Let's make A Deal

The San Francisco Giants won the baseball off season's version of Let's Make A Deal when they signed Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija for a tidy $220 million. When looking at the pitcher's closer, did the Giants get the trip to the World Series behind Door #1 or the pair of rag armed mules behind Door #2?

Johnny Cueto at least has a winning record in the majors. He won 19 games in 2012, when he also led the National League in strikeouts, and 20 in 2014 with the Cincinnati Reds. He was acquired as the missing piece of the pitching puzzle for the Kansas City Royals down the stretch last season but he only went 4-7 with a 4.76 ERA after he joined Kansas City's rotation. Cueto did pitch a complete game two-hitter over the New York Mets in the World Series and he did get a World Series ring out of his short stint in Kansas City but he has battled arm problems before and has a little bit of a bad attitude so the Giants do not know which version are the Giants going to get. It cost them $130 million over six seasons to find out with an opt out after 2018.

Jeff Samardzija has the distinction of losing 13 games a season for four seasons in a row and only has one winning season in the majors when he went 8-4 as a reliever in 2011 for the Chicago Cubs. He was turned into a full time starter after that season and he only went 11-13 with a 4.96 ERA with the Chicago White Sox last season. Samardzija was able to parlay that into a five year, $90 million with the Giants. Samardzija is probably just as well known for being a Wide Receiver on Notre Dame's football team but he definitely picked the more lucrative career.