While the deal isn’t expected to be announced until Tuesday, the Athletics are acquiring Jeff Samardzija from the White Sox, CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman reported. CSN Chicago’s Dan Hayes later confirmed the deals.
The A’s will get three players in return. Two of them are infielder Marcus Semien and right-hander Chris Bassitt, says the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser.
If the third player is another solid prospect, it would seem to be a better trade for the A’s than either the Josh Donaldson deal with the Blue Jays or the Brandon Moss trade with the Indians. Semien can step right in at shortstop for Oakland, and while he won’t show exceptional range, he should be adequate defensively and a solid bat. Ideally, he’ll be a more durable version of Jed Lowrie, and if Oakland’s shortstop prospects develop as hoped, Semien can be moved to second or third down the line.
Bassitt, a 16th-round find out of the University of Akron in 2011, emerged as a legitimate rotation candidate last year after starting his minor league career as a reliever. He still might wind up as a setup man for the long haul, but he deserves a longer look at the back of the rotation first.
It’s not an overwhelming return, but considering that Samardzija has just one year until free agency, the A’s didn’t do badly here. Of course, neither did the White Sox. While Semien projects as a nice player, the middle infield is one area where the White Sox system is quite strong. Samardzija will slot in between lefties Chris Sale and Jose Quintana in the White Sox rotation, giving them a top three to be reckoned with.