This is What Giants Starter Jeff Samardzija is Worth on the Trade Market
The San Francisco Giants have not had much success since winning the World Series in 2014 for the third time in five years. The team has failed to win more than 77 games the past three seasons and that means a rebuild is in order.
One clear trade candidate on the current roster is veteran pitcher Jeff Samardzija. He is set to earn nearly $20 million in 2020, the final year of his contract. A rebuilding team has no need for a 35-year-old pitcher making so much money, but potential contenders should be calling about a trade in due time. With that in mind, a team like the New York Yankees that does not have a tight budget could easily take on Samardzija's salary for one year.
Jeff Samardzija laughed off the idea of a trade to the Yankees, but he could make plenty of sense for New York (via @DaltonJ_Johnson)https://t.co/Ulhwi4e1xc pic.twitter.com/V9LZxyFREz
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) February 26, 2020
One recent trade to keep in mind for reference is the one that sent Corey Kluber to the Texas Rangers. The two-time Cy Young Award winner has a career WAR more than double what Samardzija has and in fewer seasons, yet he was traded for career 5.3 WAR outfielder Delino DeShields and hard-throwing prospect Emmanuel Clase. The young pitcher is only ranked No. 15 overall in the Indians system.
Corey Kluber trade return certainly feels light. But Madison Bumgarner getting a comparable AAV ($17M ... with some of that actually deferred) sheds a little more light on industry price tag of starters with large career workloads and some questions about quality of future stuff.
— Anthony Castrovince (@castrovince) December 15, 2019
The asking price for Samardzija is hampered by that Indians-Rangers trade, and the Giants are essentially asking a team to take on around $20 million for a pitcher whose durability can be a concern at the age of 35. The likely return for the Giants veteran would be a prospect ranked anywhere from 15-20 in a team's system. That would even be considered generous for a move that is just a salary dump.