Whether it’s about a potential long-term contract extension or a possible trade if a contract can’t be worked out, the offseason in Chicago has been filled with Jeff Samardzija talk.
However, team president Theo Epstein said yesterday that he’s done talking to the media about what the Cubs plan to do with their Opening Day starter, telling Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune:
Samardzija then went out and threw seven scoreless innings. He’s also not a free agent until after the 2015 season, so there’s no huge rush for the Cubs to sign him or trade him, but Gonzales and plenty of other Chicago media members seem convinced he’ll be dealt at some point this season.
I’ll be interesting to see if “I’m not talking about Samardzija” will keep the local reporters at bay until July 31.
Announcement: HardballTalk’s partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $70,000 Fantasy Baseball league for Tuesday’s MLB games. It’s $25 to join and first prize is $9,000. Starts at 6:40pm ET on Tuesday.Here’s the FanDuel link .