View Full Version : Yow! Smardzija's done with football!!
plummershelper
01-19-2007, 03:42 PM
NCAA | Samardzija to pursue MLB career, skip NFL Draft
Fri, 19 Jan 2007 11:18:34 -0800
Ken Rosenthal, of FOXSports.com, reports former Norte Dame WR Jeff Samardzija (Notre Dame) has decided to pursue a career in Major League Baseball with the Chicago Cubs and quit football. Samardzija, who was projected as a first-round NFL draft choice this year, will not enter the upcoming 2007 NFL Draft.
Bad choice career wise in my opinion. He's not an elite pitching prospect. He's got a ton of potential, but he's going to need some serious coaching. The Cubs have a good minor league pitching staff so he'll have a chance, but this strikes me as Drew Henson Part II and he'll be trying to get going in the NFL a few years down the road when its too late.
Jens1893
01-19-2007, 05:01 PM
Well, just about every expert can tear his mock draft up now ...
Master___Pain
01-19-2007, 05:19 PM
Bad choice career wise in my opinion. He's not an elite pitching prospect. He's got a ton of potential, but he's going to need some serious coaching. The Cubs have a good minor league pitching staff so he'll have a chance, but this strikes me as Drew Henson Part II and he'll be trying to get going in the NFL a few years down the road when its too late.
Guaranteed money vs. Non-guaranteed money....hmmm..... Tough choice.
I do agree that there is a very good chance of seeing him try and cut his teeth in the NFL in a few years. He gained 6 million and change (guaranteed) by giving up football. To me that's a very wise decision.
Guaranteed money vs. Non-guaranteed money....hmmm..... Tough choice.
I do agree that there is a very good chance of seeing him try and cut his teeth in the NFL in a few years. He gained 6 million and change (guaranteed) by giving up football. To me that's a very wise decision.
If he'd given a similar commitment to the NFL he'd have been a first round pick and his guaranteed bonus money plus first year salary would likely have matched the guaranteed money he got from the cubs.
I think its probably more a case of spending all summer playing baseball, then all fall playing football, and realizing which he'd prefer. From a health standpoint baseball is obviously the better choice, and if he makes it he'll make more than he ever would have as a football player, but his career will need to stretch at least 6 years at the major league level to see the extra payoff.
SoCalBronco
01-19-2007, 10:03 PM
He'll get out of baseball pretty soon......he's a White Sox fan who got picked by the Cubs. :)
Dammit...I wish he would have stayed in the draft.
Broncoman13
01-20-2007, 06:09 PM
Correct me if I'm wrong, but teams can still draft him if I'm not mistaken. He can say that he's not playing in the NFL and that he's out of the draft, but I'm pretty sure a team can still use a pick on him and secure his services should he have a change of mind. IMO, it wouldn't be all bad to draft him late in the 2nd day of the draft. Imagine a top 30 talent in the 7th round. Probably would never pay dividends, but most 7th rounders don't anyhow.
Dempsey Dog
01-21-2007, 10:29 AM
Correct me if I'm wrong, but teams can still draft him if I'm not mistaken. He can say that he's not playing in the NFL and that he's out of the draft, but I'm pretty sure a team can still use a pick on him and secure his services should he have a change of mind. IMO, it wouldn't be all bad to draft him late in the 2nd day of the draft. Imagine a top 30 talent in the 7th round. Probably would never pay dividends, but most 7th rounders don't anyhow.
I was thinking the same thing. It is like when the USFL was around. Even though guys like Jim Kelly played in the NFL, the Bills kept his rights since they drafted him. It paid dividends for them. Another example is Rocket Ismail in the 1991 draft. He was selected 100th overall by the Raiders, who kept his rights when he came back from playing in Canada.
It would not be a bad move if we end up stocking up a lot of picks.
Ray Finkle
01-21-2007, 05:37 PM
Bad choice career wise in my opinion. He's not an elite pitching prospect. He's got a ton of potential, but he's going to need some serious coaching. The Cubs have a good minor league pitching staff so he'll have a chance, but this strikes me as Drew Henson Part II and he'll be trying to get going in the NFL a few years down the road when its too late.
He is a top pitching prospect. He would have been a high first round pick if he didn't play football.....and Socal, he grew up a Cubs fan....
He is a top pitching prospect. He would have been a high first round pick if he didn't play football.....and Socal, he grew up a Cubs fan....
I'm a huge baseball fan and follow the MLB draft as closely as I follow the NFL one. He isn't that great of a prospect. He's where 2nd and 3rd round high school arms are at, power fastball with mediocre peripheral pitches, and most current reports are grossly misrepresenting his fastball as high 90's, its not, its low to mid 90's. He'll see the majors with his new MLB level contract, but I wouldn't be surprised if its as a reliever. Now the Cubs have some great minor league pitching coaches so they might just get one of his secondary pitches up to MLB level, which would help him tremendously, but at this point he's a total project. He wasn't drafted out of high school or any of the past years, even when his collegiate football career was flopping under Willingham's coaching. The only thing that has changed is the level of his public profile.
Ray Finkle
01-21-2007, 07:42 PM
I'm a huge baseball fan and follow the MLB draft as closely as I follow the NFL one. He isn't that great of a prospect. He's where 2nd and 3rd round high school arms are at, power fastball with mediocre peripheral pitches, and most current reports are grossly misrepresenting his fastball as high 90's, its not, its low to mid 90's. He'll see the majors with his new MLB level contract, but I wouldn't be surprised if its as a reliever. Now the Cubs have some great minor league pitching coaches so they might just get one of his secondary pitches up to MLB level, which would help him tremendously, but at this point he's a total project. He wasn't drafted out of high school or any of the past years, even when his collegiate football career was flopping under Willingham's coaching. The only thing that has changed is the level of his public profile.
You are right on some accounts but his best pitch is his off speed pitch. He does throw mid 90's but it's flat and there is where he may end up as a closer. I have read/seen comparrisons from Brandon Looper to Freddie Garica. The MLB draft is more of a crap shoot then the NFL or NHL....
You are right on some accounts but his best pitch is his off speed pitch. He does throw mid 90's but it's flat and there is where he may end up as a closer. I have read/seen comparrisons from Brandon Looper to Freddie Garica. The MLB draft is more of a crap shoot then the NFL or NHL....
It is, but doesn't need to be. Most teams just still refuse to use modern science in handling their young players, especially pitchers, so a lot of the guys are burnt out too early or they overpick guys based entirely on a scout's estimated potential straight out of high school.
Case in point, the Cubs rushed Samardzija out to A ball as soon as he'd signed, only a few months after his NCAA season. With Jeff already being 21 is a few games of A ball really worth the extra arm strain? I don't see it, not when the vast majority of career ending arm injuries for pitchers develop as a result of too much wear before they're 25. Most sports medicine experts have concluded that if a pitcher makes it to 25 healthy it'll more than likely take a freak injury to wreck him, but that even minor injuries can derail a career pre-25. The Cubs broke Prior and Wood that way, seems they're about to try the same with Samardzija. Why not just monitor his pitch counts closely for the next three years, thats all, let him stop developing, and then set him loose?
The best farm systems aren't afraid to spend money on fitness/medical employees and facilities as well as players and trainers. The Red Sox are a great example of this, when the new management took over they were arguably the worst farm in all of baseball, now just a half decade later they're an upper echelon farm program with impressive pitching depth. Why? Because every arm they pick up is examined by noted arm expert Dr. James Andrews (lives in Georgia, they fly them down) where he and Sox staff break down not just the health of the prospect's arm but also if his mechanics will make him more prone to problems. Since this very dedicated approach became the norm only Papelbon has had a major arm issue, which has already been diagnosed (genetically inherited loose joints) and resolved (moving to starter where more consistent usage will allow for better between appearance preparation).
If the Cubs were this dedicated to their arms I'd have a much better outlook on Samardzija, but they don't. He'll be in AA by the end of this summer and they'll look to get him to the 25 man ASAP where they'll promptly overwork him. I wouldn't be surprised to see 200 IPs before he's 25, thats just asking for problems.
Kaylore
01-22-2007, 05:59 AM
I guess I was the only person here who saw this coming.
I guess I was the only person here who saw this coming.
I did some when after he was drafted he played baseball all sumer and failed to get back into football shape before the season started. Kinda obvious where his priorities were then, but I figured he would have kept both doors open and tried being a dual sport athlete. I guess with the length of football's training camps and preseason nowadays it wasn't really viable.
Kaylore
01-22-2007, 04:56 PM
I did some when after he was drafted he played baseball all sumer and failed to get back into football shape before the season started. Kinda obvious where his priorities were then, but I figured he would have kept both doors open and tried being a dual sport athlete. I guess with the length of football's training camps and preseason nowadays it wasn't really viable.
That's the thing. He can earn more and play longer with lower risk of injury playing baseball. That he could play wide receiver is just a feather in his cap that speaks to his athleticism.
youcandoit1687
01-23-2007, 12:18 AM
Good, I was tired of seeing us picking him in mock drafts. I think he was a product of Weiss and Quinn. He is way too skinny to make it in the NFL, we're talking Ashley Lelie without speed, y'all remember that guy? The one that was called a lilly and other creative names around here. Samardzjia is even lankier. That may work in college but in the NFL, he would have been toast. He would have had to add bulk and keep/add speed, I'd go with baseball too.
Good, I was tired of seeing us picking him in mock drafts. I think he was a product of Weiss and Quinn. He is way too skinny to make it in the NFL, we're talking Ashley Lelie without speed, y'all remember that guy? The one that was called a lilly and other creative names around here. Samardzjia is even lankier. That may work in college but in the NFL, he would have been toast. He would have had to add bulk and keep/add speed, I'd go with baseball too.
Dude, Samarzija weighs about 215-220. Lelie wasn't even over 200 when he came out of school. Samarzija is taller than Calvin Johnson and the only WRs in this draft who could out muscle him is Johnson, Bowe (doesn't have nearly the height) and Trannon (major project). Not bad when you're comparable to the best guy in the draft.
I also don't get the whole "product of Weiss and Quinn". If anything Quinn is a product of Weiss and Samardzija because you can't teach a guy how to consistently catch diving passes, win jump balls, and fight for position like Samardzija did in college. Thats talent shining through. He on the same talent level as Dwayne Jarrett but with a little more physical development. I wouldn't want to see the Broncos take him but thats because he has the same game as our awesome 4th round steal Brandon Marshall. If we're taking a WR I'd want a slot WR who can be a gamebreaker.