When the Oakland Athletics acquired Jeff Samardzija from the Chicago Cubs in July, the idea behind the deal was to have him help the team compete for a World Series championship.
But A’s general manager Billy Beane knew that the front-line starter would be under team control for another season. This enabled him to move his top prospect, Addison Russell, to the Cubs in the deal. It was the idea that Samardzija could help the A’s beyond the 2014 campaign.
Now that the A’s are just over a month removed from a disappointing 2014 season, there are a lot of questions about the direction of the team moving forward.
And according fo Fox Sports’ insider Ken Rosenthal, Oakland will listen to offers for Samardzija as well as fellow veteran Scott Kazmir.
The A’s would listen if teams inquired on pitchers such as right-hander Jeff Samardzija and lefty Scott Kazmir. However, they will not shop either and are adamant about keeping Donaldson, who is under club control for four more years, sources say.
The other bit of big news here is that Beane is not willing to move All-Star third baseman Josh Donaldson, who has been mentioned as a potential trade candidate since the A’s season ended.
As it relates to Samardzija, one would normally think that the haul Oakland could get in return would be pretty big. The righty put up a 7-13 record with a 2.99 ERA and 202 strikeouts in an All-Star campaign this past year.
With that said, the free-agent market is flooded with similar pitchers. This could limit the potential return Oakland might get for Samardzija. And in the process, it could very well lead Beane to wait until the trade deadline next July to potentially move the starter.
On the other hand, Kazmir might stand a better chance of getting moved. He’s coming off a solid season and is owed just $12 million in 2015. Oakland also wouldn’t demand a bounty in return and boasts enough pitching depth to move on without the lefty.
