Many thought Alfonso Soriano was a quiet diva in the clubhouse. He argued with his manager about not being told the day before he would not be in the lineup (so he could party more the night before). He seemed indifferent about defense; afraid of the Wrigley outfield walls. He seems only to want to lead off so he could see more fastballs to pad his personal stats. He landed a fat contract with the Cubs with a full no trade clause. He had no pressure to win in Chicago, so he enjoyed the country club atmosphere in the locker room.
But apparently, at some point, the constant losing got to Soriano. In the Tribune during the Yankees twin bill, Soriano was quoted as saying:
"I just want to play baseball and win, and that was not happening with
the Cubs,” he said. "I was happy mostly when I played for them. But when I saw they weren’t putting out a team to win, I was like, ‘Man, this is kind of like a job now.’ I’d go to the ballpark, work, do my job and go back home.
“I didn’t enjoy it. Here it’s different. Now I’m having fun.”
This is the most damning quote I have read coming from the Cub locker room.
Major league players have been playing baseball their entire lives. As soon as they could pick up a bat or throw a ball, they were hooked on the game. Their love of the game and desire to become the best made them into major leaguers. Soriano was greatly rewarded for his talents, but deep down he still has the childhood love (and respect) for the game. When he found his Cub situation becoming "a job," an assembly line monotony of losing, Soriano had enough - - - he waived his no trade clause to be traded to the Yankees, a team that is built to be competitive year after year.
And this puts Samardzija's situation on the same path. Samardzija has been vocally unhappy with the front office trading away most of the starting rotation in the past few seasons (Garza, Dempster, Maholm, Feldman) for prospects, leaving the team to struggle with a new pitching staff for the second half of the seasons. If you add young pitchers like Archer and Cashner to the mix, no wonder the Cubs pitching corps is depleted.
Samardzija is pacing the halls until the day he can leave like Soriano's exit. He sees that the the Cubs are not going out to put a team with a chance to win this season. And that has to grind on a competitive athlete from Notre Dame who was drilled to play the game to win. It is not that Samardzija's attitude is a cancer in the clubhouse (since he has performed to expectations). It is the constant annual losing that is the cancer.
