Cubs Acquire INF Addison Russell, OF Billy Mckinney, RHP Dan Straily And Player To Be Named Later From Oakland For RHPs Jeff Samardzija & Jason Hammel

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Chicago Cubs today acquired infielder Addison Russell, outfielder Billy McKinney, right-handed pitcher Dan Straily and a player to be named from the Oakland Athletics for right-handed pitchers Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel.

Russell and McKinney were ranked as the top two players in Oakland's farm system by Baseball America entering the 2014 season, while Russell was ranked the third-best prospect in baseball by ESPN.com, number 11 by mlb.com and number 14 overall by Baseball America. 

Russell was Oakland's first round pick in the 2012 Draft (11th overall out of high school) and McKinney was the club's first round pick in the 2013 Draft (24th overall out of high school). Straily began the 2013 campaign ranked second by MLB.com and sixth by Baseball America in the Athletics system (with the organization's best slider and change-up) before going 10-8 with a 3.96 ERA (67 ER/152.1 IP) in 27 starts in the major leagues last season.

With the acquisition of Russell, a shortstop, the Cubs now have in their organization three of the top 14, six of the top 41 and eight players overall listed on Baseball America's Top 100 prospects list entering the 2014 campaign.

The 20-year-old Russell entered 2014 as Oakland's top prospect as ranked by Baseball America for the second year in a row. He was a 2012 Arizona League post-season All-Star, a 2013 Futures Game selection, the 2013 Single-A California League Rookie of the Year, a 2013 California League post-season All-Star and was named to the 2013 Arizona Fall League's All Prospects Team, where he played for the Mesa Solar Sox and was a starter in the AFL All-Star Game.

The 6-foot, 195-pound Russell began his pro career by hitting .369 (80-for-217) with a 1.027 OPS in 55 games covering three levels in Oakland's farm system before spending nearly all of 2013 at advanced Single-A Stockton. He was just one of 12 minor league players to reach double digits in doubles (29), triples (10) and home runs (17) last year en route to an .885 OPS with Stockton before a three-game promotion to Triple-A Sacramento at the end of the season.

Russell was with Oakland's Double-A Midland affiliate at the time of the trade, where he hit .333 (16-for-48) with a .439 on-base percentage, a .500 slugging percentage and a .939 OPS in 13 games this year due to a hamstring injury. He joined the Midland line-up in mid-June and finished his time there riding an eight-game hitting streak.

The 19-year-old McKinney last year played across two levels in Oakland's system in his first pro campaign and combined to bat combined .326 (70-for-215) with nine doubles, three triples, three home runs, 26 RBI and a .387 on-base percentage in 55 games between the Rookie League Athletics and Single-A Vermont.

At the time of the trade, the left-handed hitting McKinney was hitting .241 (70-for-290) with 12 doubles, two triples, 10 home runs and 33 RBI in 75 games for Single-A Stockton this season. He has appeared at all three outfield positions, predominantly in center field (67 games). McKinney batted .292 (28-for-96) with 12 runs, five doubles, one triple, three home runs and 15 RBI in 24 games in June. All told, the 6-foot-1, 195-pound McKinney has batted .277 (140-for-505) with 21 doubles, five triples, 13 home runs and 59 RBI in 130 career minor league games.

Straily, 25, has pitched parts of the last three years with Oakland, going 13-11 with a 4.11 ERA (105 ER/230.0 IP) in 41 starts. He made his big league debut on August 3, 2012 and made seven starts with Oakland that season, going 2-1 with a 3.89 ERA (17 ER/39.1 IP) before spending nearly the entire campaign in the majors in 2013. Straily has split the 2014 season between the big leagues (1-2, 4.93 ERA in seven starts) and Triple-A Sacramento (4-3, 4.71 ERA in 10 starts). 

The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Straily was originally selected by Oakland in the 24th round of the 2009 Draft and was named the organization's 2012 co-minor league Pitcher of the Year after combining to go 9-7 with a 2.78 ERA (47 ER/152.0 IP) with an organization-best 190 strikeouts in 25 starts between Sacramento and Midland, where he was named to the Texas League All-Star team.

Samardzija, 29, went 31-42 with one save and a 3.97 ERA (294 ER/666.0 IP) in 206 games, including 83 starts with the Cubs the last seven seasons. He went 2-7 with a 2.83 ERA (34 ER/108.0 IP) in 17 starts with the club this season. Samardzija was originally selected by the Cubs in the fifth round of the 2006 Draft.

Hammel, 31, went 8-5 with a 2.98 ERA (36 ER/108.2 IP) in 17 starts with the Cubs this season, his first campaign in the organization. He is 57-64 with four saves and a 4.62 ERA (564 ER/1,098.0 IP) in 232 big league outings (175 starts).