Editor of FanGraphs.
Possibly the Mariners? They are shopping Michael Saunders and might be shopping one of their two shortstops, Chris Taylor and Brad Miller.
Makes sense: either, but more likely Miller plus a good prospect plus a speculative one … EXCEPT, this would be In Division. Maybe the ALW rolls different from all the other divisions; if so, news to me.
A’s have no problem dealing in division. Same as most of AL West as the Angels, Rangers, Mariners and A’s have all traded with at least one other in the last 5 years.
Initial reaction was also Texas. Cleveland, maybe?
The D’backs have infield depth but renting Smardzija would seem like a bad move for them.
Could be Boston flipping Cespedes somewhere in a three-team deal too.
Detroit and Cleveland each have an excess middle infielder (Suarez and Ramirez respectively.)
Mookie for Sonny Gray would be an interesting trade.
The White Sox could flip Alexei Ramirez for Samardzija. White sox have depth in Tim Anderson coming up, short term middle infield depth in Semien, Beckham, and Leury Garcia, and need that second tier starter to take them to the playoffs.
Starting rotation of:
Sale
Samardzija
Quintana
Danks
Noesi
That would be a very competitive rotation with a very formidable offense who should improve on their 13th ranked run scoring offense last year.
The White Sox wouldn’t give up Ramirez for the Shark. It’s a small gain, if any, for 2015 and Samardzjia’s a free agent at the end of the year.
Any takers for Samardzjia would have to be OK with renting a pitcher.
Good point on the rent-a-pitcher. Looks like Samard. isn’t even on the move…at least not yet
Detroit has infielders and could get creative with their rotation depth, flipping Price or Porcello for other things. KC could spare Colon, but not much else, Dyson maybe? Dodgers could trade Alex Guerrero or Dee Gordon.
Wow, this is about the third or fourth time in the last 9 months I’ve thought to myself Billy Beane has gone nuts.
ESPN is reporting Donaldson to Toronto for Lawrie and others…
You’d have to think the Jays would be interested in Samardzjia as well. They need pitching and would be interested in a pitcher with 1 year until free agency.
Donaldson and Samardzjia would improve the Jays quite a bit this year so there would have to be a pretty good haul coming back to Oakland.