The Major League Baseball hot stove is finally off to a start now that players can officially become free agents and with the winter meetings coming up later in the season, trade rumors and reports have already started to come up, including with the Chicago Cubs and young pitcher Jeff Samardzija in a potential deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The two teams previously had spoken about a deal earlier this summer and now it appears that talks will continue this winter, as ESPN.com and Buster Olney are reporting that discussions could be going down with the Diamondbacks. According to Buster, the Cubs want to decide now as Samardzija is 28-years-old, whether he is a part of the future for the team and if he isn't the team is likely to trade him since he should be a pretty good chip to move. Samardzija is young with a ton of potential after making the successful move from the bullpen to the starting rotation and he could net some solid prospects since his contract is friendly and under team control for a couple years.
The Diamondbacks took a bit of a step back this season and they would like to retool their pitching, as the team has middle ranked farm system according to SB Nation and that could be one reason for the deal. The Cubs are clearly in rebuilding mode hardcore and the team now has a decision to make, as they could sign Samardzija to an extension down the line or they could take their chances and keep him to possibly trade him next season or later on. The Diamondbacks clearly like Samardzija if they are interested in him two different times and with his age and potential, the Cubs could get something decent for him, which would be a prerogative for Theo Epstein.
Samardzija has put up solid numbers since becoming a starter and he was one of a handful of pitchers last season to hit 200 innings and 200 strikeouts and numbers like that could be very lucrative for a team like the Diamondbacks. Last season Samardzija put up an Era over four and lost 13 games and he went for 213 innings and clearly he is a durable pitcher. Last season he won eight games after winning nine the previous season in less starts and the move could end up paying off for both sides, although the Cubs may be happy to get rid of him, as he put up a half run worse ERA this season than last and had five less starts and won one less game.
The Cubbies have an extremely young roster and the rotation should reflect that as well even without Samardzija, as they have Travis Wood and some other names that could come up as well. The Cubs finished last in the division again, but a Samardzija deal could be the start of a turnaround.
