Right-hander Jeff Samardzija received a one-year, $15.8 million qualifying offer from the White Sox Friday.
Samardzija, who went 11-13 with a 4.96 ERA in his one season as a Sox, is not expected to sign the offer as he seeks a large multiyear deal in free agency. By making the offer, the Sox will receive a compensatory pick at the end of the first round in the 2016 draft if Samardzija doesn’t accept. The 30-year-old right-hander has till next Friday to accept the offer.
No player has accepted a qualifying offer ($15.3 million last year) in three years under the current system.
Samardzija pitched 214 innings, striking out 163 over 32 starts. He was the Sox’ Opening Day starter after Chris Sale was hurt during spring training. The Sox acquired him from Oakland in a six-player trade on December 9, 2014.
Samardzija is 47-61 with a 4.09 ERA in 254 career games (131 starts) over eight major-league seasons with the Cubs (2008-14), A’s (2014) and Sox. The Dodgers, Yankees, Giants and possibly the Cubs are among the teams who may be interested in Samardzija, ranked No. 10 among free agents in this year’s class by FanGraphs. He is the fifth-ranked pitcher behind David Price, Zack Greinke, Johnny Cueto and Jordan Zimmerman.
