After disappointing with the White Sox last season, starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija may find himself back on the the other side of Chicago next season.
Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein is interested in bringing the 30-year-old hurler to the north side, according to MLB.com.
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Samardzija went 11-13 with a 4.96 ERA last season. He allowed five or more earned runs in 11 starts during that time, including five out of six starts in August.
The Cubs have a glaring lack of pitching depth behind NL Cy Young award winner Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester. If Samardzija does make the not-so-daring move across Chicago, he would likely be the Cubs' No. 3 starter next season.
Aside from possibly losing Samardzija, the White Sox have also placed outfielder Avisail Garcia on the trade block, according to CSN Chicago.
Garcia, who came over from Detroit at the end of the 2013 season, hasn't quite lived up to expectations, but did hit 13 home runs with 59 RBIs last season.
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“We can’t lose sight of the fact that he was still playing last year at 24, at a young age,” White sox general manager Rick Hahn said. “That really was his first full season in the majors.
“(Garcia's) ceiling is still extremely high. Certainly everyone, including Avi, would have preferred to show more consistency and flashes of that upside on a more consistent basis. But it doesn’t change the optimism around him for the future.”