The Orioles are in the lead in the “Jeff Samardzija sweepstakes”

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When trade talks or free agent talks start people always act like it’s a race or a contest in which everyone is competing on some open and level field. One team is gaining, one is behind, another is coming up from the outside. Bah, save it for the Belmont Stakes. Real trade and free agent discussions have as much to do with opportunity and timing than anything else. Most big moves come together rather swiftly. It’s less horse racing and more UFC, in which one solid punch can knock the other guys out.

Which leads us to Jeff Samardzija, who is no doubt the biggest name on the trading block this season. Teams always want pitching, even in this pitcher-friendly era, and Samardzija is a surer bet than a lot of guys to put in some good service time as a rent-an-ace. To that end, Bruce Levine of CBSChicago.com reports that the Orioles “appear to be the leading team of interest in the Jeff Samardzija sweepstakes.”

Which makes sense, as the O’s could use big league ready pitching and happen to have a handful of pitching prospects the Cubs might like, such as Dylan Bundy, Kevin Gausman, Hunter Harvey and Eduardo Rodriguez.

So a trade could happen. But when it happens, it won’t feature a mad dash from the quarter pole to the finish. It’ll just happen.

Dodgers place pitcher Noah Syndergaard on injured list with no timetable for return

dodgers syndergaard
Katie Stratman/USA TODAY Sports
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CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”