You have to love the competition taking place in the Cubs rotation right now as Jon Lieber and Jason Marquis battle it out for the final spot. It looked like Lieber was just about to sew up the job and Marquis went out yesterday and threw four shutout innings while giving up only two hits. I still think that Marquis looks like the odd man out in this competition so he may actually be auditioning for other teams (Boston?) but he's not going to make this an easy decision for the Cubs....and that's a good thing.
At this point the Cubs know what they are going to get with Marquis.....a guy who is going to take the ball every fifth day and give you five or six innings. He'll win 12-15 games each season but they probably won't be the prettiest wins ever seen. Still, he gives the Cubs some consistency in the fact that they know he's going to be able to throw each time his turn in the rotation comes around. Marquis isn't consistent in his performances though as he's been known to pitch well in the first half of the season and stagnate the second half. After knowing all of these things, how does that make you feel as a Cubs fan? Conflicted is the word for me.
With Jon Lieber, the Cubs can't be certain what they are getting. Of course, it's great to watch him pitch in Spring Training and have innings that last three minutes, but can he be counted on to pitch 175+ innings and make almost 30 starts this season? I'm leaning towards no. Lieber is a bulldog who will take the ball every time his spot comes around in the rotation until his arm falls off.....but the problem is that we're getting to the point where his arm might actually fall off. I don't like the feeling of not knowing what we are going to get out of the guy.
This leaves the Cubs to make a decision as to whether they want a guy who they know is going to be a league average pitcher or a guy they hope can be a league average pitcher. As a lifelong Cubs fan, I prefer to throw hope out the window and stick with what I know....
I know you don't want to hear this but throw in the Roberts deal as well with this situation. If they let Marquis go in a trade, then they need to be sure Lieber will make it. With Gallagher and maybe Marshall probably being shipped out in part of a Roberts deal, you go from being deep in that spot to a bit thin.
They'd still have Kevin Hart and Samardzija (coming up quick, I guess) to slide in there if both Sean's went. Still, I don't think the Cubs trade both Sean's to the Orioles but more of a package of Marshall/Gallagher, Cedeno and a minor league pitcher or two (not Veal) for Roberts.
I think they kind of view Marquis and Hart as the same right now for some reason in the sense that if they traded Marquis, then Hart could take his spot.
On one hand it's nice to have options, on the other hand, I'd prefer to have a set roster.
Lieber will pitch this weekend so keep an eye on that.
Cpt Morgan
said
I was listening to Gammons this morning on Mike and Mike and he said that the Roberts deal will get done...
Yeah, everyone is saying it's going to be a last minute deal at the end of Spring Training....of course, they already said he was going to get traded a few months ago....This Roberts deal is kind of like the TV show "Lost"....you're never really sure what's going on or who's telling the truth.
I detect some sarcasm there. I'm going to assume that it's carryover from your lack of happiness about your shooter evaluation.
Cpt Morgan
said
Nah, I don't care about the shooter eval...if you guys think I need to do it better, then I probably do...I think my best shootering is done when I'm about 10 beers deep...
2008 Cubs Preview
I know you don't want to hear this but throw in the Roberts deal as well with this situation. If they let Marquis go in a trade, then they need to be sure Lieber will make it. With Gallagher and maybe Marshall probably being shipped out in part of a Roberts deal, you go from being deep in that spot to a bit thin.
They'd still have Kevin Hart and Samardzija (coming up quick, I guess) to slide in there if both Sean's went. Still, I don't think the Cubs trade both Sean's to the Orioles but more of a package of Marshall/Gallagher, Cedeno and a minor league pitcher or two (not Veal) for Roberts.
I think they kind of view Marquis and Hart as the same right now for some reason in the sense that if they traded Marquis, then Hart could take his spot.
On one hand it's nice to have options, on the other hand, I'd prefer to have a set roster.
Lieber will pitch this weekend so keep an eye on that.
I was listening to Gammons this morning on Mike and Mike and he said that the Roberts deal will get done...
Yeah, everyone is saying it's going to be a last minute deal at the end of Spring Training....of course, they already said he was going to get traded a few months ago....This Roberts deal is kind of like the TV show "Lost"....you're never really sure what's going on or who's telling the truth.
Lost is still on...?
Um...best show on TV
um...like seriously...like i just love that show....like for real
I detect some sarcasm there. I'm going to assume that it's carryover from your lack of happiness about your shooter evaluation.
Nah, I don't care about the shooter eval...if you guys think I need to do it better, then I probably do...I think my best shootering is done when I'm about 10 beers deep...