Giants land Samardzija for $90M, 5 years

Jon Heyman at CBS Sports reports that Samardzija will have a limited no trade clause in his contract. The move to San Francisco marks the fourth organization in less than two years for the starting pitcher.

He spent part of the 2014 season with the A’s, coming in a trade from the Cubs for shortstop Addison Russell and others.

Samardzija didn’t click with White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper and will probably benefit from a better defense behind him, lineups without the designated hitter, an ideal pitching environment and the pennant-race intensity that comes with a franchise that has won three World Series titles since 2010.

Heading into the offseason, few free agent starting pitchers had been linked to the Yankees as much as Jeff Samardzija. His career record is 47-61, his career ERA 4.09, and he’s coming off a season in which he led the American League in home runs, hits and runs allowed. He was 11-13 with a 4.96 ERA, but he’s just one season removed from posting a 2.99 ERA over 219 2/3 innings for the A’s and Cubs.

As it stands, their rotation consists of Bumgarner, Matt Cain, Jake Peavy and Chris Heston in addition to Samardzija. The Giants could attempt to re-sign Leake, though it would seem they would have to battle the Los Angeles Dodgers for any higher-end starters remaining.

The deal is now pending a physical. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that the Giants could go after a big bat, like Yoenis Cespedes or Justin Upton.