The Cubs are next in our arbitration eligibles series…
- First time: Geovany Soto
- Second time: Carlos Marmol, Jeff Baker, Sean Marshall, Angel Guzman, Tom Gorzelanny, Koyie Hill
- Third time: None
Soto rebounded in a big way heading up to his first bout with arbitration. He has an All-Star appearance and the Rookie of the Year award under his belt from 2008, and has a career .268 average with 54 home runs, 196 RBIs, and 153 runs in 378 games. I think he'll fall short of Russell Martin's first-time reward of $3.9MM, but should easily top $2MM.
Marmol, working from a $2.125MM base, padded his resume with 38 saves, a 2.55 ERA, and a ridiculous 138 strikeouts. He'll jump past $4MM. Marshall's at $950K this year and pitched quite well in his first full season as a reliever.
Baker earned $975K this year as a utility infielder and did enough to be tendered a contract. The Cubs will also want to keep Gorzelanny, working from an $800K salary, in the mix.
Guzman and Hill may be expendable. Guzman had serious shoulder surgery in March, so the Cubs may not even want to pay him $825K again. Hill continues to be a credible defensive backup catcher. His lack of offense would keep his salary down, but the Cubs could look elsewhere.
Will Baker or Guzman even be back next year? I would think not.
Get rid of Baker, Guzman, and Hill. Tender Marmol, but start exploring a trade. He’s inconsistent enough (ie. wild), that he could be expendable. And honestly, he might be one of the few Cubs with trade value.
Yeah guys that have career highs in saves and set franchise records for strikeouts are the perfect people to trade. Why would trading Marmol be a good idea? That bullpen needs all the help in can get and trading a top 5 closer is not going to make it any better.
When do you see the Cubs contending? I say in 2 years and therefore Marmol is a luxury. Closers are generally overrated. While people may not be able to look past the glitzy strike out numbers, the fact is Marmol is not a top 5 closer. Maybe in fantasy baseball, but not in the real game.
So when they contend again they don’t have a closer? Trading Marmol would be a huge mistake. Yes, he is a top 5 closer. That glitzy K/9 proves it. 38 saves and he struck out 15+/9. His opp BA was in the .170s. He had over 75 appearances. His numbers prove you wrong.
Look at his walks and think of Mitch Williams. The k’s are nice but he’s still putting runners on base.
I agree – you make a good point. What is the point of having a stud closer if you are not in a position to utilize him? (it would be like trading your starting QB and a couple of 1st round draft picks for a stud QB, but neglecting to provide him with an offensive line to keep him upright when he throws) I would think a competent GM could get a ton of talent in return for Marmol, especially from a team in a pennant race that desperately needs a closer. But Tommy Boy is not a competent GM, and he is loyal to a fault, he would never trade away Marmol. So I fully expect Marmol to post ridiculous KO numbers for a second division team in the next couple of seasons
That’s precisely when you want to trade him. His value is probably the highest it will ever be.
As a Dodger fan, I wish they traded Broxton before the trade deadline… now, after his 2nd half collapse, his value has plummeted. Now we’ll probably have him leave for free agency at the end of next season and get nothing for him…
No reason to just toss Baker. He’s a legitimate weapon against LHPs. Not sure he’s an ideal back-up at third for a player as injury prone as Aramis Ramirez, but I still think he’s worth being tendered a contract.
non tender Guzman and offer his a minor league deal. non tender Baker, for 200 ABs over a million bucks is too much. non tender Hill, Wellington Castillo is better defensively and looks like he has mor eof a bat than Hill right now. Why pay Hill 850K-1 million?
I dunno, I could see Hendry signing Hill to a six-year, $38MM contract or so.
I don’t like the Cubs, but Marmol is absolutely ridiculous. If he didn’t walk so many people, he would be even more unstoppable than he already is.
guzman is probably gone, baker probably the same. cubs could save some money with barney playing backup 2B/SS, unless they decide to move DeWitt. We will see.
I’d let Baker walk, he could be replace with nearly any descent minor league infielder with little dropoff. Barney may be good enough already to push Baker out of the way. Hill could be replaced easily as well, he’s obviously not going to hit but his defense is good enough to keep him around. He’s still cheap so I don’t see the point of letting him go. Guzman is a goner. I wish him luck and hope they find a way to keep him in the organization but I just don’t see a bright career in his future at this point. Marmol, Marshall and Soto have all earned their raise and deserve it, good job by them.
Tender: Soto, Marshall, Marmol and Gorzo
Non Tender the rest of the bunch. You can still NRI Guzman, Hill and likely Baker. Once they realize how poor their markets are.
How many times have we read that players, scouts, talking heads, etc. think the Cubs are only a couple of players away from being “contenders”? For the sake of argument, lets say they are right – do you REALLY think trading Carlos “walks ’em all” Marmol will benefit this team? No. Not unless it really bowled you over (Adrian Gonzalez AND Heath Bell). Yeah, right… We’ll probably stand pat for the most part – Hendry may try to get Lilly back, Guzman and Hill are gone, and we’ll all just cross our fingers about Mr. Gonzalez
We don’t want Lilly back.. we need to get younger.. I like Lilly but he’s a better fit for LA
I just don’t think Marmol can be good with all the walks he gave up every year he has come out of the bullpen
I used to think all the dopes were on Cubs MLB. I was wrong. Trade Marmol? What are you people smoking?
I used to think all the dopes were on Cubs MLB. I was wrong. Trade Marmol? What are you people smoking?
The Cubs should only offer abritration to Marshall and Guzman.. Maybe Hill to be backup Catcher for Wellington Castillo..waste of time and money for the others. Especially Soto..Yes I think Marmol should be traded to a team any team with a real pitching coach.. San Fran would be good..