Marmol’s job is safe. In other words, there will always be a closer’s job on the Cubs.

Marmol himself, though, may be well and truly shitcanned in the next few weeks.

Okay, that makes more sense – even for the Cubs.

I was switching between games last night. I went back to the Cubs game in the 9th and saw the bases loaded and no one out. First thought: Oh crap! Marmol! He’s one of the closers on one of my fantasy teams. An infinity ERA outing does not help.

I decided to check his overall stats before I tried to replace him. Until last night when he and his ERA exploded, his raw stats weren’t markedly different from this year’s best closers, Kimbrel and Wilson. The percentage of saves to blown saves is the concern. I was actually surprised to see that he’s pitched almost as many innings as the other two. Just figured he’d have a lot fewer opportunities given the way Kimbrel was being utilized and the way the Cubs were playing.
Conclusion-He’s better in fantasy ball than he appears to be in real life….but wouldn’t be unhappy if the Cubs decided to give Sean Marshall a shot at closing.

BTW – Mr. Bravo, if you are interested in joining a private fantasy league with us next year, (“us” being a few of the HBT commenters and some other equally demented fanatics) let me know. I’ll e-mail the details. I’m sure Craig will be kind enough to send you my e-mail address if you ask. I’ll also send you additional, updated “rules” for my umpire’s drinking game.

Preferably, trade him to the Mutts for a day, who would then turn around and trade him to the Padres for a few days, who would then trade him to the Mutts again, who would decide he’s not the answer to their cheapskate offloading of K-Rod, and trade him to the Gnats, who after four games would make him part of a five-player deal with the Braves, and that would bring us nicely to the trade deadline with the Feesh able to face him 14 times and climb past the strange attractor into the harsh glare of divisional reality again.