White Sox, Jeff Samardzija agree to $9.8 million deal
Jul 18, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija (29) pitches the ball against the Baltimore Orioles during the first inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
The Chicago White Sox continued their offseason by avoiding all arbitration cases on Friday by signing right-handed pitcher Jeff Samardzija and catcher Tyler Flowers to one-year deals.
For Samardzija, the contract is for one year and $9.8 million (per CBS Sports), so this is a start to maybe eventually signing Samardzija to a long-term contract sometime soon.
Jeff Samardzija gets $9.8 million as previously reported and Tyler Flowers receives $2.675m. One year deals, both avoid arb. #WhiteSox
— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) January 16, 2015
White Sox make official one-year deals with Tyler Flowers ($2.675 million) and Jeff Samardzija ($9.8 million).
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) January 16, 2015
They have no arbitration eligible players remaining. Have not gone to arbitration since 2001 with Keith Foulke.
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) January 16, 2015
In an article on whitesox.com, it says of Samardzija:
"“Samardzija, 29, was 7-13 with a 2.99 ERA, two complete games, 202 strikeouts and a .234 opponents’ average over 33 starts and 219 2/3 innings between the Cubs and Oakland last season.”"
The nearly $10 million per year is about the going rate for Samardzija, and hopefully before everything is said and done, the White Sox can lock up the RHP for at least four years.
We’ll wait and see.
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As for Flowers, I hope we see the Flowers of the second half of the season, the one with the sports glasses, because if he can continue his progression in ’15, maybe the White Sox will have something with him as well.
What I like about Flowers is the way he works with a pitching staff, and in ’15, this will be the best pitching staff he’s had the chance to catch in his MLB career.
The ’15 season is building up to be something special, and if all of these deals the White Sox have been working on lately pan out, then this will most definitely be a season all of us will remember for years to come.