Acquiring Jeff Samardzija would make White Sox a contender again

Jul 6, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics pitcher Jeff Samardzija (29) follows through on a pitch against the Toronto Blue Jays in the fifth inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

The question of the day or of the week will be: will the Chicago White Sox trade for right-handed pitcher Jeff Samardzija in some sort of deal with the Oakland Athletics?

Here is a tweet from earlier today by Bob Nightengale of the USA Today:

Since then. White Sox fans are having mixed feelings on this potential trade, because it could really make the White Sox have one of the strongest pitching rotations in all of baseball with the potential of not only Samardzija, but Chris Sale, Jose Quintana and possibly Carlos Rodon at some point in 2015.

Samardzija had a 2.99 ERA last season with the Chicago Cubs and the A’s, along with 202 strikeouts. Trading for Samardzija would give the White Sox a chance to have three pitchers who could have 200-plus strikeouts next season in Samardzija, Sale and Quintana.

How fun would that be to see on a near daily basis?

Next: Will Luke Gregerson be part of the bullpen solution?

On the other hand, the White Sox most likely will have to part ways with prospect Tim Anderson or possibly Micah Johnson … depending on the sort of deal they strike.

It is never fun to part ways with top prospects, but what I will enjoy if this trade were to happen is the White Sox would be showing they are committed to winning now, and that’s something we all can appreciate.

I’m tired of the White Sox not being competitive on a consistent basis and tired of all the losing. If the White Sox were to have a starting rotation consisting of those four aforementioned pitchers (John Danks most likely being the No. 5 starter) sometime during the ’15 season, that would make the White Sox a very strong contender in the AL Central.

It has been since ’08 since the White Sox were last in the postseason, and I think acquiring Samardzija (and a closer) would make this team a contender once again.

But all of this is just speculation and wishful thinking until something official actually happens, but this is what makes the winter meetings so much fun … the excitement we can get from baseball in the middle of December.

I wish we could have it both ways in acquiring Samardzija and keeping Anderson as well, but I honestly don’t see that happening.

What do you think?