The Sun-Times reports today that the Indians were interested in trading DeRosa for Marshall, http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1643290,CST-SPT-cub29.article. The story doesn't say what else the Cubs would have had to give up -- I'm guessing at least one minor-league arm. But it's an interesting question: Would Marshall have been too big a price to pay to get DeRo back?

My initial reaction was no -- not because I dislike Marshall but because I don't consider him to be a dominant pitcher in any way. Also, I think Fontenot is the least likely of the starting Cubs (yes, I know the plan was for him to platoon with Aaron Miles) to bounce back in the second half. Assuming I'm right, DeRosa would have had a spot when Aramis returns (if Fontenot was having a great season, I don't think we'd care about the whereabouts of DeRosa nearly as much as we do). Still, Marshall has been good out of the pen and he is our only lefty reliever. He provides backup in case Harden gets hurt, and he's a quality guy.

I don't think Hendry is the kind of person who would have refused to get DeRosa back to save face. Maybe he and Lou just thought the price tag was too high. And, if DeRosa had gone to most other teams, I'd agree.

But I think I would have given up Marshall and a prospect to reacquire DeRosa AND to keep him out of St. Louis (or Milwaukee, for that matter). I should also point out that I don't think DeRosa is Ruth, Mays, DiMaggio or even an All-Star -- but he is a valuable player who would have solved a lot of the Cubs issues, IMO.

Finally, if this was discussed in one of the threads, I apologize. Couldn't find any mention of it searching for both players names.

Discuss -- and please don't flame me for DeRosa talk. This is my first (MAYBE second) post on the matter.