Friday night’s blockbuster trade between the Oakland A’s and Chicago Cubs put one thing in perspective for Athletics fans: Billy Beane is in it to win it right now. The team has the best record in baseball at the halfway point despite major injuries in its starting rotation before the season even started (Jarrod Parker and AJ Griffin) and several significant injuries in the first few months of the season (Josh Reddick, Drew Pomeranz).
Billy Beane went out and got the best SP’s available on the market from the Cubs in Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. However, it cost the A’s franchise a boatload of their future. Addison Russell is a top 5-10 prospect in all of baseball and doesn’t have a major injury to his name. The A’s also gave up their 2013 1st round pick, OF Billy McKinney and SP Dan Straily.
The acquisition of Samardzija and Hammel gives the A’s starting rotation – along with Sonny Gray, Scott Kazmir, and Jesse Chavez – 5 of the lowest 33 ERA’s among SP’s in baseball. After this week’s sweep at the hands of the Detroit Tigers, Billy Beane probably looked at his roster and said, “We can do this, but we have to find a way to get past this Detroit club”. The Tigers, of course, have knocked the A’s out of the playoffs the last two seasons and are/were a very bad match-up for the A’s.
Oakland is now the favorite to win the American League with this trade. If Billy Beane can find a middle infielder to replace Eric Sogard at 2B, the club will be loaded from top to bottom on the offensive side of the diamond as well.
It is always tough to give up your top prospect(s), but the A’s opportunity to win is right now. That window likely closes after the 2015 season, when several key players are scheduled to hit costless agency, most specifically Yoenis Cespedes and Scott Kazmir. Beane will need ownership’s help to resign/retain a number of players after the 2014 season as well, but things will get a lot more complicated when Cespedes and Kazmir hit the open market.
A’s fans still unsure if the immediacy of the deal only need to see the following from Bay Area columnist Brandon McClintock:
My analysis of today's trade by Billy Beane & the #Athletics, "Flags fly forever."
— Brandon McClintock (@BMcClintock_BSN) July 5, 2014 via Twitter
If A’s fans still want/need more, here are highlights from Samardzija’s first start of the 2014 season against the Pirates, where he struck out nine in a Cubs victory: