Blue Jays Putting Together Package for Jeff Samardzija

[Johnnydollaz89]

Teams have inquired on Cubs pitcher Jeff Samardzija and the Blue Jays are putting together a package of young players to try to land him, a source tells Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com (on Twitter). For his part, Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos didn't deny that he has discussed Samardzija with Chicago in an interview with Jim Bowden of SiriusXM (on Twitter). Even though Anthopoulos is looking into starters, he insisted that he has yet to make an offer to anyone (link).

As it stands, Samardzija is set to hit the open market prior to the 2016 season. Most reports throughout the 2013 season indicated that an extension would be tricky, but GM Jed Hoyer indicated recently that he has had discussions with the 28-year-old, making a new deal seem more plausible than it has in the past.

The Blue Jays are far from the first club to be linked to Samardzija and the Nationals and Diamondbacks are two of the more recent clubs with rumored interest. The Cubs hurler posted a 4.34 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 2013 and his xFIP of 3.45 suggests he was stronger than his ERA shows.

Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com reports that the Blue Jays are "putting together a package of young players" in trade talks with the Cubs regarding Jeff Samardzija.
The Cubs have discussed a multi-year contract extension with Samardzija, but they could end up deciding to deal him if they determine an extension doesn't look likely. Levine also adds that the Diamondbacks have talked to the Cubs about Samardzija. Previous reports have linked the Nationals with the right-hander. Samardzija, 28, is under team control through the 2015 season.

Blue Jays Putting Together Package for Jeff Samardzija

Will be interesting to see if they can pull this off.

 

[johnson]

I think this would be an upgarde (well, what wouldn't with their current rotation?) but doesn't get me all that excited as a Jays fan. Who would the young guys be? I didn't have a problem with AA sending prospects to the Marlins because most of them were massively over-rated...I just hope he doesn't send too much over for Samardzja.