White Sox Reportedly Close to Acquiring Jeff Samardzija
The last time I put up an InstaGraphs post about a potential Jeff Samardzija trade, it turned out to actually be the Josh Donaldson trade. This time, though, it appears that the A’s really are dealing their ace, with multiple reporters confirming that a deal is close between the A’s and White Sox.
Sources: #WhiteSox close to acquiring Samardzija from #Athletics. @JonHeymanCBS and @JeffPassan were on it.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 9, 2014
The White Sox would be acquiring one year of Samardzija’s rights, plus an exclusive window to negotiate an extension. Failing that, they’d have the ability to make him a qualifying offer at the end of the year, or if they aren’t in the race in July, flip him for talent mid-season.
Samardzija would join Chris Sale and Jose Quintana, giving Chicago one of the better top-three rotations in the American League. More importantly, he would represent a significant upgrade over whichever #5 starter candidate would get pushed out of the picture; both both Chris Bassit and Erik Johnson project as essentially replacement level arms for 2015, and #4 starter Hector Noesi isn’t too far above that. This is a team that needed pitching depth, and Samardzija likely represents a larger upgrade for Chicago than nearly any other team in the league.
No word on the specific return that might go back to Oakland, but Susan Slusser has suggested that the team is interested in both major league infielder Marcus Semien and minor league infielder Tim Anderson. Kiley McDaniel just rated Anderson as the White Sox #2 prospect, concluding with these guesstimates of future value:
Upside: .280/.330/.450, 15-18 homers, solid average defense, plus baserunning value
FV/Risk: 60, High (4 on a 1-5 scale)
Projected Path: 2015: AA, 2016: AAA/MLB, 2017: MLB
Semien was rated as their #1 “big league growth asset” on the same list, and as Carson Cistulli has repeatedly noted, the statistical projections for him are often quite optimistic. In fact, Steamer sees Semien as an average big leaguer in 2015, as his minor league numbers suggest he’s a better player than he’s been in parts of 2013 and 2014 in the Majors.
We’ll have a full write up on the deal once it’s official and all the parts are known. For now, it looks like the A’s might be continuing to weaken their 2015 team to strengthen their future, while the White Sox are joining the very long list of AL teams going for the ring next year.
Dave is the Managing Editor of FanGraphs.
Throw in Tyler Danish and that’s about as “Billy Beane-like” a trade can get.
ChiSox have quite a few replacement positions… If they really are going for it they should be in on Headley
The A’s perspective is that they have a good, not great pitching asset that is under contract for one year, at a time when the market is flush with pitching either by FA or trade, and at a time when scoring is way down, making hitting much more in demand. That is the kind of asset that can get them a couple useful assets, but this is not the type of chip you get to walk around and demand a teams best pieces.
WHY ARE WE NOT THE LEAD DOMINO?
WHY MUST WE TALK OF DOMINOS?
Very near the top of the “names I don’t want to write on my scorecard” list.
Either way, an exciting prospect for the Sox after a couple of down years. Now we just need a second baseman, a catcher, two more relievers, and a left fielder.
It seems unlikely to me that both Anderson and Semien would be included in the deal, unless there were something else coming back the White Sox’ way. Anderson by himself seems a little rich. I guess we’ll see if I have pie on my face in the morning.
Great move for Chicago. The AL Central is surprisingly tough, with Detroit, Cleveland, and Kansas City to deal with; the White Sox definitely needed to do something to give them an extra edge.
I feel bad for Oakland, but I have to commend Billy Beane for making the tough, unpopular choice to blow the whole thing up while these guys still have value. His team was built to win now; they didn’t win now, so it’s time to start over. It’d be nice if a particular GM for a Philadelphia-based baseball team had the cajones to do this a couple years ago.
Marcus Semien has potential to be a solid shortstop. Honestly he will probably be worth almost much as Samardzija in 2015.
I really don’t get this from the White Sox perspective. 17 games out at the end of the year and not really a lot of high upside prospects to close that gap quickly like you normally see.
It might not be crazy to predict Detroit as the 3rd or 4th best team in the division. Cleveland, KC, and Chicago may be the at the top.
The Sox need to do a lot more in order to contend in 2015 or else they lose Samardzija and waste Semien and the others. They still need to add a couple of important pieces to get above the Tigers, Indians, and Royals. So if they’re not done, this doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Beane, on the other hand, makes another trade where he picks up at least 1 middle infielder. He’s stockpiling 2B and SS.