Jeff Samardzija seems open to talking long-term contract after the season

The Cubs have locked up two of their core talents in Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo already. There have been rumors about the Cubs interest in locking up Jeff Samardzija, but it hasn't happened.

Samardzija isn't thinking about it, but he certainly seems open to the idea.

"I haven't thought about that too much, to tell you the truth," Samardzija said Monday. "I haven't had too many talks with my agent outside of bill paying and insurance paying and taxes, which are always the most fun conversations. We'll see what happens in the offseason.

"There's still a long time to play here, and I'm not nearly as close to where I want to be," he said. "I'm going to work hard in the last 12, 13, 14 starts, and we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, we need to grow as a team and gel as quickly as possible and try to win as many games as we can." — cubs.com

I'm not sure the Cubs would be willing to go as long in years with Samardzija as they did the other two. We really haven't heard a great deal about it. Samardzija is older and I doubt the Cubs really want to control him through age 35.

I'm sure they would still like to sign him to a long-term extension, but probably 5 years at most.