Posted by Jason Wojciechowski on November 2, 2014 at 8:02 PM
Slusser has some thoughts about where to get a shortstop now, including the oft-mentioned Stephen Drew, an unnamed Cub, or a Diamondback. Slusser asserts that the Cubs have depth at the position, which is true in the sense that they have Starlin Castro and Javier Baez and Addison Russell, and they do have weakness in their starting rotation (at least until they sign Jon Lester this winter), but what does that leave the A's doing, sending them Jeff Samardzija? I don't see it.
The Diamondbacks probably present a more intriguing possibility because they could make Cliff Pennington or Didi Gregorius available, leaving themselves with Chris Owings plus whoever they don't trade to man the middle infield, along with Nick Ahmed. Neither Pennington nor Gregorius should cost what Castro/Baez/Russell would cost in trade, which is fortunate because the A's don't have anything left in their farm system.
Or, hey, there's always Nick Punto.