USSoccer

I've come to dislike Jacque less and less as time has gone by.

I wish we had the assets needed to make a run at this.

Why can't the US develop a player like Cristiano?

Brandon Wood strikes me as a bust as well.

Sox fans are going to love that one. He's their Neifi.

Clint Barmes sucks. An emphatic no. Marshall is worth way more than a backup SS.

When has he ever, ever held his cards close to the vest?

Deng isn't anywhere near as athletic as Pippen. Deng needs players around him to set him up.

I would say right now Zambrano and Lilly are the only ones that you can say are sure will be in the rotation next year. Hill or Marquis could easily still be traded. Marshall might be replaced or traded. I wonder if this means the end of going after Kuroda. Or leverage being used on Prior and Kuroda?

'Twould be true. I talked to both Hendry and Dempster about it. Ryan is excited about the resurgent Blackhawks, I might add. At the expense of whom?

He's not light years worse than Marquis. There would have to be a gain, but we're not talking like a Miguel Cabrera type gain to have a net improvement. The comparison is Marshall to Dempster, not Marquis to Dempster. Even so, it's not like a Hill for Dempster replacement or something.

Source?

He's not light years worse than Marquis. There would have to be a gain, but we're not talking like a Miguel Cabrera type gain to have a net improvement.

Did they? I'd send them Marquis if they want him.

Neither has Joba but he's widely considered to be an untouchable than most anybody would love to trade for. Just because he hasn't "proved" capable as a major league starter doesn't mean he holds minimal trade value. Comparatively minimal trade value is what I'm talking about. Crawford is a very good and proven everday position player in the prime of his career with an extremely desirable contract situation. In terms of trade value he's in whole different class from Marmol. Again, though, look at it from TB's point of view. They want cheap, young, pre-arb pitching. Crawford is getting expensive for them, and they have a glut of OF's that need playing time. They could deal Baldelli, but not get as much in return. Now, look at what they would get in Gallagher, Marshall and Marmol. In Gallagher they get a guy who could step in and start right away, with only 1 year of service time and have a ceiling anywhere from Paul Byrd to Fausto Carmona based on minor league numbers. Marshall is a somewhat proven commodity to give you decent production as a starter, and is a couple years away from arb. Marmol, at the least, gives them a guy who can close games effectively, or they can stretch him out and start him. They'd get 3 arms. 2 starters and a closer, or 3 potential starters, two of which have enjoyed success at the ML level, who are all making league minimum. That's going to be appealing to TB.

I hope Marmol is either traded, goes to the rotation, or stays in his current role as a high leverage reliever. And if he stays in his high leverage role, it'd be great if he had more high leverage opportunities next season than he had in 2007. As opposed to being used in 5 run games in the 8th for no apparent reason?

Sell me on it. I'm open to being swayed. Frees up Marshall to be traded with Murton for real OF/SS. We have righty bullpen depth (expecially if we resign Woody). Or, if Prior comes back and is useful. It kicks Marquis out of the rotation. Demp > Marquis you know. The hit to our bullpen would be minimal. It'd help our rotation. He's no less valuable as a starter than Marshall, but Marshall has a lot more trade value. Thus trade him on the market. OK, I'll bite. Even if Dempster is a better starter than Marquis, this is the Cubs and Jim Hendry we're talking about. You're assuming it will be Dempster replacing Marquis, I think it's more likely Dempster joins Marquis and replaces Marshall. Now, I'm sure you're going to say there are better stats to judge them by, and, if so, fine, I'm open to being persuaded/proven wrong here. But last five years as starters in ERA+: Marquis: 115, 102, 74, 101; Dempster: 120, 86, 77, 63. I think Meph is saying the return on dealing Marshall could outweigh the drop from Marquis to Dempster.

On the flip side, the fact that the Cubs didn't pursue the grievance might have added to the goodwill on our side.

I think what he meant was that if Prior comes back, Dempster and Prior can replace Marshall and Marquis.

That list of in house replacements might dwindle down pretty quickly. Prior might not be back. Wood should be, but they may want to keep him relieving for one full year before looking at starting again. Gallagher may or may not be ready. Marmol and Hart might be options, but Dempster might make an acceptable placeholder.

I hope Marmol is either traded, goes to the rotation, or stays in his current role as a high leverage reliever.

Sell me on it. I'm open to being swayed. Frees up Marshall to be traded with Murton for real OF/SS. We have righty bullpen depth (expecially if we resign Woody). Or, if Prior comes back and is useful. It kicks Marquis out of the rotation. Demp > Marquis you know. The hit to our bullpen would be minimal. It'd help our rotation. He's no less valuable as a starter than Marshall, but Marshall has a lot more trade value. Thus trade him on the market. Ahhhhh. I fully agree on him being easily replaced in the pen. I like Marquis not being in the rotation. I believe you've changed my mind. What do we do with Marquis?

Sell me on it. I'm open to being swayed.

Oh come on... Do we need to revisit this crappy idea again?

That's the other thing.