Cubs sign Jason Marquis to 3 yr, $20M contract
is such that even starters who struggled mightily in the most recent season have enough demand that my concept was just not tenable. On the whole, this deal could work out well for the Cubs. Marquis is a pitcher capable of putting up good numbers and keeping the team in the game for a large number of innings. However, I am not certain that he’s much of a better gamble than letting the kids fight for that spot with the DL crew.
What is certain is that the pitching staff for the Cubs is now very deep, though much of the quality can be challenged, especially in the rotation. Here is how I see things stacking up right now:
|
Pitcher
|
Projected Role
|
Contract
Status
|
DL Risk?
|
Options?
|
|
Zambrano
|
Starter - Ace
|
Arby eligible
|
Fairly Low
|
|
|
Lilly
|
Starter
|
4 years
|
Medium
|
|
|
Hill
|
Starter
|
Renewable
|
Low
|
Yes
|
|
Marquis
|
Starter
|
3 years
|
Minimal
|
|
|
Miller
|
Starter - Swing
|
1 year
|
High
|
|
|
Prior
|
Starter
|
Arby eligible
|
High
|
|
|
Guzman
|
Starter
|
Renewable
|
Medium
|
Yes
|
|
Marmol
|
Starter
|
Renewable
|
Medium
|
Yes
|
|
Marshall
|
Starter
|
Renewable
|
High
|
Yes
|
|
Mateo
|
Starter
|
Renewable
|
Medium
|
Yes
|
|
Gallagher
|
Starter
|
Minor League
|
Low
|
Yes
|
|
Ryu
|
Swing
|
Renewable
|
Medium
|
Yes
|
|
Cotts
|
Swing
|
Arby eligible
|
Low
|
|
|
Dempster
|
Relief
|
2 more years
|
Low
|
|
|
Wood
|
Relief
|
1 year
|
High
|
|
|
Eyre
|
Relief
|
2 more years
|
Low
|
|
|
Howry
|
Relief
|
2 more years
|
Low
|
|
|
Ohman
|
Relief
|
Arby eligible
|
Low
|
|
|
Wuertz
|
Relief
|
Arby eligible
|
Medium
|
|
|
Novoa
|
Relief
|
Renewable
|
Low
|
???
|
|
Rusch
|
Swing
|
1 more year
|
High
|
Key:
Green – Guaranteed major league contract / out of options / secured spot on team
Red – Either likely to start season on DL or very big risk of spending majority of season on DL
Blue – Likely to be in minors to start the season
At this point, here is my best guess at the pitching staff to start the year:
- Starters – Zambrano, Lilly, Hill, Marquis, Miller
- Relievers – Dempster, Wood, Howry, Eyre, Wuertz, Ohman, Cotts
- DL – Prior, Rusch
- Iowa – Guzman, Marmol, Marshall, Mateo, Ryu
- Odd man out - Novoa
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