MLB Rumors: A’s tried to acquire David Price before Jeff Samardzija
By Josh Hill
The MLB trade season is starting to heat up and that means we’re going to start hearing more and more about teams shopping bigger and bigger names.
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Perhaps the biggest name on the hot stove was Chicago Cubs pitcher Jeff Samardzija, as it wasn’t a matter of if but when the Cubs would trade him away. They shipped him off to Oakland on Friday night but there is still a big pitcher on the market that attention will now once again shift to.
According to Yahoo! Sports, the Athletics were in talks with the Tampa Bay Rays to acquire David Price but ultimately couldn’t find common ground and went with the trade the Chicago Cubs were working on instead.
"They considered, for example, David Price. Once they steeled themselves to trading Addison Russell, the precocious 20-year-old who was going to be their shortstop for the next seven years starting in 2015, the A’s knew anyone was in play, including Price. They talked with the Rays. Permutations of a deal went back and forth. It never materialized."
Russell is a huge piece in this trade and he’s someone that the A’s thought might entice the Rays enough to make them trade Price. But as good as Price is, Oakland just picked up the Cubs best two pitchers — which usually doesn’t mean much but both pitchers are standouts, especially Samardzija.