At age 29, Jeff Samardzija is nearing his peak pitching years.
And he is clearly frustrated with the position he is in with the Cubs. He has put his house on the market; he has not signed a contract extension; he knows he will likely be traded this season.
He spoke to Dan Patrick this week on his off-day.
In the midst of another rebuilding
season, Samardzija acknowledges that his time as Cub could end.
"I don't know, I think it really depends on how this team turns out this season. I think it's looking like it, but I don't want to say anything for sure because I don't want to be traded," he said.
However, the frustration is apparent. "I want to win," Samardzija said. "That's my number one goal. I don't care about anything else but winning."
The Shark has helped his cause in getting traded to a contender. He has a 1.29 ERA and 1.05
WHIP in his first three starts of the season, but has no wins. He knows that his career cannot wait until the Cubs young prospects arrive in 2018 or 2019.With the rash of Tommy John injuries this season, Samardzija value will be high - - - if the Cubs pull the trigger early.
Samardzija is outspoken about the losing ways. This may be a good thing to remind young players that losing is not acceptable at the major league level. But at the same time, executives may classify the attitude as being destructive to long term clubhouse chemistry.
If the Cubs continue their annual strategy of tanking the season for high draft picks, then two Cub starters will be traded by July. Jason Hammel was acquired this off-season for that reason. That leaves Samardzija is the second viable trade chip.
But the Cubs have no one ready to replace either Hammel or Samardzija. You would have to get major league ready AAA pitchers in return to make sense of such trades. Very few teams want to get rid of their quality and controllable pitchers.
We can see Samardzija brew a tempest in a teapot if the season continues on its natural course to a 95 plus loss record. At least the competitive fire still burns within him. And that is a valuable commodity in itself.
