The Chicago Cubs front office has expressed the desire to sign starting pitchers in free agency to help bolster their rotation that already features Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester. According to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, the Cubs are interested in bringing back Jeff Samardzija in the North Side of Chicago.

Samardzija played his first six seasons with the Cubs after being drafted in the fifth round in 2006. He made his major league debut in 2008 and has played 208 games in Chicago with 83 starts. He has a career Cubs statistics of 3.97 ERA in 666 innings with a 31-42 record and 639 strikeouts, per Baseball Reference.

The Cubs traded "The Shark" to the Oakland Athletics along with Jason Hammel before the 2014 trade deadline for prospects Addison Russell, Dan Straily, Billy McKinney, and a player to be named later, per ESPN. He went 5-6 with a 3.14 ERA in Oakland and was named an All-Star the same season.

MLB.com noted that the Athletics moved Samardzija to the Chicago White Sox in the offseason for four minor leaguers. He then agreed to a one-year, $9.8 million dollar contract to avoid arbitration. However, he had a down year with the White Sox, registering an 11-13 record with a 4.96 ERA.

Heyman also mentioned on his report that scouts still love the 30-year-old right-hander because of his athleticism and competitive nature. His arm is also intact with a very good amount of innings left. Despite his bad year was mostly a disaster, the Cubs are said to be willing to offer a five-year, $85 million contract to their former player.

It is noted that it is the same contract Samardzija turned down when the Cubs wanted tried to sign him to an extension. The report added that the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees are also interested in the signature of the Indiana-native.

On the contrary, Call to the Pen believes the hard-throwing pitcher is not going back to Wrigley. The Cubs are one of the front-runners to sign David Price because of the Joe Maddon history, making their rotation a trio of aces. They added that it is better off for the Cubs to sign Jordan Zimmerman due to his proven consistency over Samardzija.

SB Nation speculated that the Seattle Mariners is the best fit for him while the Toronto Blue Jays, St. Louis Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, and Minnesota Twins as other suitors. However, they predicted that Samardzija will sign a five-year, $77 million deal with the Miami Marlins.