Cubs Rumors: Marquis, Furcal, Peavy

Marquis won't get traded. Nobody wants him.

I could see Sean Marshall moved to bring in that bat, or pieces to bring in that bat. The Cubs really don't have the prospects beyond Vitters and Samardijija.

I could see something involving a 3rd team and Peavy with the Braves, but I just don't see it with the Cubs. They don't have the big pieces to trade off to other teams to exchange for prospects. Derrick Lee won't net nearly enough.

1 year at 4-5 mil (Cubs eat half of his contract) is a very attractive option for teams looking to fill out their rotation. Marquis is definitely trade-able in this market. The $'s are misleading due to his contract being backloaded. Compare Marquis with other "inning eaters" like Jeff Suppan and Carlos Silva.

Kenny Rogers and Paul Byrd were signed to one year deals last offseason for 8 and 7.5 mil respectively to essentially be a Jason Marquis type.

Jon Garland will likely get a multi-year deal to be Jason Marquis.

Derosa is an adequate RF. Actually, he's Roberto Clemente compared to the carousel of DH free agent outfielders on the market. Certainly better defensively than Abreu, Dunn, Ibanez, Burrell and possibly Bradley.

"The Cubs were 2nd in the league in scoring runs and Soriano batting leadoff wasn't the reason they got embarassed in the playoffs."

I agree with you for the most part, but Soriano flailing at breaking balls low and away over and over had a lot to do with it the last two years...and batting leadoff gets him more at bats than anyone.

So, while its not the only reason, it certainly added to it. If he hit even like he did in the regular season, I would be fine with it. But teams bear down on him and give him little to nothing to hit in the playoffs, and just throw breaking stuff out of the zone. Soriano swings anyway...its ugly. Something has to change with him...just MHO.

"Jon Garland will likely get a multi-year deal to be Jason Marquis."

I was thinking this exact thing. Garland is basically the same quality pitcher than Marquis is, and I promise you that someone will sign him for like 3/30 and think it's a good deal, when they could've traded for Marquis and his 1/5 (Assuming the Cubs eat money) contract without giving up more than a fringe solid prospect.

I actually think they do pitch Sori a little differently in the playoffs. I think he sees more strikes in the regular season...

melonis, you're wrong about nobody wanting Marquis. Wait until the big names are gone from the free agent market and some teams are left without a starter that they need. The Cubs will certainly have to eat some salary but he wasn't bad in '08 and wasn't terrible in '07. I can envision plenty of teams who think they'll be contenders willing to spend $5-7 million on him, especially since they won't have to give much back in the way of prospects.

Statistically speaking that is, a number 4 starter with a 5 era isn't a good thing to say the least.

"Pretty big difference between that 4 or 5 era.

If he's your #4, you've got problems.

Statistically speaking that is, a number 4 starter with a 5 era isn't a good thing to say the least."

Statistically speaking, his ERA+ indicates league average pitcher, which is what a #4 is.

"Statistically speaking, his ERA+ indicates league average pitcher, which is what a #4 is."

His ERA+ was slightly below league average. His peripherals were borderline terrible in some cases.

1.45 whip, < 50% gb rate, 91/70 k/bb

If you're penciling in Jason Marquis as you're #4, you're not making the post season.

I agree. He is a league average pitcher that will give you league average numbers, and eat 180 to 210 innings for you. Thats worth something if the Cubs will eat 3 to 4 mil.

Agreed that Marquis is likely not a #4 on a playoff team, although he would have been a #4 on the Brewers last year. However, he doesn't need to be traded to a playoff team. This is the offseason, not the trading deadline.

In addition,
Marquis would have been a good #5 on a number of contending NL teams like the Phillies, Mets, Astros, Brewers, D'Backs. Sometimes the difference between a 80 ERA+ pitcher and a 99 ERA+ pitcher in 32 starts is the difference between making the postseason and sitting at home.

"Soriano playing poorly in the playoffs is part playing tight, but mostly by chance. As for ONLY facing #1's and 2's in the playoffs. That's ridiculous considering only half of the pitchers the Cubs face in the last 2 playoff series' were considered #1-2 (Lowe, Billingsley, and Webb). According to your theory, Soriano should have still smashed Doug Davis, Livan Hernandez, and Hiroki Kuroda."

I'm not sure how much credit I give Fox broadcasting, but during the playoffs they were talking about Soriano's inability to hit low and away. He chases bad pitches and couldn't hit the strikes. His poor performance was a combination of better pitching and extensive scouting/execution of game plan.

Soriano is one of the least disciplined hitters in baseball. He may as well be Cerrano from Major League. Fastball and nothing else.

Why any pitcher in baseball throws him a fastball is beyond my comprehension.

Kenan and Kel,

Fine, maybe it's pitchers who are most able to execute a gameplan rather than #1-#2 pitchers. In any case, Soriano is disgusting to watch in the playoffs. Completely overmatched at all times.

mmontice,

the third game you posted CC gave up 9 hits and 4 runs over 6 and 2/3's

the second game you posted, gave up 9 hits and 4 runs in 7.

Only in the first game you posted did he look anything like a league leading ace against the cubs. Maybe CRUSHED was the wrong term, but compared to how the other teams he faced fared, I think crushed is a fair term.

also, i didn't call anyone a dumbass... all i can tell by your post is that you went and looked up a score and didn't look at how CC actually pitched in those last two games.

mmontice,

What stats did I throw at you that you don't believe? I said the same thing you did...that in the playoffs, Soriano looks horrendous and swings at every breaking ball low and away, and that batting him in the 1 hole, where he gets more at bats than anyone else, is a dumb thing to do.

tfsmagCubs,

either personally or on tv, i watch at least parts to close to 100 cubs games per year. so when i speak about the Cubs i generally go by what i see rather than raw stats. other teams, sure i'll look up stats before i start writing my opinion.

also, sure there are times when they get to #1 and #2 pitchers. there are always outliers.

adding to that, maybe i shouldn't have made a blanket statement about the cubs, but i definitely do feel that soriano looks like crap against pitchers who actually know how to pitch. my inclusion of the rest of the team may just be due to the fact that my most recent memories of the Cubs was against the Dodgers pitching staff, where they got absolutetly smoked.

ultimately, over the past two years, when it has really mattered, they Cubs have looked really pathetic when it has mattered---the playoffs.

can't disagree with you on your last post mmontice. I also watch 100+ games a year of the cubs, and they look like a different team during the regular season than when in the playoffs.

I remember watching games all summer long, and every time we played at wrigley I had alot of confidence that we'd win no matter who we were playing. On the road, still pretty confident, but not as much so. We definitely got to our fair share of #1 and #2 pitchers though.

If we can't pick up any better hitting options in this off season, we may end up seeing the 3rd installment of the cubs shitting the bed in October.

Simple answer to the question "Can Cubs hit good pitching"

2nd most runs in baseball. Good pitching was scattered somewhere in those 162 games. Of course they can hit good pitching.