Ah the life of a Major League GM. You basically get to play fantasy baseball will real players and other people's money. The only drawback is that you have people like me scrutinizing your every move.
Take the recent Carlos Marmol signing. On the face of it, its a pretty good deal for the Cubs and Marmol. The Cubs signed Marmol to a 3 year, $20 million deal, effectively locking him up through his arbitration years. Marmol gets $3.2 million in 2011, $7 million in 2012 and $9.8 million in 2013. He could have easily made more in arbitration in any of those years. Thus, the Cubs get cost certainty and Marmol gets financial security.
However, there are two things that make me nervous about this deal.
First, every year it appears that Marmol is one hiccup away from developing full-on Steve Blass disease. Just two years ago, he gave up 65 walks in just 74 IP (7.9 BB/9). In 2010, he cut down on the walks, giving up "only" 52 in 77.2 IP (6.0 BB/9). He is an ulce...
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