I Don't Like Jason Marquis...He Needs to Go Away

The headline for this editorial piece is pretty self explanatory. I don't like Jason Marquis. I never have. Not since he was in Atlanta. Or St. Louis. But to just saying he needs to go is as brief as Marquis' playoff resume the past four years, so I'll do myself justice and explain.

The only thing Marquis has done well in Chicago is put another name above Sammy Sosa's number so the jerseys are still wearable to games.

But he even screwed that up; while wearing "Sammy's number," Marquis served up Sosa's 600th career home run. Poetic justice or pathetic irony?

Marquis, the Joaquin Phoenix-looking pinch-hitter in training that he is, is a durable, serviceable pitcher that is ideal for the back end of any fourth- or fifth-place team's rotation. He probably should have pulled an Ankiel and learned to play right field years ago; he might have made the Cardinals' post season roster if he had.

But just to say he looks like an actor who recently retired (lead to follow?) isn't good enough. Why do I want Marquis gone?

First of all, he isn't worth his contract. Last year, Marquis earned $6.3 million to pitch 167 innings. He was 11-9 with a 4.53 ERA in 28 starts. His WHIP was an unimpressive 1.45 and he allowed opponents to bat .267 against him. Comparatively, Ted Lilly (who is only approximately 18 months older than Marquis and made an even $8 million last year) went 17-9 with a 4.09 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and .239 BAA in 204 innings pitched.

Secondly, he isn't a bigtime pitcher. He won 15 games in 2004 and he's been sloping downward ever since. The length and term of Marquis contract were never justified in my eyes, but it's additionally frustrating to see his performance slide further while he continues to be under contract. When the Cardinals benched him during their 2006 playoff and World Series run, it should have been a warning to all suitors in free agency. Jim Hendry didn't get the memo.

Thirdly, Marquis fades in the second half worse than Scottie Pippen's hair did in 1994. In the past three seasons, Marquis is 14-18 with a 5.75 ERA and .291 BAA after the All-Star break.

His cumulative monthly ERA's over those same three seasons grows like a Chia Pet, too. In April it's a reasonable 3.93. But in May it's 4.36, June 6.23, July 5.24, August 5.04 and September 5.98. And this is a guy you want at the back end of your rotation? Stephen King couldn't write a book about the rally killing ability of Marquis.

Finally, he's wasting time and space that could, and should, be used to see if we have anything in our farm system. As long as Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden, Lilly and Ryan Dempster are in town, they will be starters numbered one through four (in some order), Marquis will have the lock on the fifth starter spot because of his salary and tenure.

This means all the allegedly talented young arms we have and haven't seen in the bigs, like Sean Marshall, Donnie Veal, Rich Hill, Kevin Hart, etc will continue to either need to refine their abilities in the bullpen at Wrigley Field or wait their turn.

So while Marquis is struggling to get to double digits in wins and keep his ERA under five, there could be another left handed arm (Marshall, Hill) or a more talented fireballing youngster (Hart, Jeff Samardzija) that isn't getting a shot to show what they can do against major league batters.

This is stunting the future of the franchise by making these young arms wait. It's also killing the trade value of any of these pitchers, keeping the Cubs from making deals for a player like Brian Roberts or Jake Peavy, because as long as Marquis is on the roster these players will only have a track record in Iowa.

Marquis has one award to show for his major league career: a 2005 Silver Slugger. Down the stretch in 2008, he was on the field more frequently as a pinch runner than as a pitcher. His ability to pinch hit might be his only redeeming value at this point.

If his contract has a buyout clause, I would beg Hendry to exercise that option and get out of the waste of time and money that is Jason Marquis.

This has been why I don't like Marquis, and why he needs to go away.