Are the rumors of the Chicago Cubs' interest in Jeff Samardzija true? Well, according to a recent report, it appears they are.
Samardzija met with Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein last night in Chicago, reports Phil Rogers of MLB.com. Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com added that Samardzija flew in from Arizona for the meeting.
Previous rumors have suggested the Cubs were going to explore signing Samardzija this offseason in addition to adding one of the top starters on the market (David Price, Zack Greinke, Jordan Zimmermann). Samardzija spent his first seven MLB seasons with the Cubs after being taken in the fifth round of the 2006 draft.
Chicago traded the right-hander to the Oakland Athletics last season after he rejected a five-year, $85 million deal in the middle of the year. The move helped the Cubs land shortstop Addison Russell and prospect outfielder Billy McKinney.
Fortunately for the Cubs, Samardzija endured his worst season as a starter in 2015 with the White Sox and finished 11-13 with a 4.96 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 163 strikeouts in 32 starts (214 innings). He was expected to land a $100 million deal, assuming he had a good contract year, but that didn't go as planned for the right-hander.
It also helps that the Cubs pitching coach, Chris Bosio, was an integral aspect in developing Samardzija during his first years as an MLB pitcher. Bosio is excited about the possibility of reuniting with Samardzija.
"Any team would love to have Jeff Samardzija, especially a team that already knows him," he said on the Mulley and Hanley radio show this morning. "It's really a guy who's got his blood in our dirt already. Um, gamer, another guy that, you know I think that people like to come out and watch pitch. He's a performer, high level performer, and he's another guy that loves the big stage."
If the Cubs can land Samardzija at a decent price they would put themselves in an excellent position to acquire another top starter and possess one of the deepest rotations in the MLB in 2016.
Stay tuned for updates.
