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.
