MLB Trade Rumors: Chicago Cubs Offered Jeff Samardzija $55M Contract Which He Rejected
By Josh Hill
Next week’s winter meetings for the MLB should be filled with plenty of trade talk and one guy that is on a lot of radars is Chicago Cubs ace Jeff Samardzija. While the Cubs have made it no secret that they are willing to trade the only pitcher on their roster worth anything, they are also actively trying to keep him in town at a price they are comfortable with.
According to Cubs beat writer Bruce Levine, the Cubs apparently offered Samardzija a contract that would have paid him $55 million over five years, but that is obviously a contract that Samardzija pushed back to the Cubs’ side of the table. The numbers aren’t totally official, as Levine points out they didn’t come directly from Theo Epstein, but they numbers make sense.
Let me be clear ,Theo never mentioned any contract figure . Another source has indicted the Cub offer is higher than 5 yrs $55. Mil.
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) December 6, 2013
The person the numbers didn’t make sense to was Samardzija who is still trying to work with the Cubs on an extension. The matter isn’t completely pressing as Samardzija is under club control through 2015 but his arbitration will pay him about $4.9 million in 2014 with that figure possibly ballooning to the neighborhood of $10 million of he turns in a solid season.
Chicago would love to keep Samardzija at a reasonable price but they won’t just give him away if a contract can’t be hammered out in the meantime. Teams this weekend will be thinking long and hard about what to offer Chicago for Samardzija and the Cubs will likely only sell to the highest of high bidders.