Sep 27, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija (29) delivers a pitch to the Texas Rangers during a baseball game at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The Rangers won 5-4. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports
The White Sox got off to a thunderous start Monday night as sources are reporting they’ve acquired both starter Jeff Samardzija in a trade with the Oakland Athletics as well as ex-Yankee closer, David Robinson from free agency.
The Samardzija trade was my biggest concern as I thought giving up to much for, what is at this moment, a rent-a-player situation could be risky. However as the details of the trade slowly begin to emerge it looks to be a solid one for both sides. A’s beat writer, Susan Slusser reports that the Sox will be sending infielder Marcus Semien, righty Chris Bassitt and a third player to the A’s.
A third player also likely to be in that deal for Samardzija, source tells the Chronicle. So Bassitt, Semien, third player to #Athletics.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) December 9, 2014
Mercus Semien was offensively sub-par last year playing in 64 games between second, third and shortstop batting .234. On the offensive side of things the White Sox won’t miss much where as defensively he had shown some flashes of promise bust that could just be me. This is nothing that rookie third baseman Matt Davidson shouldn’t be able to handle as from what I can tell, the plan will be to bring up Davidson to play third while moving infielder Connor Gillespie over second base. The Sox committed the fourth most errors in the league last year so the shakeup of the infield is more than refreshing.
Although he missed some time with a broken hand last year, Bassitt was 1-1 with a 3.94 ERA in five starts for the Sox last year. He went up against the A’s in September only allowing one run over six innings pitched. This is the type of guy that Billy Beane and the A’s seem to gravitate towards. They will have to do some fine tuning on the 25-year-old, but Bassitt seemed to be someone who could one day become a reliable fourth or fifth spot starter.
Puckett's Pond
As for the childhood Sox fan and Merrillville, Indiana native, Samardzija will be placed into the rotation to break up the slew of left-handed starters that call the south side home. You will most likely see the Shark pitching number two between Chris Sale and Jose Quintana.
The Sox second accusation of the night, is a four-year deal with closer David Robertson that is worth $46 million. This was by far the biggest surprise of the night as the Samardzija trade had been reported for the last two weeks and you could see it coming from a mile away. Robertson is more than a fresh breath of air for a White Sox bullpen that ranked among the worst in the league last season in most categories.
This is the first time the White Sox will actually know who their closer will be going into a season since trading Addison Reed to the Diamondbacks for third baseman, Matt Davidson. Robertson was elite in 2014 after taking over for long-time great, Mariano Rivera. He posted a 3.08 ERA, 96 SO and 39 SV all in 64.1 innings pitched in 2014 and only walked 23. To put that into perspective, last season the White Sox bullpen earned only 36 SV while leading the league with 236 BB.
If you are a Yankees fan its tough to see him go but you can still sleep well knowing that your team has earned draft-pick compensation from their one-year deal worth $15.3 million that they offered Robertson for the 2015 campaign. The 29-year-old won the World Series with New York in 2009 and was named an All-Star with the team during the 2011 season.
While it is uncertain what the next move will be for the Sox one thing is for certain, South Siders will be waking up tomorrow feeling thunderstruck. Get all of your White Sox Winter Meetings news here at the Southside Showdown.