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MLB News: San Francisco Giants Sign Jeff Samardzija

By Mark Suleymanov
Published on: 08:12 PST, Dec 5, 2015

After losing out on Zack Greinke, the San Francisco Giants have signed right-handed starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija to a five-year, $90 million contract.

Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area was first in reporting the signing, with Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports adding the contract’s value and Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reporting that Samardzija gets a limited no-trade clause.

Since Samardzija received a qualifying offer from the Chicago White Sox — and declined it — the Giants will have to forfeit their 19th pick in the draft next year, as mentioned by Joel Sherman of theNew York Post.

Samardzija, 30, is coming off a down season with the White Sox, as he pitched to an 11-13 record with 4.96 ERA through 32 starts. The ERA was the worst of Samardzija’s career over the course of a full season and since he became a starter. Samardzija previously pitched out of the bullpen for the Chicago Cubs from 2008-2011.

He also led the league in hits allowed (228), earned runs allowed (118), and home runs allowed (29) in 2015. Despite the struggles, both Samardzija and the White Sox endured in 2015, the former Notre Dame standout said he was happy with the team and not being traded at the deadline last season.

“We just need to do what we’re capable of doing, and that will take care of most of it. I love this team. We just need to keep playing like we’ve been playing.”

While all of those numbers indicate that Samardzija may not be worth such a sizeable investment, he does bring stability and durability to a Giants rotation hampered by injuries and inconsistencies in recent seasons.

Over the past three seasons, Samardzija has averaged 216 innings as a starter for the Cubs, Oakland Athletics, and White Sox. That’s one major reason why several teams, including the New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, and Cubs, were all interested in Samardzija.

There were rumors of a potential reunion between Samardzija and the Cubs, but that obviously did not come to fruition.

Also, due to Samardzija having spent the early part of his career a reliever, his arm does not have the mileage on it that many would expect. So, as he enters his age-31 season, “Shark” will likely be able to stay healthy as the Giants look to add their fourth World Series in six years.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the Arizona Diamondbacks pulled off a shocker last night, signing pitcher Zack Greinke to a record-setting six-year, $206 million pact. Before that signing, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Giants were considered the frontrunners to sign the former AL Cy Young award winner. Since they lost out on their main target, the Giants will now look elsewhere to fill their rotation –starting with Samardzija.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports is also reporting that the Giants are not done upgrading their rotation. With Matt Cain and Jake Peavy being huge injury concerns and Chris Heston still unproven — ace left-hander Madison Bumgarner is the lone reliable starter in the Giants’ rotation.

Mike Leake was acquired by the Giants at the deadline last year, going 2-5 with a 4.07 ERA in nine starts. Iwakuma is a free agent for the first time in his career, having spent his first four seasons wth the Seattle Mariners.

[Image by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images]

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