First Blockbuster: A's and Cubs

First Blockbuster: A’s and Cubs

            As we draw near the All Star break teams will start evaluating their positions in the races and determining if they’re buyers or sellers.  Some teams its more obvious what they’ll be and some it’s a lot harder to even gauge what level of buyer/seller they’ll even be.  Example would be the Astros, they aren’t buyers but they’re not sellers either.  They do however have pieces that other teams could want and will likely trade for making them slight sellers.  Lets take a look at the first big trade of the season as the A’s trade Dan Straily, Addison Russell and Billy McKinney for Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel.

Jeff Samardzija

BB/9	K/9	HR/9	AVG	BABIP	WHIP	ERA	ERA-	FIP	FIP-
8.45	2.50	0.55	.236	.299	1.17	2.74	72	3.01	79

            The heart of this deal and its easy to see why.  He’s having a career year in many areas of his game but what makes this season so special to him is the dramatic shift in his BB/9 dropping from 3.56 career to 2.50, which is a pretty big deal.  The best part is the fact he hasn’t hurt his K/9 much at doing this.  Samardzija had one flaw this year and that was being a Cub so now that he’s gone he could really erupt.

Jason Hammel

BB/9	K/9	HR/9	AVG	BABIP	WHIP	ERA	ERA-	FIP	FIP-
8.61	1.90	0.83	.219	.272	1.02	2.98	79	3.17	82

            Journyman is the right and wrong term to describe Hammel’s career.  He’s played for 5 teams in his 7-year career though the term Journyman comes with a few negative cogitations and Hammel has actually had a very strong career.  He probably was the 3^rd most asked about pitcher this deadline talks and the fact he came in a package deal with Samardzija hurt quite a few teams.

Dan Straily

BB/9	K/9	HR/9	AVG	BABIP	WHIP	ERA	ERA-	FIP	FIP-
3.52	7.89	2.11	.231	.240	1.25	4.93	129	5.64	149

            Had a very strong rookie campaign last season but this year the BB’s have really caught up to him.  You can see he wasn’t giving that many hits and was actually striking a decent amount of guys out before being sent earlier this year to help on his command issues (which only seemed to have gotten worse walking even more guys in AAA).  Still a very talented prospect and if the Cubs can work with him and get him on track again they could have scored a better pitcher than Samardzija could have ever been.

Addison Russell

AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	BB%	K%	ISO	BABIP	wOBA	wRC+	HR	SB
.333	.439	.500	.939	14.0%	14.0%	.167	.385	.428	175	1	3

20-80 Scouting Scale

Hit	Power	Run	Glove	Arm
60	60	60	60	60

            This guy was the true gem of the trade and was consensus number 1 prospect in the A’s system.  Russell is shaping up to be a very strong major leaguer in his own rights and shows skill sets similar to Xander Bogarts, Brett Lawire and Nick Franklin.  Could even end up being a 20/20 threat in the majors though he’s only more than 10 bases once in high A.  He has very good bat speed, which could develop, into 20 HR power in the future.  Some flaws though is his defense and while he has an above average glove he can rush himself at times and make bad plays and his instincts still need work.  Overall this kid could be a star soon and look to see him in the majors later this year.

Billy McKinney

AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	BB%	K%	ISO	BABIP	wOBA	wRC+	HR	SB
.241	.330	.400	.730	10.8%	17.4%	.159	.267	.329	93	10	5

20-80 Scouting Scale

Hit	Power	Run	Glove	Arm
65	50	40	50	40

            McKinney doesn’t really look like he’s going to be a major power threat or anything special in the field but what he does do well is hit for good contact.  McKinney was considered roughly 3-4^th best prospect in the system and could pan out to be a decent LF and a good contact hitter.  Overall he could develop a little power but he’s more likely to become a average fielder that can hit maybe 10 HR’s a year but bat .300 with an ability to take a walk.

Trade Winners: Cubs and A’s

            It’s rare to see a trade that really helps both teams.  The Cubs add more prospects to an already super stocked prospect system.  The Cubs have 3 of the top 3 best middle infield prospects in baseball now that Russell is on the team.  The A’s aren’t known for trading prospects away to get MLB talent; normally it’s just the opposite.  In this case the A’s are going for broke and want to make that push to make it further in the playoffs than last year.

Losers: Giants, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Dodgers, Pirates and Reds

            Really all these teams are having issues with pitching and really needed one of these guys on their team.  The hardest hit is probably the Jays and Yankees who were in desperate need for a new pitcher but don’t have the pieces to go after a guy like David Price.  Red Sox, Giants, Cardinals and Dodgers will survive but could have gotten a big boost from getting Hammel into the middle or back end of the rotation.