Baseball - Samardzija Decides To Play Baseball

Notre Dame wide receive Jeff Samardzija decided that he wants to play baseball instead of football and signed a $10 million Major League contract for 5 years with the Chicago Cubs. Samardzija was drafted in the fifth round of the 2006 First Year Player Draft.

The contract includes 2 option years and it could pay Samardzija $16.5 million. It also includes a $2.5 million signing bonus which Samardzija would have to return to the Cubs if he decides to pursue any other sport.
Samardzija announced the deal to start off the Cubs Convention and he also mentioned that he took long to decide because he did not want to make a mistake while deciding. Now he knows that baseball is what he wants to play.
Samardzija is a right hander and he will turn 22 on January 23, 2006. He did not join the other senior college players to prepare for the Senior Bowl.
Samardzija has also been projected as a mid first round pick for the upcoming NFL draft. Instead, he decided to play baseball. Tim Wilken, Cubs scouting director is impressed by Samardzija’s coordination on the mound, his arm speed and competitiveness.
When Samardzija was drafted in June 2006, he wanted to play both baseball and football. However, now he said that it was too difficult to try both the games. Samardzija is a few credits short of graduating from Notre Dame but he intends to get his degree.
Last year Samardzija played professional baseball after the draft and he pitched for Class A Boise and Peoria. In 7 starts, he had a combined 2.70 ERA, giving 9 earned runs over 30 innings.