UPDATE: Now with Greinke and Price off the board, it appears as if the Cards and Giants may intensify their efforts to land Samardzija.
Greinke signing with #Dbacks is good news for Cueto and Samardzija. #Dodgers, #SFGiants and #STLCards all shopping for a starter.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) December 5, 2015
#SFGiants could turn to Jeff Samardzija or Mike Leake after losing out on Greinke. Trade for James Shields further down the list.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) December 5, 2015
The #Stlcards, after finishing runnerup in David Price sweepstakes, now expressing interest in Jeff Samardzija
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 4, 2015
-----
Jeff Samardzija is one of the more interesting free agent cases. The right-hander finished with a 4.96 ERA in 2015, but he's still among one of the more sought-after starters on the market. Rumors suggest he already has a sizeable offer on the table.
Also, the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants are among a number of MLB clubs in the running for his services.
Samardzija, 30, had his breakout campaign in 2014 when he logged a 2.99 ERA in 33 starts with the Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics. That year he reportedly turned down a five-year, $85 million deal with Chicago and then was traded to Oakland.
He spent 2015 with the Chicago White Sox after being dealt there last offseason and he perhaps endured the worst year of his career. However, that doesn't seem to matter.
"The conditions are getting better for the free agency of Jeff Samardzija, and according to ESPN colleague Jayson Stark, all is apparently good for the right-hander despite the rough season he just had," writes ESPN's Buster Olney. "He has become an alternative for the Cardinals and Giants and perhaps other teams."
As FA process moves along, Jeff Samardzija gaining increased notice because teams are confident about this:Less mileage than other starters.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 1, 2015
As teams seriously consider Plan Bs to David Price and Zack Greinke: The Giants have long had interest in Jeff Samardzija.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 2, 2015
Forget the theory that Jeff Samardzija will be the bargain of the offseason. Teams talking with him say he's claiming to have $100M on table
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) December 2, 2015
It's unknown where the $100 million offer came from, but it's not shocking because he was expected to command such a deal heading into his contract year. As Olney notes, many teams see a lot of upside in Samardzija because he has only thrown 991 innings in eight MLB seasons and he could easily get back on track with a new pitching coach. He relied on his two-seam fastball much less than in previous years and was also much less effective with his slider and split finger in 2015. The problem, as Mike Podhorzer of FanGraphs points out, was that Samardzija was throwing too many strikes with his splitter. He left them up in the zone, allowing batters to generate more hits, which can explain his career-worst 9.6 hits, 1.2 home runs and 6.9 strikeouts per nine innings (as a starter).
Therefore, the interest from the Cardinals and Giants makes perfect sense. Both clubs have good pitching coaches in Derek Lilliquist and Dave Righetti that have worked with the best in the business over the years. St. Louis led the MLB in ERA this past season and the Giants finished in ninth (even with a ton of injuries to both staffs).
I'm sure neither team would have a problem investing the money in Samardzija's talent and then have the coaching staff tweak his mechanics to help him return to the 2014 Samardzija.
Don't be surprised if the $100 million offer came from one of these teams. But also keep in mind the Chicago Cubs are also a suitor, so there will be a lot of competition if he doesn't sign before the Winter Meetings.
