yeah, that's not true at all. after all, he's not playing for free. also, i'd rather have marshall out there than lieber. so i'd say the worst case scenario is lieber sucks, steals $3.5 mil and the cubs lose games because a better pitcher loses starts. or, the cubs could trade marquis/dempster, lieber (predictably) gets hurt, and the cubs are thin in the rotation. while I completely agree with you on Marshall, it doesn't seem like he's even being considered for a spot this year. It sounds like it's coming down to Marquis/Dempster for 4-5, and I'd rather have Marquis/Lieber there. Dempster doesn't need to be anywhere near the rotation.