Shaun Marcum: Jewel of the Free Agent Class?

Did you know Shaun Marcum was free agent? This was news to me recently and I realized that people aren’t making a big enough deal out of it. Shaun Marcum has the potential to be a big time starting pitcher and while there are significant red flags including his injury history and postseason numbers, Marcum’s regular season successes should appeal to a whole host of teams looking for rotation help. Marcum has always had great stuff. In fact, he’s usually had pretty good success in the major leagues too. It was a big deal when the Brewers landed Marcum from the Blue Jays before the 2011 season, the year they decided to go for it all. Over his career, Marcum has a 3.76 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Those number look even better when you take away his rookie season. Sine then, he’s 54-32 with a 3.67 ERA, a 1.18 WHIP, and a 2.82 K/ BB ratio. The story is more complicated than that however. Marcum missed all of 2009 after having Tommy John surgery  but has come back strong afterwards. Since coming...