Samardzija: 'Double Awesome' To Be Traded To White Sox
(CBS) Newly acquired White Sox pitcher Jeff Samardzija is happy to put the uncertainty of where he would play behind him. The fact that he's going to be pitching for the team he grew up loving and watching is "double awesome," he said.
Samardzija officially became a White Sox on Tuesday in a six-player deal in which right-hander Chris Bassitt and infielder Marcus Semien were sent to Oakland.
"As a player, the hardest part is that uncertainty," Samardzija said Tuesday during an interview on the Boers and Bernstein Show. "You're preparing for the season, you don't know where it's going to be or who it's going to be with. So, it's just double awesome to be traded not only to a team I love and grew up watching, but to a situation where the White Sox are right now and the direction they're going right now."
With the acquisition of Samardzija, the White Sox have the appearance of a "double awesome" top end of their rotation, slotting the right-handed Samardzija behind Cy Young contender Chris Sale.
Since becoming a full-time starter in 2012, the 29-year-old Samardzija has blossomed into a top-of-the-rotation pitcher. With time split between the Cubs and Athletics last season, Samardzija went 7-13 with a 2.99 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP while striking out 202 in 219 2/3 innings. He recorded 23 quality starts.
It's been a whirlwind five-month stretch for Samardzija, who has gone from the North Side of Chicago to the West Coast only to come full circle back to the South Side. The Cubs traded him to the Athletics last July 4.
"To come from the most stable athletic career, of going from my hometown to Notre Dame to Chicago for probably a 12-year stretch, I didn't have to move," Samardzija said. "Now it's kind of come full circle. Now I've seen the other side of things of being a hired gun, which is fun, too. I must say, to be wanted is better than to not be wanted."
Samardzija is slated to become a free agent in November of 2015. But White Sox general manager Rick Hahn is hoping to secure Samardzija's services with a contract extension.
That's not Samardzija's focus at the moment.
"The best thing we can do this year, is to get to know each other personally as an organization and me as a player," Samardzija said. "Let them see how I work and see how I go about throwing my bullpens and how I prepare every fifth day and let me watch and see how they run an organization and just really get to know each other. So if those talks do happen and you're coming from a common ground ... then the talks essentially (have) a head start above the rest."
Clearly, Samardzija learned from the protracted contract discussions with the Cubs that didn't pan out and would prefer to avoid a repeat of that situation so he can focus on his craft.
"Coming off the Cubs situation when it was a year-and-a-half, two-year talk of trade or extension, it wasn't exhausting, it wasn't a distraction, but it was there," Samardzija said. "I think to avoid that, in that case, you let your people that you're paying do that talking and keep it out of the locker room and keep it off my ear."
