<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; The Chicago Cubs avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal with Jeff Samardzija. (Mike McGinnis/Getty Images)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Chicago Cubs and right-hander Jeff\u00A0Samardzija avoided arbitration by signing a one-year deal for $5.3 million, according to\u00A0Carrie Muskat of MLB.com.\u00A0&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Samardzija requested $6.2 million, and the Cubs offered $4.4 million, making his deal slightly above the midpoint between the two. There was an arbitration hearing set for Monday for\u00A0Samardzija and the Cubs before the settlement was reached.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It would have been an unusual move for the Cubs, as the club's president of baseball operations Theo Epstein has never gone to arbitration with a player during his tenure with the Cubs. From Muskat's report:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"I'm a big fan of Jeff Samardzija,\" Epstein said last month. \"I think he has a great future. I think his best days are ahead of him. He's under club control for the next two years, and hopefully we get a chance to extend that window. There's been public speculation about a contract extension at times, a trade at times. I can't tell you what's going to happen, but I can tell you I'm really happy he's a Cub, and [I] look forward to him getting the ball on\u00A0Opening\u00A0Day.\"The 29-year-old had 33 starts last season for the Cubs in a slightly disappointing season, racking up a\u00A0214/78 K/BB ratio, 4.34 ERA and 1.35 WHIP.&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/si-wire/2014/02/08/cubs-jeff-samardzija-agree-to-one-year-5-3-million-contract>