Shark ignoring rumors, aiming for new heights

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Trade rumors are nothing new for Jeff Samardzija, who has been dealt twice over his 13-year career in the Majors.

His first trade occurred in 2014, when the Cubs sent him to Oakland at the Trade Deadline. His second came only months later, when the A’s flipped him to the White Sox.

With the Giants not expected to contend this season, Samardzija could find himself on the trade block yet again in 2020. The 35-year-old right-hander is entering the final season of the five-year, $90 million deal he signed with the Giants in December 2015, and is coming off an impressive bounce-back season in which he recorded a 3.52 ERA over 181 1/3 innings.

He’s already being connected to the Yankees, who announced Tuesday that ace right-hander Luis Severino will undergo Tommy John surgery later this week. Samardzija doesn’t exactly have visions of himself in pinstripes, though, especially considering the Yankees’ notoriously strict grooming policy, which prohibits players from having beards or long hair.

“Maybe they change the rule,” Samardzija quipped after tossing two scoreless innings in the Giants’ 3-3 tie against the Brewers on Wednesday at Scottsdale Stadium. “Give me [Derek Jeter’s] No. 2 and not let me have to cut my hair.”

All joking aside, Samardzija said he isn’t paying too much attention to the rumor mill and hopes the Giants will be in a position to buy at this year’s Trade Deadline, not sell.

“I have a lot of respect for this organization and what they’ve done for me,” Samardzija said. “I will give them everything I can as long as I’m here in their jersey. You can’t control things that are out of your control. All I can do is be the best player I can be going forward. My goal is to be playing strong and winning a lot of games, so we’re kind of talking the opposite. We’re adding talent and putting pressure on the front office to add the guys that we need to add. That’s where you want to be, and I think if you take that mentality, then everything kind of falls in line after that.”

Samardzija picked up where he left off last year in his Cactus League debut, retiring Eric Sogard, Keston Hiura and Brock Holt in order in the first inning before working his way out of a jam in the second. After allowing a leadoff single to Justin Smoak and a walk to Logan Morrison, Samardzija induced a 5-4-3 double play from Keon Broxton and coaxed a popout from Ronny Rodríguez to end the inning.

“The location was great, and we’ll get stronger as the spring goes on,” said Samardzija, whose fastball topped out at 89 mph. “Definitely no complaints with where we’re at.”

The Giants were cautious with Samardzija at the beginning of last season as he worked his way back from a right shoulder injury that wrecked his 2018 campaign, but he is eager to re-establish himself as the workhorse he was earlier in his career. He is setting his sights on the 200-inning mark this season, a figure he last reached in ‘17.

Samardzija has reached the threshold five times in his career, but the 200-inning starter has become an increasingly rare breed as teams look to minimize the third-time-through-the-order penalties by embracing concepts like openers. Despite those trends, Samardzija feels he is ready to take on more work and plans to pitch as deep into the game as possible whenever he takes the mound.

“Obviously, all you can do is get your point across on where you feel you are and who you are,” Samardzija said. “As we’ve seen in the game nowadays, numbers a lot of times trump other things. But I understand where they’re coming from when it comes to protecting assets and things like that. All I can do is be vocal and understand that I want more work and I’m not shying away from it. What they decide after that is up to them, but all you can do is be available and be ready to go.”