The Chicago Cubs have traded starting pitchers Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel to the Oakland Athletics for 2012 first-round pick Addison Russell, 2013 first-round pick Billy McKinney and pitcher Dan Straily, sources close to the situation confirmed.
Samardzija, 29, is 2-7 with a 2.83 ERA while Hammel, 31, is 7-5 with a 2.98 ERA after his latest win, Friday against the Washington Nationals. Hammel is set to be a free agent after this season while Samardzija has one more year of arbitration before becoming a free agent.
Russell, 20, is ranked third among all prospects on ESPN Insider Keith Law’s top 100. He plays shortstop, the same position occupied by current Cub Starlin Castro and top Cubs prospect Javier Baez. Russell has appeared in only 18 games this season due to a hamstring strain and hit .333 in 58 at-bats at Double-A Midland. Current Cubs Triple-A hitting coach Brian Harper was on the staff of the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League last year when Russell was a member of the team. from espn.com
My take–if the O’s want to win they better add serious pitching ASAP
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