Jeff Samardzija

[Fountain City Blues]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

By Steve Adams [December 4 at 3:53pm CST]
DEC. 4: The Cubs are preparing to do some "serious listening" on Samardzija at next week's Winter Meetings, according to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.
NOV. 27, 7:08pm: The Cubs are going to keep trying to sign Samardzija long-term despite the trade rumors, a major league source tells Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe
6:30pm: Jeff Samardzija's name has been swirling about the rumor mill for quite some time, and David Kaplan of CSN Chicago reports that as many as eight teams have shown "considerable" interest in Samardzija. Kaplan lists the Blue Jays, Orioles, and Diamondbacks as frontrunners to land the pitcher often referred to as "Shark," though as Kaplan notes, the asking price is substantial.
One Major League source told Kaplan, "I don't see him throwing another pitch for the Cubs," while a second offered a laundry list of reasons that Samardzija is an excellent trade candidate: he has two years of control remaining, has no injury history, comes with relatively low mileage on his arm due to his prolific football career at Notre Dame and is an excellent clubhouse presence. "Add in the fact that this guy is a big-time competitor, and I would have no hesitation in acquiring him," said Kaplan's second source.
Kaplan points out that teams run a serious risk by waiting for resolution to the Masahiro Tanaka situation since teams that miss out on the Japanese standout will swarm on Samardzija and other alternatives. One NL scout suggested that if he were a GM and didn't have pockets deep enough to guarantee landing Tanaka, he'd give up more than he'd like to get the Cubs' hurler.
The Orioles are among the frontrunners for Samardzija but most scouts that Kaplan checked in with do not expect the Cubs to trade for catcher Matt Wieters unless he was part of a much larger deal that also included young starting pitching that is nearly MLB ready.
Zach Links contributed to this post.

 

[BigDDude]

More proof to me that they intend to rebuild on and only around Paul Rizzo. And, they can actually do this, as their fans don't REALLY expect them to win.

At least, I hope not, not now, and not for the forseeable future.

 

[Orange602]

I hope that Towers doesn't trade for him. Samardzija is not the "ace" that the Dbacks need.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

I don't want him at all. He's not an ace and we'd have to overpay to get him.

 

[bravesfan]

Cubs would be crazy to trade him, the price would have to be right and then some

 

[Johnnydollaz89]

Would love for the Mets to get involved in talks for him. Not sure what it would take though.

 

[HammerDown]

 

[droider]

below avg pitcher, wouldn't touch him

 

[Villain]

Whoever signs him will be happy they did, although the qualifying offer is kind of a bummer.

 

[mrwallace2ku]

below avg pitcher, wouldn't touch him

Loved his Sept play, guy elevated himself into the the discussion again...I can see why teams are seeing his future value. Big guy too. He will be an ace next year.

 

[chappee11]

They can have him. He's all hype.

 

[Villain]

He is a solid #3 starter. He can be a #2 guy if he gets his K% back up to where it was on the Cubs. He could also afford improve his fly ball rate. His HR/FB has been basically static throughout his career, so giving up more fly balls like he did this year led to a bad time.

He's going to be 31 so I don't know how well he'll be able to make those changes. Still, 4years/$50M is not unreasonable (basically what Brandon McCarthy got to be the Dodgers 4th starter) if your pitching coaches think they can fix him this winter.

He's got a decent track record for being healthy, too, which is obviously an important factor to consider when you sign a guy in his 30s.

All that said... If you sign him to anchor your rotation, you're asking for trouble.