First, the info:
Blue Jays pro scouting director Perry Minasian is at Wrigley Field tonight. On the mound for the Cubs: Jeff Samardzija.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) June 23, 2014
Now, the discussion.
It’s always important to note with these “Scout X is at Game Y to see Player Z” reports that scouts go to games and watch players. That’s just what they do, and they do it all the time. You can’t always divine meaning from a scout’s attendance. Further, even if a scout is there to scout that particular player, and that particular player is involved in trade rumors, you can’t always assume that it means legit trade discussions are happening or will happen.
That said, the Blue Jays have long been attached to Samardzija in trade rumors, and this is their pro scouting director in attendance, as opposed to a lower-level scout merely doing his routine coverage.
I think it’s safe to conclude that the Blue Jays are continuing to watch Samardzija closely (in the early going, he gave up a bleeder double to Billy Hamilton, a triple to Scott Frazier, and hit Devin Mesoraco – though he did limit the damage in that first inning to just one run). It’s likewise fair to say this is probably an indication that the Blue Jays remain at least somewhat interested in Samardzija.
These are things that we thought we already knew, so there may not be a ton of new information here. Still, adds a data point.