SITTING PRETTY FLOYD

We have made the comparison of Jeff Samardzija to Galvin Floyd.

In seven seasons with the White Sox, Gavin Floyd was either underrated or overrated, depending on who you asked. Now, those debates -- and Floyd -- are off to Atlanta, with the soon-to-be 31-year-old signing a one-year deal with the Braves for approximately $4 million plus incentives.

It pays to be a consistent major league pitcher. Floyd was never flashy or a flash-in-the pan. He fits into the #3-#4 arm in a rotation.

The right-hander flashed no-hit potential on a few occasions, and would go months looking unhittable. Those stretches went hand-in-hand with Floyd having good command on his fastball and snapping off his devastating 12-6 curveball to rack up strikeouts.

But on a game-by-game basis, consistency and control eluded Floyd throughout his career with the White Sox. It's why, on a season-by-season basis, Floyd actually was fairly consistent: after posting a 3.84 ERA in 2008, Floyd never had an ERA lower than 4.06 or higher than 4.37 from 2009-2012.

"You can see him throw seven, eight innings of no-hit caliber ball, and then there will be some shorter outings where he gets blown up a little bit," general manager Rick Hahn said before last season. "When you have that kind of stuff, when you have the ability to throw that length of shutout and quality outings, we know that's in there."

Floyd underwent Tommy John surgery in early May of last season, ending any chance of a big season in the final year of his contract with the White Sox. A 14-to-19-month timetable was given for his recovery, though Floyd expects to pitch in the majors by May of 2014, according to ESPN.com.

Floyd's career numbers are similar to Samardzija's.  However, Samardzija has been pitching in the #1 rotation slot by necessity, so some people get confused that he is an "ace" starter. With the rumor that Samardzija was going to sign a $55 million extension with the Cubs (which failed to disclose number of years), begs the question whether Samardzija is worth three times more than Floyd. Apparently not, since the Braves, who had interest in Samardzija, did not facilitate a trade with the Cubs at the Winter Meetings.

LOCAL COMPARISON

In a luke warm hot stove season in Chicago, the talk continues around whether the Cubs will trade Jeff Samardzija or try to sign him to an extension.

Now, many fans and the media believe that the Shark is the best pitcher on the Cubs staff; their "ace." However, Samardzija is not a dominant ace pitcher by any measure of performance. He may be the best starter on the Cubs squad, but that does not make him an "ace."

In fact, many other teams believe Samardzija would be a number 3 or number 4 starter in most rotations. Getting paid #1 money for being a #3.5 pitcher is the sticking point. The Cubs tremendously overpaid for Edwin Jackson, and if Samardzija is looking for a $52 million deal from the Cubs it is doubtful the front office would be that careless, again.

To get out of the vacuum that is a bad Cubs team, there is a local comparison which should shed some light on the Samardzija value situation.

Samardzija is 28 years old. He has been in the majors for 6 seasons. His career stats are: 29-35, 4.19 ERA, 1.335 WHIP, 8.6 K/9IP, 2.29 K/BB ratio and 3.1 career WAR.  As you can tell, Samardzija has struggled along with the Cubs to be even a .500 pitcher.

A quick mental comparison would be to ex-White Sox starter Galvin Floyd. Floyd did not play much last season due to injuries. But people would be surprised by Floyd's 10 year career stats:
70-70, 4.48 ERA, 1.338 WHIP, 7.1/K/9IP, 2.32 K/BB ratio, and 15.3 career WAR.

If one just compares the average seasonal WAR:
Samardzija: 0.517
Floyd: 1.530

Floyd has almost three times better average seasonal WAR than Samardzija.

Almost every breathing, conscious person in the baseball universe would not consider Floyd as an "ace" pitcher. He falls into that #4/#5 starter category where he was used for most of his career. In contrast, Samardzija used to be in that role until the Cubs started trading away better pitchers (Dempster, Garza, Maholm) for prospects. It pushed Samardzija to the top of the rotation by default.

Now, most people realize that it does not matter if you are a #1 starter or a #5 starter - - - pitching is still throwing the ball toward home plate for strikes and outs. Pitchers have an advantage over hitters so their statistics are more accurate, especially over the long term. So instead of comparing Samardzija to other #1 starters on other teams, it is more valuable to look at a real comparable like Floyd.