Depending who you believe, the Orioles are either a) the leading candidate to land Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija; or b) they haven’t had one conversation about him.
Would Samardzija help the Orioles? Of course!
The question is, who would the Orioles have to give up to acquire the pitcher? The conversation would start with Kevin Gausman and Dylan Bundy and would continue with Eduardo Rodriguez, Mike Wright, Hunter Harvey (can’t be traded until after the MLB draft), Jonathan Schoop, Christian Walker, and Dariel Alvarez.
The O’s would have to give up one of Gausman and Bundy, and I would assume two of the group listed above. Is Samardzija worth this? This is the question many teams have to ask themselves this time of the year. Do they go for it now and mortgage the future, or do they hope the team they have is good enough to win?
Dan Duquette has proven he will make the moves necessary for the team to compete, but this is different. The Orioles would be getting a bona fide starting pitcher that they desperately need. Samardzija will be a free agent after the 2015 season which coincides with their window of opportunity to win. With Nick Markakis, Nelson Cruz and J.J. Hardy becoming free agents after this year and Chris Davis and Matt Wieters after next season, the O’s know they need to do whatever it takes to put this team in the best possible situation to win now.
Many people will point to the past prospects in the farm system who never lived up to the hype as to why the Orioles should make a trade for Samardzija, but I am not sure that is a fair argument. The organization has changed and all players are made differently. I would point to the high percentage of pitchers getting injured as a reason to trade young pitching talent.
There are a couple of deciding factors when it comes to the Orioles attempting to make a trade for Samardzija.
Will he agree to a contract extension?
How much of the “core” will still be around in 2016?
If Duquette feels he can keep the team together for the next 3-5 years (including Samardzija), I would make this trade. I would also make this trade if the Orioles feel they won’t be able to keep the team together for the long run and know they have to win now. If they feel they can keep most of the team together, but not Samardzija, I would pass and hope the young arms pan out.
What do you think? Should a team mortgage the future to try and win now or hope they are able to sustain a high level of play for years to come?
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