A’s Trade Prospects for Jeff Samardzija, Jason Hammel

The Oakland Athletics traded top prospect Addison Russell , fellow prospect Billy McKinney, pitcher Dan Straily and possibly a player to be named later to the Chicago Cubs for starters Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel in the first blockbuster trade of the summer. The deal was first reported by FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.

Those two righties will join Scott Kazmir and Sonny Gray in the Oakland rotation that sports the best record in baseball at 53-33.

Samardzija, 29, is 2-7 with a 2.83 ERA this season.  Samardzija has been mentioned in trade rumors throughout the summer. The Blue Jays perhaps the most prominently.

The Boston Red Sox , Colorado Rockies, Seattle Mariners and Baltimore Orioles were also said to have interest, but in the end it was the A’s and Billy Beane who were willing to part with the prospect package to get a deal done.

Hammel, 31, is 7-5 with a 2.98 ERA. Hammel was signed by the Chicago Cubs this offseason to a modest one year deal worth $6 million. He owns strikeout and walk rates of 24.0 percent and 5.2 percent for a K-BB% that is more than double last year’s 7.9 percent mark.

Straily, 25, is 1-2 with a 4.93 ERA in seven starts for the A’s. The right-hander is 13-11 in 41 starts for Oakland over the past three seasons.

Russell, 20, is a shortstop has appeared in only 18 games this season due to a hamstring strain, hitting .333 in 58 at-bats at Double-A Midland.

McKinney, 19, has a .241 batting average with 10 home runs and 33 RBIs in 75 games for Class A Stockton this year.

Hammel pitched on Friday and was pulled after 92 pitches and earned a win, but left the game confused as to why he was pulled.

“I would have liked to have stayed out there in the seventh,” Hammel told reporters after the 7-2 win. “I have no idea why I came out of the game. I honestly believe you learn how to pitch when you get to 100 pitches. If you’re not allowed to reach that, I think that’s hurting you more than help.”