I am reserving judgment on this point until the end of the offseason. If Marquis and/or Dempster are traded, then there could still be a slot for Gallagher. Why? We're hearing Dempster being talked about, now Lieber is signed, Marquis is still up in the air. Still pretty quiet about the rooks. I'm hoping that that both Seans and Kevin have been told privately that their hard work over the off-season (hopefully Marshall getting stronger and Gallagher cont. his off-season conditioning) can be rewarded with a verbal commit. from the Cubs that they'll be given a shot. I have a suspicion that the talk of Dempster to the rotation was simply to drive up his trade value. I have no tangible reason to think this, but I don't think there was ever any real intent to give Ryan a slot. As for Marquis, it may just be wishful thinking. But Lou seemed awfully put out with him at the end of the season, so there may be some impetus to move him out. Also, if any trades happen, I think one or two of Marshall, Gallagher and Hart will likely be moving out, cutting down the number of slighted youngsters. I can only hope Gallagher would be the one left. Completely agree. Yeah, that would seem to make more sense than the Cubs declaring Dempster a starter in freaking November. I'm still scratching my head over that, nobody does something so silly with half a damn year before Spring Training starts.