As has been rumored for a while now, the Cubs have signed 28 year-old righthander Jason Marquis. The Tribune says three years, $20MM, while the Post-Dispatch says three years, $28MM.
I think this is a bad signing. I was actually naive enough to suggest yesterday that Marquis would draw a tiny commitment of just one year and $3MM – after all, he is coming off a 6.02 ERA. I figured it would be comparable to the Kip Wells deal – too much uncertainty to guarantee more than a year.
The Cubs didn’t feel that way; now it’s up to Larry Rothschild to coax three league average innings out of Marquis. Apparently eating innings, no matter how poorly, is worth $6-9MM per season.
UPDATE: ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick says it’s for three years and $21MM.