With Jason Marquis officially traded, the Cubs’ new fifth starter will be … Candidate X.
Even with four or five young players who might step into that role, general manager Jim Hendry said Tuesday “hopefully, we’ll add another pitcher before Opening Day.”
That certainly will not help quell any Jake Peavy rumors that are likely to pop up again, especially now that the Cubs have more young depth in position players and potential starting pitchers.
If the newcomer isn’t Peavy, it could be a veteran free agent such as Derek Lowe or Andy Pettitte because the Cubs seem to be in a go-for-it-all mode after two early playoff eliminations. They also need some insurance for Rich Harden’s on-and-off right arm.
“We’re going to continue to look for pitching before we get to camp,” Hendry said.
That means left-hander Sean Marshall likely will stay in his swing role, which is where manager Lou Piniella prefers him. Also, the Cubs doubt Angel Guzman, Kevin Hart or Jeff Samardzija are ready to step into such an important role for a contender.
Hendry even mentioned reliever Chad Gaudin, who was 11-13 when he started 34 games for Oakland in 2007.
While Marquis was a favorite of Wrigley Field boo-birds, his numbers will be hard to replace except with a veteran. In two seasons with the Cubs, Marquis had a 23-18 record and 4.57 ERA in 61 starts.
Now, however, he has been traded to Colorado, along with $875,000, for former White Sox reliever Luis Vizcaino. With the deal, the Cubs realized $5 million in payroll savings, some of which might go to pay outfielder Milton Bradley, who will sign this week. Or it could pay part of the $64 million Peavy is due on his current Padres contract.
Vizcaino, who had a 3.73 ERA in 65 outings for the Sox in their 2005 championship season, struck out 49 batters in 46 innings with the Rockies last season and has allowed only a .183 batting average with runners in scoring position for his career.
Used as mainly a specialist to get out right-handed batters last season, Vizcaino should help ease the loss of Bob Howry to free agency and the move of Carlos Marmol to closer. Last season Vizcaino was on the disabled list once while compiling a 1-2 record and 5.28 ERA at age 34.
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dvandyck@tribune.com
