The Boston Red Sox never had a chance.
While the Red Sox were rumored to be interested in pitcher Jeff Samardzija before the Oakland Athletics traded him to the Chicago White Sox on Monday, an industry source told WEEI.com’s Alex Speier that Boston didn’t appear to be meaningfully in the mix in trade discussions for the right-hander. The A’s reportedly appeared “pretty locked in” on the players they eventually acquired from the White Sox.
Oakland landed infielder Marcus Semien, right-hander Chris Bassitt, catcher Josh Phegley and corner infielder Rangel Ravelo in exchange for Samardzija. The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo previously reported that shortstop prospect Deven Marrero would have to be included in any trade package the Red Sox assembled for Samardzija, but it never came to that, as the A’s apparently refrained from starting a bidding war on the trade market, much like they recently did with third baseman Josh Donaldson before dealing him to the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Red Sox definitely need starting pitching. And while Jon Lester remains their top target, Samardzija would have been an interesting commodity. It sounds like Boston was forced to sit on the sidelines, though, as Oakland knew what it wanted right out of the gate.
Thumbnail photo via Peter Aiken/USA TODAY Sports Images
