According tot he Tribune and Lou Pinella it looks like Sean marhsall is going to be the fifth starter.

According to Lou, "Sean Marshall will join the rotation and also get about 25 starts, Piniella said, while Jeff Samardzija, Chad Gaudin and rookie Mitch Atkins will get opportunities to start this spring"

via http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-18-cubs-chicagojan18,0,7078164.story

This seems like something new that hasnt been mentioned before. it was somewhat hinted at yesterday that Marshal will get a chance to compete but it looks like as of right now barring a trade we are going to give Sean the ball on the fifth day and let him go.

This leads to a couple of questions and comments that I have. I will start with the comments first.

1. I really like Marshall in the fifth sarters role. I thought he did admirably as a rookie in 06 and I think he did a good job i 07. I think he deserves a shot to succeed and I really think he can be a solid 3-5 starter in the National League.

2. I have always kind of like Marshall a little bit better than Rich Hill. While Rich Hill had the best overall pitch I still really like Marshalls curve and I think he knows how to pitch a lot better. not to mentino he is not a head case.

3. I remember when Mad Dog was here in 06 he said that he though marshall was special and that if he developed would be a fine pitcher one day. I hope I speak for all of us when I say that I trust Maddux's thoughts. He didnt have to say that . He said it because he believed it.

4. I wonder what this means for the fate of Shark. I wonder if he doesnt win the fifth starters job if he will start the year at Iowa. I would love to have him in the pen, but I dont want him to get typecasted into the role ala Jonathan Papelbon. Paps is amazing but I think Shark can start if he works on it and I think any starting pitcher who is solid tends to be more valuable then a one inning pitcher. I would not mind however if Shark spent one last year in the pen, but by doing that we might be hampering his career by not letting him work and developing on starting. Lets not forget that he is still relatively new to the full time starting thing. That is why I would not be unhappy if some RP stepped up in ST (tht is you Gaudin, Wuertz, Guzman, Ascanio) so that we could send Shark to AAA to let him develop.

5. What would the rotation look like? I just read Crasnicks piece on ESPN that the Giants to throw opposing hitters off are going to go with Sea Biscuit Unit Cain Terrible Contract and then Lowry or Sanchez... i say that we go with Z Lilly Demps Marhsall Harden so that we can best give Harden the rest he needs (BTW will we be precautously skipping him? I realyl dont like this idea that we are going into this sayng he might not pitch every fifth day)

6. That is all. Go Cubs