The Cubs are not close in contract talks with Jeff Samardzija. The Shark had been unhappy with the current front office's churn of 40% of the starting rotation year after year. Samardzija wants to win, but finds it difficult with the current major league roster.
Samardzija is treated as the Cubs' ace starter, but in reality he is not. In 2013, he had 33 starts and threw a career high 213.2 IP. He went 8-13, 4.34 ERA, 1.348 WHIP, 2.74 K/BB ratio and 1.0 WAR.
For his career, he has 189 GP, 29-35 record, 4.19 ERA, 1.355 WHIP, 2.29 K/BB ratio, a career 3.1 WAR over 6 seasons.
His career WAR and record indicate that he is 4th or 5th starter at best. But since the Cubs are such a bad team, in the state of flux, a durable starting pitcher is hard to find so Samardzija is promoted by the PR department to sell tickets.
At age 28, Samardzija is coming into his prime years. He expects to be paid more than the $2.64 million he earned last season.
He gave up the option of playing pro football to become a major league pitcher. He signed a large minor league deal by former GM Jim Hendry. Samardzija had a rough beginning, but most people believe he continues to slowly improved over the years. Whether he has reached his plateau is open to debate.
If the Cubs do not want to commit Edwin Jackson type money on Samardzija, then the Shark most likely will be traded by the July, 2014 deadline. With the pitching prospects in the Cubs system probably two to three years away from contributing, this will leave another hole in the rotation.
