Theo Epstein says trade with A's was a 'no-brainer'

After the first splashy exchange of MLB trade season was finalized on Saturday, Chicago Cubs president of operations Theo Epstein spoke up to explain why dealing his team's top two starting pitchers, Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, was a "no-brainer," despite the Cubs not getting much of a return on the pitching side in the deal.  

"We would have been very open to getting quality pitching back in this deal but there was no pitcher available who's even close to the caliber of player we feel Addison Russell is," Epstein told reporters. "There was no pitching package available that made us think twice on passing on this opportunity.

"There are more effective pitchers out there than position players. You can't win without pitching and we understand that and we have a plan to acquire good pitching and to build a really effective pitching staff. But there are more teams out there looking for offense then looking for pitching."

Russell, the 20-year-old shortstop who is easily the most prized of the three assets the Cubs received from the Oakland A's in the deal, came into the season ranked 14th on Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects list, and has slashed .333/.439/.500 in 13 games in Double-A this season. 

Some of the questions directed at Epstein have to do with the fact that the Cubs were ostensibly well-stocked at shortstop. Their top prospect Javier Baez currently mans short for Triple-A Iowa, while two-time All-Star Starlin Castro is enjoying his best season in the majors to date, slashing .290/.335/.472 with the big league club. 

"You can never have too many shortstops," Epstein said, going on to explain how he can envision all the Cubs' young assets at the position moving around and playing together:

The nice thing about having impact players that are athletic who can play in the middle of the field, and who can hit, is that you have options. 

We feel Javier Baez is a shortstop but we're also confident he can play second base or third base or the outfield if he has to.

Starlin is another guy that is athletic enough and has enough tools to play a couple spots on the diamond but I don't foresee that any time in the near future. He's getting better at shortstop, he's a weapon at shortstop. This trade had nothing to do with Castro. It had to do with acquiring impact young talent.

The good thing is these guys can all fit on the field together and really be an impactful group together because of their athleticism and versatility.