The Oakland As were already the team to beat before making a

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The Oakland As were already the team to beat before making a blockbuster deal to add two starting pitchers from the Chicago Cubs. Vans Old Skool Offerte . Numbers Game looks into the As giving up their top prospect in order to acquire Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. The Athletics Get: RHP Jeff Samardzija and RHP Jason Hammel. Samardzija, 29, has become a first-rate starting pitcher, even if his win totals dont make that readily apparent. In 78 starts for the Cubs over the past three years, Samardzija has a 19-33 record, but has a 3.83 ERA and 1.27 WHIP are respectable and he struck out 497 batters in 496 1/3 innings, a rate surpassed by eight qualified starters in the past three years. This season alone, Samardzija was 2-7 with a 2.83 ERA and 1.20 WHIP with 103 strikeouts in 108 innings with the Cubs. While Samardzijas mid-90s fastball drives his results, hes throwing a harder slider than ever before and its been an out pitch for him. Moving to Oakland is a great opportunity for Samardzija to be a rotation anchor for a World Series contender. He had never pitched in Oakland, prior to his As debut Sunday, but Oaklands park has been pitcher-friendly for years, so that ought to keep Samardzijas numbers strong. Hell be arbitration-eligible at the end of the season, due for a good raise on his $5.345-million salary, but Samardzija is under organizational control for another season beyond 2014. Hammel is a 31-year-old who was hanging around on the free agent market until the end of January, when he settled on a one-year, $6-million deal with the Cubs. That lack of interest was justified, to some degree, by Hammels 2013 season, during which he posted a 4.97 ERA and 1.46 WHIP. This year, its been a different story, as Hammel posted a career-best 2.98 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in 17 starts with the Cubs, striking out 104 in 108 2/3 innings in the process. For such a marked difference, there ought to be some tangible differences in Hammels game. His home run rate is down and hes leaving a greater percentage of base-runners on, but Hammels real improvement is that his walk rate is under 2.0 for the first time in his career. Hes reduced the percentage of curve balls and change-ups that he throws, focusing on his fastball and slider and, like Samardzija, Hammels slider has been especially devastating this season. In fact, according to Fan Graphs, Hammel has the most effective slider in baseball this season. If Hammel continues the way hes pitched this season, hell be able to cash in as a free agent in the offseason. Getting Hammel in addition to Samardzija is really a power move by the As. Instead of settling for the upgrade that Samardzija provides, they also have enough depth with Hammel that LHP Tommy Milone (3.55 ERA in 16 starts) could lose his spot in the rotation. This gives Oakland insurance for injuries to their other starters and, perhaps even better (if not outright done deliberately), prevents Hammel from going to another contending team that is looking to shore up its pitching staff. Before making this trade, the As were the top team in baseball and they just added to quality starting pitchers, both of whom are having excellent seasons, so consider this trade to be the equivalent of the As pushing their chips to the middle of the table. Theyre all in. The Cubs Get: SS Addison Russell, RHP Dan Straily, CF Billy McKinney and a player to be named later. Russell, 20, was the 11th overall pick in the 2012 Draft and, while hes missed a couple months due to a hamstring injury this season, hes shown that he has the bat to be a star in the major leagues, posting an .899 OPS in 185 games in the minors. Russell has played a total of 20 games this season, 15 since being promoted to Double-A, so he could still use time to develop, but he should be knocking on the Cubs door by next season. This presents something of an enviable problem for Chicago as one of their many great prospects is shortstop Javier Baez and they have incumbent starter Starlin Castro with the big-league club. Either some players are getting traded or there will be some position changes coming, but Russell is a great get for Chicago -- hes one of the top position player prospects in the game. 25-year-old Straily got roughed up a bit early this season (4.93 ERA in seven starts), losing his spot in the As rotation, but that was a case of surrendering too many home runs (nine in 38 1/3 IP) as his 1.25 WHIP was pretty much in line with his career average. Straily doesnt throw hard at the best of times, but he lost a couple miles per hour off all of his pitches and that can make a difference for guys with overpowering stuff. Nevertheless, a 25-year-old with a good slider who has managed a 4.11 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in 41 major-league starts (with slightly better numbers on the road) is worth a look for the Cubs. The 24th pick in the 2013 Draft, McKinney is a 19-year-old centre fielder climbing his way up the minor-league ladder after coming out of Texas high school ball. Overall, the left-handed hitter has a .278 average and .769 OPS in 132 minor-league games, but is hitting .243 with a .729 OPS in 77 games at Advanced Class-A ball. Hell need a little time to develop and the Cubs have other strong outfield prospects on the way too, but add a quality bat to the organization and see where he is in a couple of years. As much as the Cubs are giving up a couple of quality starting pitchers, players that give the As an immediate shot in the arm heading into the second half of the season, they got quality assets in return. If Russell does make it as even an above-average starter at shortstop, and one of Straily or McKinney provides some kind of value, then the Cubs will eventually reap the rewards of this deal. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Vans Old Skool Vendita Online . Atletico Madrid made it three wins from three thanks to a double from in-form striker Diego Costa in a 3-0 victory at Austria Vienna, leaving the Spanish side on the brink of the last 16 already to continue its brilliant start to the season. Vans Old Skool Outlet Italia . - Anthony Beauvillier had the winning goal in the third period as the Shawinigan Cataractes edged the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 2-1 on Wednesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play. http://www.oldskooloutlet.it/ . Ashton scored a hat trick -- giving him 13 goals in 16 AHL games this season -- to power the Toronto Marlies to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Lake Erie Monsters in AHL action on Sunday. BOSTON -- David Ortiz went from gesturing up at an official scorer one at-bat earlier to pumping his fist toward his teammates after his game-tying homer. Three pitches later, he was hugging Mike Napoli at home plate after his teammates winning home run. Napoli and Ortiz hit consecutive homers with one out in the 10th inning and the Boston Red Sox rallied past Minnesota 2-1 Wednesday, sending the Twins to their fifth straight loss. "We havent been able to produce. Our pitching has been outstanding lately, but we havent been able to hit," Ortiz said. "To come back and win the game, that was big." Boston was held to one hit -- a fifth-inning double by Daniel Nava -- before the homers. The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 10th on Chris Parmelees two-out home run off Red Sox closer Koji Uehara (2-1). But after Dustin Pedroia flied out to begin the Boston 10th, the Red Sox connected against Casey Fien (3-4) to complete a three-game sweep. Twins closer Glen Perkins was unavailable with a sore back. Ortiz hit his drive down the right-field line and pumped his right fist toward the dugout as he headed toward first base. Napoli hit his shot into the centre-field bleachers. Three innings earlier, Ortiz felt like he had a hit taken away when he reached on what was ruled an error by official scorer Bob Ellis after the ball deflected off first baseman Joe Mauers glove in the seventh inning. When he walked off the field following Napolis double-play grounder, Ortiz was glaring and waving his arm up at the press box. "You hope they have your back at home and it never happens," Ortiz said. "Ive been here more than a decade and the scoring, its home, man. What do you want Mauer to do? He dove for the ball. He knocked it down." "I always look like Im the bad guy, but they always end up changing it. Its not that we need to check on Papi. Check on the scorer to see what hes doing wrong," he said. Earlier this year, Major League Baseball changed a scorers ruling and later gave Ortiz a single in a game in which Yu Darvish had a no-hit bid for Texas. Parmelee also had two singles as Minnesota finished a 3-6 road trip. "Were glad were going home," Parmelee said. "Its kind of tough end to the long road trip, but were headed home and were excited tto get back home. Vans Old Skool Saldi. ." Uehara had a scoreless streak snapped at 21 2/3 innings when Parmelee homered into the Red Sox bullpen over the leap of right fielder Brock Holt. "Unfortunately, one extra split to Parmelee gives them the upper hand, but a dramatic finish on our part," Boston manager John Farrell said. "David comes up big once again." Like the previous two games of the series, both one-run wins by Boston, neither team had much offence going. The Twins entered the day with seven combined hits and one run in the first two games and Boston scored just three total runs. The Red Sox were on the verge of being shut out until the improbable ending. "Its the worst feeling in the world," Fien said. "When youve got a pitching staff that threw like that and then they ask me to come up big and do my part. You come out with the L. Its not a good feeling." Bostons John Lackey and Minnesotas Kyle Gibson kept up the trend with strong pitching performances. Lackey gave up three singles over nine innings, striking out nine and walking one. Hes allowed three or fewer runs in six straight starts, and 12th of 15 this season. Gibson pitched seven shutout innings for the third consecutive start, allowing only Navas double, while striking out eight without walking anyone. Gibson retired the first 14 batters before Nava lined a double near the base of the right-field wall that bounced in Bostons bullpen for a ground-rule double. Pedroia had his streak of reaching in every career start against the Twins snapped at 30 after he went 0 for 4. NOTES: Red Sox starters held an opponent to three runs or fewer for the 12th consecutive home game. ... A day after designating him for assignment, the Red Sox released struggling OF Grady Sizemore from the roster. ... Red Sox pitcher Brandon Workman lost an appeal of his six-game suspension for throwing near the head of Tampa Bays Evan Longoria on May 30, and the right-hander began serving it Wednesday. ... RHP Yohan Pino makes his major league debut, facing Chicagos Jose Quintana (3-7, 3.98 ERA) Thursday as the Twins open a four- game series at home against the White Sox. ... Jake Peavy (1-4, 4.53 ERA) goes for Boston Thursday against Oaklands Scott Kazmir (8-2, 2.05) as the Red Sox begin a 10-game road trip. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '