Fans Want Samardzija But Hate on Eovaldi?

When the calendar turned over to July the heat got turned up on every hot stove around Major League Baseball and especially around the New York Yankees. The Bronx Bombers are in a dog-fight with the Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles for supremacy in an overall weak American League East Division that as it stands right now is wide open for the taking if anyone wants it. A lot can change between now and August first though as the non-waiver trading deadline will come and go on July 31^st where the contenders and the pretenders distance themselves just a little bit more. A plethora of starting pitching names have been linked to the Yankees including Mike Leake, Johnny Cueto and Cole Hamels but one player that the team has shown interest in is making me scratch my head, Jeff Samardzija.

This more or less makes me wonder because of the fan’s interpretation of Nathan Eovaldi, more on that later on the blog by the way, and the general opinion of the big right hander. Eovaldi had made three straight quality starts for the Yankees and is now tied with Michael Pineda for the team’s lead in victories by a pitcher with eight despite allowing the second most hits in the American League. The only man who has allowed more hits this season than Mr. Eovaldi is Jeff Samardzija who has allowed 123 hits in his first 16 starts this season with the Chicago White Sox. This has easily been one of the worst statistical seasons “Shark” has had in his short MLB career and it couldn’t have come at a worse time.

The upside for the Yankees if they do make a trade for Samardzija is that if he doesn’t work out and continues on this trend he is a free agent after the 2015 season and can be allowed to walk. If he pitches well and turns things around like Brandon McCarthy did in 2014 with the Yankees after a trade from the Arizona Diamondbacks the team could always bring back Samardzija in free agency for 2016 or sign him to a contract extension before the season ends. That’s not the issue here, Samardzija has a great arm and has the velocity, the stuff and the makeup that absolutely cannot be taught and I could see him easily turning things around in pinstripes, the issue is that the Yankees fans in general are all for it.

My point here is this, if it’s good for one then it’s good for the other. Samardzija has a live arm, so does Eovaldi. Samardzija throws hard and while he’s not really an ace yet or a finished product he can give the team innings and keep them in most starts he makes, but so can Eovaldi and especially lately. Samardzija gives up a lot of hits and doesn’t leave the opposing hitters guessing much and you guessed it, neither does Eovaldi. I’m not trying to compare the two but it’s a little unfair to salivate at the idea of trading for the guy that leads the league in hits while constantly bashing the guy who is currently in second place in hits allowed in the league.