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.

— 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.