'08 Cubs Rotation

[neely crenshaw]

I would much rather see young and inconsistent (marshall) than old and inconsistent (dempster), at least marshall has a potential for improvement. I do not see why we would do this other than because we signed dempster to a big deal which is no way to run a team that wants to win something...

i would really like to see a front end starter to put at #2..it owuld be tough for anyone to match lilly at 3 but that won't happen unless we deal.

[mdwilla]

Hendry been linked to some big name arms this off season.

 

Burnett

Bedard

Blanton

Kuroda

 

Then some bottom of the rotation starters like Lieber. Lou is not totally sold as Dempster as a starter. Reports where that Hendry was shopping Marquis this offseason. Then in last couple of days we've seen seen the Cubs shopping for a center fielder (Cameron/Caberea/Lofton) ? Is Hendry dangling Pie for a top of the rotation starter? There's is one starter I haven't seen the Cubs get in on this offseason but I think they these match up well. How about a deal for Tim Lincecum built around Pie with Randy Winn also coming are way to manage center field?

[inari]

Hendry been linked to some big name arms this off season.

 

Burnett

Bedard

Blanton

Kuroda

 

Then some bottom of the rotation starters like Lieber. Lou is not totally sold as Dempster as a starter. Reports where that Hendry was shopping Marquis this offseason. Then in last couple of days we've seen seen the Cubs shopping for a center fielder (Cameron/Caberea/Lofton) ? Is Hendry dangling Pie for a top of the rotation starter? There's is one starter I haven't seen the Cubs get in on this offseason but I think they these match up well. How about a deal for Tim Lincecum built around Pie with Randy Winn also coming are way to manage center field?

 

I'm not sure what we could offer that would make them want to give up Tim Lincecum. I doubt it'd be possible without Rich Hill.

[Mephistopheles]

sure it could, they want impact hitting. theyre not going to trade lincecum for a pitcher with more service time and a lower ceiling who is inferior now.

[badnews]

sure it could, they want impact hitting. theyre not going to trade lincecum for a pitcher with more service time and a lower ceiling who is inferior now.

 

Matt Cain should cost less than Tim Lincecum, correct? It'd be great to get him. Of course since our 2007 draftees can't be traded yet, and at this juncture we wouldn't be able to replace Geovany Soto, it would seem quite difficult.

[nilodnayr]

sure it could, they want impact hitting. theyre not going to trade lincecum for a pitcher with more service time and a lower ceiling who is inferior now.

 

Matt Cain should cost less than Tim Lincecum, correct? It'd be great to get him. Of course since our 2007 draftees can't be traded yet, and at this juncture we wouldn't be able to replace Geovany Soto, it would seem quite difficult.

 

It sounded like in the Rios talks that the Giants preferred to deal Lincecum than Cain because of their worry about Lincecum's injury risk.

[NoDak]

Did that Marshall dude suddenly drop off the face of the Earth? I know he's not the number one candidate but he does still hold a chance, no?

 

Marshall was solid last year. He had an ERA+ of 119. ALL of his numbers improved as far as I can tell (or stayed the same). He is 24 and a lefty (not that CHC is short of them). While I have some conditioning issues with him, overall, I think he is ready to jump up to 145-155 IP this year (I can take that from a #4 guy). He is the #4 in my book.

 

I also would not mind Marquis as the #5 if necessary. I think the #5 spot is still up for grabs with some players who may surprise. I don't think that Lou is that enamored of Dempster in the starting rotation (remember it was rumored for about 5 minutes last May after the Met implosion).

 

Rotation: Same as last year or better

Z, Lilly, Hill, Marshall, Marquis

[RynoHawk23]

That roster of starting pitchers has already proven to be "not enough." At least not in the playoffs. You have to hope Hill and Marshall mature, but also worry about Lilly being able to repeat his '07 output - that he hadn't ever reached before. At this point Lilly had a career year.

 

I'd like to see what it would actually take to pull Bedard & Roberts. Marshall, Gallagher, Cedeno, Pie, and Colvin? To a lot of people on this board, this would be organizational suicide, but Bedard and Roberts are controllable for 2 years, you sign Lofton/Shannon Stewart to patrol CF.

 

Zambrano, Bedard, Lilly, Hill, Marquis

 

Pen: Dempster, Marmol, Howry, Wood, Eyre, Wuertz, and a LH body

 

Roberts, Soriano, Fukudome, Lee, Ramirez, DeRosa, Soto, Lofton/Stewart

 

Bench: Theriot, Murton, Ward, Fontenot, Blanco

 

NL Champs. Consensus is probably stupidest idea ever. :D Tell me that's not salty though.

[NoDak]

That roster of starting pitchers has already proven to be "not enough." At least not in the playoffs. You have to hope Hill and Marshall mature, but also worry about Lilly being able to repeat his '07 output - that he hadn't ever reached before. At this point Lilly had a career year.

 

I'd like to see what it would actually take to pull Bedard & Roberts. Marshall, Gallagher, Cedeno, Pie, and Colvin? To a lot of people on this board, this would be organizational suicide, but Bedard and Roberts are controllable for 2 years, you sign Lofton/Shannon Stewart to patrol CF.

 

Zambrano, Bedard, Lilly, Hill, Marquis

 

Pen: Dempster, Marmol, Howry, Wood, Eyre, Wuertz, and a LH body

 

Roberts, Soriano, Fukudome, Lee, Ramirez, DeRosa, Soto, Lofton/Stewart

 

Bench: Theriot, Murton, Ward, Fontenot, Blanco

 

NL Champs. Consensus is probably stupidest idea ever. :D Tell me that's not salty though.

 

 

To me that would, absolutely, be organizational suicide. While I would love to get Bedard the addition of Roberts would make the price tag just plain too high. It would be a big accomplishment for the Orioles, though.

[CubColtPacer]

That roster of starting pitchers has already proven to be "not enough." At least not in the playoffs. You have to hope Hill and Marshall mature, but also worry about Lilly being able to repeat his '07 output - that he hadn't ever reached before. At this point Lilly had a career year.

 

I'd like to see what it would actually take to pull Bedard & Roberts. Marshall, Gallagher, Cedeno, Pie, and Colvin? To a lot of people on this board, this would be organizational suicide, but Bedard and Roberts are controllable for 2 years, you sign Lofton/Shannon Stewart to patrol CF.

 

Zambrano, Bedard, Lilly, Hill, Marquis

 

Pen: Dempster, Marmol, Howry, Wood, Eyre, Wuertz, and a LH body

 

Roberts, Soriano, Fukudome, Lee, Ramirez, DeRosa, Soto, Lofton/Stewart

 

Bench: Theriot, Murton, Ward, Fontenot, Blanco

 

NL Champs. Consensus is probably stupidest idea ever. :D Tell me that's not salty though.

 

I don't think that deal would even be enough. The Orioles wouldn't really want both Pie and Colvin because they would have to put one of them in LF, which wouldn't maximize their talents.

 

They'd probably want Pie, Marmol, Gallagher, Ceda, Murton, Patterson, and Cedeno. It simply wouldn't be worth it. The Cubs don't have enough high end talent in their minors to risk it all on an injury prone pitcher for the most part. If Bedard goes down for a significant amount of time next year, the Cubs would probably be in organizational trouble for the next 5 years.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Here's Muskat's response to a question about Dempster's role.

 

I've noticed Ryan Dempster's name listed as one of the candidates for the starting rotation. If he's unable to crack the rotation, will he, 1) get thrown back into the closer mix with Marmol, Kerry Wood and Bob Howry, 2) become a middle reliever/spot starter, or 3) become trade bait for possible bench help?

-- Drew N., Pewee Valley, Ky.

 

Dempster's days as a closer are probably over, but he could be used in long relief if starting doesn't work. This won't be a one-start experiment in Spring Training either.