Cubs Rumors: Samardzija, Soriano, Burnett

The Cubs figure to be rather active this summer with plenty of arms that can be used as trade chips.   Ace Jeff Samardzija is obviously the biggest name in the group, but there’s also Jason Hammel, Nate Schierholtz, and Jose Veras.  Here’s more on Samardzija and other items out of Wrigley..

• After netting what was generally considered to be the best package of the trade season in the Matt Garza trade last season, the bar figures to be very high for Samardzija, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required).  At the time Garza was traded, he was about ten weeks from qualifying for free agency. Samardzija, on the other hand, won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2015 season.  Samardzija also doesn’t have the injury history that Garza had.
• Yankees veteran Alfonso Soriano understands Samardzija’s desire to win now, writes Jason Rubinstein of the New York Daily News.  Soriano, of course, left the Cubs last season via a July 26 trade after Chicago went into full rebuilding mode.
• Free agent right hander Alex Burnett, who last pitched in the majors for the Cubs,  will throw for teams today in hopes of landing a deal, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.  Over 177 major league appearances, mostly with the Twins, Burnett owns a 4.70 ERA with 5.6 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9.