Farm System

[Clapp]

 

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I wish Christian Villanueva were going off so that the Cubs could include him in a deal with Shark or Hammel, and open up 3B for Bryant. 

 

Clapp, maybe you can lend some insight.  Have the Cubs given up all hope of re-signing Shark at this point?

 

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I'm still not sure (and I know no more than anyone else does). A few weeks ago I would've said yes, but now I get this feeling that they may try hard to make it work. I mean he looks like a legitimate No. 2 at least (obviously even more than that so far this year), and he's exactly what the organization is lacking. Yes he is 29. Yes he will be 30 when next year starts. Yes he will be even older than that when the team is realistically competitive. But he doesn't have the usual mileage on his arm for a starting pitcher at that age, he was an NFL talent at wide receiver and keeps his body in tremendous shape, and we're seeing him just get better before our eyes. He has a lot of things going for him to make you think he can be damn good for a while and make it a worthwhile investment.

 

So, I think with each start it's at least creeping into their minds... "How can we let this guy get away?" "If we do let him get away, then we're searching hard to find the exact same thing for a while and who knows if we even do?" "We have Rizzo, Castro, Baez, Bryant, and company here relatively cheap for a long time, and we're lacking front-line pitching, so why don't we go all-in to get this deal done?" "We were going to spend on Tanaka, who has thrown more pitches in professional baseball than Samardzija has... what's the huge difference if we think Samardzija is going to be a high-level pitcher for five more years?"

 

But... maybe Samardzija doesn't want to put up with this anymore. He's been very clear about wanting to play for a winner and admiring how other organizations go about things. That's not to say he doesn't think our F.O. is great and he fully recognizes the young talent on the way, but he's ready to win now and as he's said, he's in his prime. So the Cubs will have to convince him this team will be a winner relatively soon, and/or they may have to overpay him. It's possible he's already made up his mind that he wants to go somewhere else more than they've made up their mind that they aren't keeping him.