Cubs Sign Marquis to 3/21

[Butterscup1679666578]

Ewwwwwwwwwwww.

[abuck1220]

I think Goony was on the right track. Hendry is "stockpiling" pitchers. What does eveyone need? Pitching. Lets not forget the Cotts trade. Hendry may be planning a big move soon. Who knows?

 

What would it take to get Manny?

 

What would it take to get ARod?

 

What would it take to get Cabrera?

 

I think you should give credit where it is due if you agree with that assessment.

 

except hendry is stockpiling crappy pitchers...nobody that's going to help land arod.

[UMFan83]

One posititve thing is that I think a turn around with Marquis is very possible. He is a ground ball pitcher and last year he couldn't get the ball down and gave up a ton of homers. I think he could quickly get that ball down again and start getting those groundballs and letting Izturis do the rest :lol:. Players have good years and bad years and usually regress or progress to previous years performance which would be a good thing with Marquis. I also think that the two slaughters he had to stay in for really hurt his confidence and made him mad at the coaches for making him suffer through that twice. I look for him to have an ERA around 4.4 which is not that bad for a 4th starter.

 

Good points.

 

I have hope Larry will get him ironed out and Lou and Jason won't have a Lou/Dibble round two.

 

I guess its just hard to accept 4.4 when 2 years ago we were talking about Clement and his high 3 ERA being our 4th starter

[Burtonbell]

Ewwwwwwwwwwww.

 

QFT

[ToupeeOnFire]

I don’t hate this move as much as others on here. Considering the market, Marquis at 3/20 doesn’t look all that bad to me. I'm not crazy about him - his K/BB ratio has dropped each of the last three years, as has his grounball/flyball rate - but he's still pretty young and has been pretty solid two out of his last three seasons. As b_wiggy pointed out, he's a good pitcher if he can keep the ball down.

 

One thing I remember about Marquis last year are the two games in which he got absolutely murdered in:

 

                           IP    H    R   ER  HR  BB  SO ptch  GmSc    ERA 
Jun. 21	@CWS	L 13-5	5.0	14	13	13	4	1	3	92	-11	5.53
Jul. 18	ATL	 L 14-5	5.0	14	12	12	3	2	4	91    -7	5.97

 

I remember laughing about it at the time, but now...

 

While it's a fools game to play the "take away his two worst starts" card, I can't remember the last time a manager left in a pitcher to get shelled like LaRussa did. That doesn't let Marquis off the hook, he still had an ERA of 5.13 even without those starts.

 

I would be much more comfortable with this move if they had signed Schmidt instead of Lilly, but I don't see Marquis as being a worse option than some of the other alternatives like Jeff Suppan or Miguel Batista who probably would have cost more.

[Jazz]

On the bright side, since we didn't get a major FA pitcher, maybe Z will get locked up to a long term deal before the season starts.

 

another tangential effect of this and the Lilly deal is it allows the Cubs to trade away some minor league pitching without worrying about the depth chart. A trade or two before April is inevitable.

 

Good point. Nice issue spotting counselor.

 

I've been wondering if Hendry is going to surprise everybody with a trade of Rich Hill at his high point. You might be able to get a serious offensive upgrade if you're willing to part with him in a package. This is when I'd try and overwhelm Florida with all the prospects they want for Cabrera, or you offer to restock the Yankees farm team with just about anybody for ARod. The Cubs aren't going to win many 2-1 games with this staff, they need to rack up the runs.

The Cubs are going to have to play a rope a dope game this season, lulling the opponent to sleep with the incredibly boring pitching staff. 3/20 doesn't reak of terrible. Marquis does have a chance to have a good year, and if he does, and some internal options figure things out, he'd make great trade bait next season. Well, here's to Larry working some magic on the guy and getting something out of Marquis.

 

You think the Marlins would bite at a package of

 

Hill, Pie, Veal, Gallagher, and Murton for Cabrera? Or are we overpaying.

[Elrhino]

I'll take Marquis 3/20 any day over Meche 4/40

[bwcubfan]

I'll take Marquis 3/20 any day over Meche 4/40

 

I disagree ... I would have rather had Meche ...

[Elrhino]

I'll take Marquis 3/20 any day over Meche 4/40

 

I disagree ... I would have rather had Meche ...

 

Marquis has at least had seasons where he put up numbers comparable to a decent to good starting MLB pitcher. The only impressive numbers Meche has ever put up was on a radar gun. Meche has never once been a league average pitcher in a season in which he pitched more than 85 innings. His BB numbers are not out of control. Its not like he hasn't learned to control or harness his stuff, its just that it doesn't fool anyone.

Edited December 9, 2006 by Elrhino

[Post Count Padder]

I'm not totally disgusted by this move, partially because I was expecting it. I think Marquis could be an ok pitcher. His stats in 2004 and 2005 were decent, so I think he had a fluke bad year last year. I don't think he'll be great, but I think he could pull off a few above average years. I would have preferred someone else, but I think we could have done worse. In this inflated offseason, this contract isn't too bad.

[RichHillIsABeast]

This is an ok signing. Marquis is a lot better than his numbers last season indicate.

 

I'd expect 180+ IP, 4.25 ERA with some decent offense for a pitcher. That extra offense will come in handy with Soriano batting leadoff.

[ToupeeOnFire]

I'll take Marquis 3/20 any day over Meche 4/40

 

I disagree ... I would have rather had Meche ...

Looking at their age for next year, career ERA+, and career WHIP...

 

Marquis (28): 94/1.428

Meche (28): 96/1.429

 

Even considering that Meche probably has a bigger upside, I'll take Marquis at 3/20 over Meche and his history of arm problems at 5/55.

[abuck1220]

third worst deal of the offseason behind pierre and meche.

[JeffH]

third worst deal of the offseason behind pierre and meche.

 

Adam Eaton.

[Chocolate Milk]

third worst deal of the offseason behind pierre and meche.

 

Adam Eaton.

 

Matthews Jr.

[IWU_CUBS_FAN]

well i'll take marquis cheap over the meche 5 year deal he signed....but as for the four year deal we had on the table...im takin meche all day long baby, all day. at least we have a lot of starting pitchers now, and because its the xmas season...MAYBE MARQUIS WILL PITCH REALLY WELL AND BE A STEAL....but once jan. 1 hits this signing is horrible

[MembersOnlyJacket]

third worst deal of the offseason behind pierre and meche.

 

It did improve the bench from the left side. He should be an asset late in games or in extra innings.

[Post Count Padder]

third worst deal of the offseason behind pierre and meche.

 

Adam Eaton.

 

Matthews Jr.

Bengie Molina

[killthegoat06]

So if Prior and Miller are healthy which of Miller, Lilly, Marquis gets DFA'd? Or does Hill get sent to AAA???

[pitchcs]

Anybody think Marquis looks like Joaquin Phoenix without the little lip clef thing?

[WrigleyField 22]

I don't like this deal. Theres not really any good way to slice it. I guess I just have to hope they actually found something they can change, even if it will only work for a shortrun. If theres a small tweak we can make and he starts fooling guys and some of our guys get healthy, his 7M contract would be cheap and it could turn out to be a chance to sell high before people adjust to whatever change he makes. This all has so many variables though, plus is contingent on Hendry knowing when to sell high so I don't expect much out of this.

 

The rotation is filling up:

Zambrano

Lilly

Hill

Marquis

-------

Miller

Prior

Marshall

Guzman

Mateo

Marmol

 

Should be a lot of competition.

[Schwarber Fan]

So if Prior and Miller are healthy which of Miller, Lilly, Marquis gets DFA'd? Or does Hill get sent to AAA???

 

Hill won't get sent to Iowa unlesss he struggles...

 

maybe we see Marquis or Lilly move to the bullpen?

[fibro]

So if Prior and Miller are healthy which of Miller, Lilly, Marquis gets DFA'd? Or does Hill get sent to AAA???

 

If Prior an Miller are healthy I'll just be happy and won't worry about anything else.

[Jazz]

This deal kind of makes me sick because what we are paying Lilly and Marquis combined could have gone towards the salary of Carlos Beltran way back when.

 

Oh well.

[RichHillIsABeast]

So if Prior and Miller are healthy which of Miller, Lilly, Marquis gets DFA'd? Or does Hill get sent to AAA???

 

That would be a really nice problem to have.