In need of a big-time right-handed starter to complement their lefty-dominated pitching rotation, the Chicago White Sox got busy on Tuesday morning and acquired Jeff Samardzija from the Oakland Athletics, several outlets were reporting.
Bob Nightengale originally reported that the deal was done late Monday night, but the White Sox officially announced the deal Tuesday morning. Shortstop Marcus Semien is the main piece heading back to Oakland, with catcher Josh Phegley, pitcher Chris Bassitt, and first baseman Rangel Ravelo joining him. The White Sox also acquired pitcher Michael Ynoa in the deal.
Samardzija, who was drafted by the Chicago Cubs and spent a good chunk of his career with the organization, was traded in July to the A's in exchange for Addison Russell and two other prospects, but it wasn't enough for Oakland to make any noise in the postseason. Samardzija looked good in his brief stint with Oakland, going 5-6 with a 3.14 ERA in 16 starts.
GM Rick Hahn will be looking for Samardzija to form a hard-throwing nucleus of talent atop the Sox' rotation, with Chris Sale and Jose Quintana also likely fitting into the team's long-term plan. The Sox certainly got a great strikeout pitcher in the deal, with Samardzija being one of only five pitchers to go over 200 strikeouts in each of the past two seasons (Sale is also on that list).
The only drawback to the deal for the White Sox is that Samardzija will be a free agent at the end of the 2015 season. Several negotiations with the Cubs didn't yield a long-term extension, so the Sox could still potentially lose him for nothing after the year.
Despite that possibility, this acquisition makes the White Sox into a serious contender in the AL Central. With the Tigers still sporting Justin Verlander and David Price atop their rotation, and with the Kansas City Royals coming within one win of a World Series title in October, the White Sox immediately join that conversation, and with players like David Robertson and Adam LaRoche also added, this team is clearly trying to make a big jump forward next year.
