The Oakland Athletics have gotten a jump on the trade deadline festivities. According to a report by Ken Rosenthal, Billy Beane’s club has acquired both Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel from the Chicago Cubs.
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
A later report onfirmed the particulars of the deal: it’s Samardzija and Hammel for Addison Russell, Billy McKinney, and Dan Straily.
Deal is Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel for Addison Russell, Billy McKinney and Dan Straily, source confirms to @FOXSports1. No PTBNL.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 5, 2014
Samardzija and Hammel will slide into a rotation that already features three pitchers having great years in Sonny Gray, Scott Kazmir, and Jesse Chavez, giving Oakland quite the formidabe quintet.
Russell and McKinney were Oakland’s top two prospects coming into the season, and were first round picks by the A’s in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Straily was a top ten prospect for Oakland last season before falling out of favor after seven shaky starts in the majors this year.
We’ll sink our teeth into this a little more tomorrow, but the fireworks are continuing late into this Fourth of July.
