For a #2 starter seeing as we dont have one.

Should have a decent chance of cracking the rotation by 2010. Having one more quality pitcher to round out the rotation would be great. I’m not sure we have the cash or the prospects to trade/sign a #1, but 2s and 3s are relatively easy to obtain.

Side note…I read in the rumors at msn that Dan Uggla may become available with all the arbitration eligible players on the team.

I like Uggla.

For me I think for the Cubs to go beyond a playoff contender they need to develop another top of the order starter. We know the lineup and I think the club plan on building Marquis’s value up in June and hope one of those minor league starters continue to emerge for August. In the meantime I could see the plan of moving Lieber up to the rotation for those 6-8 weeks.

Marshall might be really destined for the bullpen. He warms up fast, he appears effective there and his stamina is the situation. As long as he is useful that is fine. The same goes for Hart as he has a dominant slider and an above average FB but that is not enough for a 21st century MLB starter. Essentially both Marshall and Hart (or Wuertz) could replace Eyre and Howry next year or at least provide an option to.

So we are back looking for a top of the rotation pitcher, and that appears by potential to be Samardzija, at least by stuff, especially if he learns to command the splitter with his FB and bender. Callahan appears to be a good middle of the rotation starter who will give quality innings who can replace Dempster.

As for Lilly he signed a 4 year deal, so next year he is here. That gives the Cubs until 2011 to develop another starter, could be Veal or someone else.

Win this year, then look to the future.

will be defined quite a bit by whether the team wins the WS and also by how productive the corner men are. As long as Lee and Ramirez stay productive and the team stays competitive, I think Hendry will be willing to buy pitching upgrades. If we win, though, it would give us the opportunity to see what the youth can do.

For my part, I don’t think any of the Cubs prospects look like they could be ready to be a #2 by the end of 2009. That could change as the year goes on.

wouldnt be surprised if he took a discounted rate to stay

to pitch in Wrigley, in fact, I’ll pay them. Sign me up, I can give up runs as good as Howry can.

I think Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly are the only “certainties” in the rotation beyond this year. Sean Gallagher may be in the future mix. Ditto Rich Hill. Ryan Dempster will be a free agent after this season and will likely command a ridiculous contract Jeff Smardizija seems to me to be a couple years away at the earliest. I’m not wowed by what he is doing in the minors. It may be a case of the hype overwhelming his true major league potential. Time will tell.

is James Russell. He just got promoted to AA. If he pitches well the rest of the season, he’d be in the mix for 2009 and certainly in 2010.

Ryan Dempster will be a free agent after this season and will likely command a ridiculous contract

MDBNIU says this a lot. I don’t put much stock in it. Ryan loves playing for the Cubs. If Kerry Wood can take a smaller offer to stay and pitch, so can Ryan. It’s not like he’d be making minimum wage. There are more important things than money, and the best baseball players understand that.

how about obtaining a decent # 2 for this year? The Rangers are pretty awful and there are rumors that they might unload Millwood and would most likely command a lot in return. I believe he’s signed through ‘10…