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Jeff Samardzija Traded to the Chicago White Sox

By Jamie Faue

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The Oakland Athletics have traded right-handed pitcher Jeff Samardzija and right-handed pitching prospect Michael Ynoa to the Chicago White Sox for their top shortstop prospect Marcus Semien, right-handed pitcher Chris Bassitt, catcher Josh Phegley and infielder Rangel Ravelo.  All of these players are minor league prospects, however both Semien and Phegley have had a taste of the Majors. Semien has played in 85 games, and Phegley played in 76 games all with the White Sox over the course of the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

Samardzija, another one of Oakland’s seven All-Stars last year, was speculated to be traded to either the White Sox or Boston Red Sox for what was assumed to be top shortstop prospects.

News broke out late last night that the A’s and the White Sox were very close to a deal that sent Samardzija to the south-side team for prospects. This morning, it was confirmed by multiple reports that the deal had been made, however it was still uncertain who the A’s were getting in return for the right-hander.

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Finally, both the A’s and White Sox confirmed the trade just before 10 AM this morning that the six-player deal was official.

Now, who are these players that the A’s have received?

Semien is a shortstop prospect who is ready for the Major League level. As mentioned before, he’s already played in 85 major league games, and he has a batting average of .240 with eight home runs and 35RBI’s. Seimen, in his 85 games, has also hit 14 doubles and two triples for a .380 slugging percentage.

In four seasons in the minor leagues, Seimen had a career batting average of .272, hit 51 home runs, 98 doubles and 16 triples to go with 203 RBI’s. Although his major league numbers are not at the level of his minor league numbers, he fills the A’s need at the shortstop position.

Bassitt is a right-handed pitching prospect who, in the minors over four seasons, has a record of 22-10 with a career ERA of 2.97, 1.261 WHIP and 303 strikeouts. Bassitt also has only given up 20 home runs in his four-year minor league career and issued 138 walks. Bassitt is still years away from seeing the Majors, as he is still in double-A and has bounced around from the single-A+ and double-A levels for the last two seasons.

Sep 28, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez (left) tags out Chicago White Sox catcher Josh Phegley (36) during the fourth inning at U.S Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Phegley, in 76 games with the White Sox, has a batting average of .207 with seven home runs, nine doubles and 29 RBI’s. In the minor leagues, Phegley has a career batting average of .266, and he hit 67 home runs and 112 doubles to go with 279 RBI’s. It is probably unlikely that the A’s will use Phegley unless something happens to Derek Norris and John Jaso.

Lastly, there is Rangel Ravelo, who can be used as both a first baseman and a third baseman. In five seasons in the minor leagues, Ravelo has played 157 games at third and 198 games at first. He has a .977 overall fielding percentage but is better defensively at first with a .994 fielding percentage, compared to his .916 fielding percentage at third.

Offensively, Ravelo has a career .301 batting average, hit 18 home runs, 112 doubles, 11 triples for a .424 slugging percentage and has collected 222 RBI’s. He has also drawn 150 walks and has an on base percentage of .368. The 22-year old sounds promising but is still a few years away, having just completed his first season in double-A ball.

The A’s may have traded away one of the best pitchers in the league, but the A’s have plenty of pitching talent and these four young players that the team got in return appear to have promising futures. Like the other trades Billy Beane has made, it is hard to gauge the actual amount of talent these prospects have.

What will Beane do next? Is he done? Or is this it for the A’s this offseason?

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