Thursday, March 27, 2008

Did Someone Say Trades??

Here is another edition of "Did Someone Say Trades." This week we will look at Jason Marquis. Jason Marquis has won the 5th spot in the rotation but how long that last only time will tell. Jason has a tendency to talk a lot, which gets him in trouble and should have landed him in the pen rather than Lieber. Everyone knows Marquis starts off strong so he would get traded sooner than later in my opinion.

Lou has a short fuse for pitchers and I think would have no problem switching out Marquis for Lieber, considering Marquis remarks earlier this Spring and how well Lieber has done. But Lou will give him a shot, maybe more or less to raise his trade value.

Now who could he help???

The Angels- The Angels have lost Lackey for until May and lost Escobar for the season. They currently have pitchers that can fill in but they may want some veteran presence in the rotation. I think the Cubs could get a good prospect or two for Marquis.

The Cardinals- The Cards need pitching badly but a deal within the Central is unlikely.

The Rangers- They could be looking for a guy to strengthen there rotation. If Marquis went there he would be a solid #4 starter. The Rangers could offer up some young pitching in return. I would also take Micheal Young! LOL

The Blue Jays- Considering there rotation can't stay healthy, they may want a guy who can pitch 200 innings and win double digit games for them. Marquis could do that. Not sure what the Jays would give up. I would like Davis Romero, a young lefty reliever.

The Royals- A place where pressure will not be an issue. He would be a nice 3 or 4 starter and the Cubs could take some of that young talent off there hands. How bout Murton and Marquis for Grienke??

The Nationals- There rotation is in terrible shape. They are trying the young talented route but they can always use veterans in the rotation. The Cubs would of course have to pay a portion of his contract to get a deal done but I think the Nats would do it. Marquis would be a number 1 or 2 in this rotation. I would trade Marquis for Lopez straight up!

The Marlins- Another team that does not have a 5th starter named yet. Marquis would fit in there but again the Cubs would have to pay about half his contract. I would ask the Marlins for Taylor Tankersley but they probably would decline.

Almost every team need pitching but the teams above I think either match up with the Cubs the best or need pitching in the worst way. Either way I would like to see the Cubs deal Marquis so Lieber can go to the rotation. I still think Lieber could pull out double digit wins with an ERA of 3.50 with half a year in the pen and in the rotation.

4 comments:

Nick I Cub Fan said...

cubsfan82 you know i agree with you 90% of the time. But Lieber an era under 3.50 no way. He's 37 years old now, even when he won 20 games for the Cubs his era was 3.80, his life time era 4.28. Marquis life time era 4.56, Dempster life time era 4.82 and as a starter over 5.00 that's why he became a relief pitcher. Now Zambrano's life time era is 3.41 he could do it. Lilly can't and i think Hill might in another year or 2. We really need starting pitching, its not quantity it's quality. As always just my opinion.

Anonymous said...

Saw the Mariners game last night in LasVegas. Starting pitching is going to be an issue this year. Hendry needs to trade for another solid starter. Hill, Dumpster, Marquis and Lilly are shakey. Or get another big bat cause we will need to score bunches of runs. Like the blog site! Just found it today.

Nick I Cub Fan said...

San Diego placed Prior on 60 day DL. Surprise

cubsfan82 said...

Frank B., welcome to Hot Stove Cubbies! I tend to agree with you about the starting pitching. I think the Cubs will be just fine for the first half of the year but I think they will have to make a deal at the deadline for a top of the line starter like C.C., Penny, etc.. I think last night was a fluke though. Lilly was just working on his velocity, not really the location of the pitch. The ball carries really bad there and the wind was blowing out, not good for a fly ball pitcher. Just my opinion tho.