Come To Think Of It: Counterpoint On the Dubious Samardzija Promotion

My top writer in the Chicago Cubs Community, Tab Bamford, recently wrote a counter to my previous piece on why I thought the move of Samardzija from Iowa to the bullpen didn't make sense.

I'd like to take a few minutes of your time to elaborate on the rationale behind my belief that the promotion of Jeff Samardzija to the bullpen is vexing, at best.

First, as I wrote, my reaction to the move has nothing to do with Luis Vizcaino. Nothing personal, but good riddance to the man. I never liked the trade and would much rather have Jason Marquis as our fifth man in the rotation at this point.

Recognizing that, I will dismiss the talk about Vizcaino, as I suspect that neither one of us, Tab, will likely lose any sleep over his departure. My only caveat is that it costs Jim Hendry $4 million to eat his contract (2009 base + 2010 buy-out), if he is unable to trade him in the next seven days.

But that was the chance he took when he decided to dump Marquis' deal on the Rockies. Plus, it's not my money anyway.

Moving on, let's examine the role of a GM in this debate. The people that have responsibility for the farm system report to Hendry. Therefore, it is one of his primary functions to effectively balance the need to win now, while preserving the future and protecting his top prospects.

That can be a tough task admittedly, especially considering the fact that Cubs fans have been waiting so long for a championship.

As one of those fans who have been waiting forever for that elusive ring, if I thought this move made us markedly better on the major league field, I would certainly be willing to forgo the future for the present.

But that's just the point. While I have said all along that Samardzija is better suited for the bullpen, given that he has only two pitches at this point, his arrival does not address the primary need in the bullpen.

Left-handed relief is a disaster with Neal Cotts as your lone lefty in the pen. Lou has no confidence in him, and he can't throw a strike. Therefore, I maintain the smarter move would be to stick Jeff in the rotation so that Sean Marshall could replace Cotts as our lefty specialist.

Having said all that, I don't even like bringing Samardzija up at all right now. But if they were going to do this, my point was to at least do it to address your main issues. Have a point if you're going to jack a young player around.

Samardzija has had relatively little time as a professional pitcher, at any level. He has been rushed, which is Hendry's choice, but it smacks of desperation and a GM who doesn't stick to a plan.

In fact, one of my chief complaints all along about Hendry has been that he flies by the seat of his pants too often.

I know this may anger Cubs fans who read this, but Kenny Williams has a plan as the GM of the White Sox. He has an organizational philosophy that, right or wrong, dictates what the team does at the minor and major league level.

For example, if patience at the plate is important to you, you don't bring in Dusty Baker as your manager. On-base percentage is the most vital offensive indicator of value, yet Hendry has never preached that to his organization.

The fact that the light bulb suddenly went on last season is a credit to the man. But this is his seventh year as GM of the team. Meanwhile, we've been forced to watch guys like Corey Patterson and Felix Pie come along that struggle because they have no clue about the strike zone.

But I digress. Although, to my point, it is important that your General Manager have a plan, and he sticks to it. That's all I'm saying.

And if the plan was to have Samardzija pitch out of the Major League bullpen, why did they send him down in the first place?

The Baltimore Orioles' fine manager, Earl Weaver, used to preach that it is best to have future starters spend time in the bullpen. This strategy worked well for the O's, and I am a proponent of it.

But he didn't keep alternating from starter to reliever to starter and back to reliever as the Cubs have done now with Samardzija.

That is an arm injury waiting to happen, my friends.

Hey, I hope the move works out, I really do. But I would just like to see Cotts released and Marshall in the bullpen. That way, the promotion of The Shark could be more of a joyous event and not a debate.