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 3rd 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 3-4th
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.
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