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After what felt like a never ending stream of injuries for the Giants, the ball club is finally starting to turn around and see key players return from their trips to the disabled list.
With Jeff Samardzija currently completing a rehab assignment in Arizona, questions begin to loom about what pitchers will be moved where upon his return to the team.
With young pitchers Andrew Suarez and Dereck Rodriguez showing their value during their opportunities filling in with the club, Andrew Baggarly joined the Murph & Mac Podcast this morning to weigh in on what we could see the Giants do with Jeff Samardzija.
“You gotta take a look at Samardzija, cause maybe he is the guy they trade to free up some money.” Baggarly said. “I mean they eat future money, and they get a team to eat a lot of current money. Like the Angels, a team he can be traded to without his permission, and that could really open things up for the front office to try and improve this roster in other areas.”
The payroll limit before tax for a team in the MLB this season is about $197 million. The Giants payroll, on the other hand, is roughly $10 million greater then that.
If the Giants were to move Samardzija, however, this could possibly free up $18 million in money owed to him this year.
“You look at what the Dodgers and Braves did in the Matt Kemp trade,” Baggarly continues. “Nobody thought Matt Kemp would be doing what he is doing this year, but by the same token that was about trading future money for present salary and so the Dodgers could get under the CBT (Collective Balance Tax). Maybe this could sort of be a version of that. You have a team paying down Samardzija’s contract this year and then you have the Giants paying a lot of his contract in subsequent years.”
A move like this could help the organization in a number of ways. For starters, it would clear up some of the starting pitcher debate they currently have.
However, even more so this could allow for the Giants to either add another player at the deadline and give them more flexibility in the upcoming off-season. With guys like Bryce Harper and Manny Machado hitting the free agent market this off-season, it’s not a bad time for the organization to start saving salary space for an All-Star caliber player.
Listen below for the full interview. To hear Baggarly on Samardzija, start at 7:30.