OAKLAND, Calif. — The Cubs' trades of Scott Feldman and Steve Clevenger to the Orioles and Carlos Marmol to the Dodgers on Tuesday were mere preludes to the main event: the Matt Garza sweepstakes.
The Cubs were happy to get struggling pitchers Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop from the Orioles, along with international signing bonus slots three and four, and 34-year-old reliever Matt Guerrier and some salary relief from Marmol's contract from the Dodgers.
But before Tuesday's game against the Athletics, pitcher Jeff Samardzija said he wasn't thrilled with the moves.
"I don't think this team improves by trading Scott Feldman," Samardzija said. "He was one of our better pitchers. He's thrown a lot of innings, a solid dude, a solid guy in the clubhouse.
"It's a shame to see him go, and the same with Clevenger. A great dude to have around, a great teammate who played the game hard and played the right way. It's unfortunate. Just hope the guys they get in return are comparable and bring the same attitude to the field every day that those guys brought."
Garza, who declined to talk the day before his start, is as good as gone. A bidding war is underway, and the Cubs hope to get some top prospects for the playoff-proven veteran.
Will that affect Samardzija's future? He's considered part of the core, but he turned down a five-year deal over the winter.
"Well, I definitely don't want to see all my boys traded, that's for sure," he replied. "That wouldn't be the coolest thing in the world, especially when we feel we're not too far away from being a pretty darn good team. We'll see how this all turns out by July 31 and then go from there."
With the addition of two more international signing bonus slots from the Astros for minor leaguer Ronald Torreyes, minus an international slot sent to the Dodgers, general manager Jed Hoyer said the team netted $963,000 in bonus pool money to spend on players in what he called a "deep" pool of international talent.
Whether a 16-year-old will pan out won't be known for years. But the reverberations from Tuesday's deals will be felt for a while.
Chris Rusin was brought up from Triple-A Iowa to start against the A's on Tuesday. Carlos Villanueva will be stretched out and might rejoin the rotation around the All-Star break.
Arrieta was sent to Iowa with no timetable for a call-up. Strop and Guerrier will join the bullpen Wednesday, which could spell the end for Shawn Camp and Henry Rodriguez.
While manager Dale Sveum and Hoyer lauded the addition of "power arms," was it the right message to send to the players?
"We're still viable in being able to fill those roles right now," Sveum said. "Obviously you start getting more thin when things change that way. But I'm not worried. They're professional players. They've got to go out and perform individually themselves anyways."
Life goes on, but Samardzija said "losing guys like (Feldman and Clevenger) who've got your back" is painful for the clubhouse.
"To not get another chance to play with those guys sucks," he said. "You deal with it. It's business. Our job is to win the game today with whatever 25 guys we have in this locker room."
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