More Fool's Gold

Did the Knicks trade for Jack Haley in 1997 or something?

The Cubs, looking for another consistent arm for the bullpen, parted with one of their 39 starting pitchers, Jason Marquis, to acquire Luis Vizcaino. Expect to see Jeff Samrdzija make a push for the rotation.

Again, the Cubs keep making headlines, siphoning players from the 2005 championship team. Unlike acquiring Neal Cotts (which was hilarious for both teams), this ex-Sox champ will likely be useful to the team. On, the surface, it looks bad because both his ERA and WHIP have gone up dramatically from '06, going from 3.58 to 5.28 last season. Then again, look at where he played - pitching in the pressure-free environment of New York has been known to ruin careers and psyches (2007), and Colorado is a launchpad for homeruns (2008).

I would say with a team as offensively potent as the Cubs and the protection he will likely get as a middle-reliever, a sharp drop in ERA (especially pitching in the weak NL Central) is likely.

Projected 2009: 70 IP, 4.18 ERA, 1.33 WHIP