Cubs have Money to Burn
"I said I wanted a marquee pitcher, not Jason Marquis," Lou Piniella said.
The Cubs signed St. Louis castoff Jason Marquis to a 3-year, $20-million dollar contract today. Jason was among the worst starters in the National League last year as he went 14-16 with a 6.02 ERA for the, gulp, World Champion Cardinals. He was so bad, the Cards left him off their playoff roster. When I saw the news crawl across the bottom of ESPN's ticker this morning, my jaw just about hit the floor.
If he rebounds to his 2004-2005 form, where he went a combined 28-21 with a ERA around 4.00, this is a good deal. But that's a big mother-f--kin IF.
This offseason is starting to look bad again. I love the Soriano signing, despite the trillions of dollars they guaranteed him through his age-50 season, but without that shining star the rest of these guys are average at best. Yes, the Cubs were looking up at "average" last season, so they should be improved. But I think they're best hope is that the National League remains lousy so they can sneak into the playoffs and shock the world by winning with a mediocre team. Like the Cardinals did.
I don't know, I guess I'm sick of all the "IFs." IF Marquis rebounds, IF Prior or Miller is healthy, IF Lilly improves with the league-switch, IF Wood can close....IF, IF, IF. For once I'd like to go into a season not praying for a miracle. That only has happened once in my lifetime, in 2004, and we all know how that turned out.