Last season, we provided our loyal Goat Readers with our take on our team's stars. It was such a success, we decided to do it again this year. First out of the gate is Jason Marquis, who earned the unfortunate title of "Marquis de Suck" last season. How will he do this year?

Well, maybe not that badly.  (Note to our Sun-Times readers ... to view the photoshop created for this article, you'll have to click through to our blog to actually see it.  But, to be honest, it's not the best I've ever made ... or even in the top 100.)

Last season, Jason Marquis was - dare I say it - an integral part to the Cubs success. He made 33 starts, threw 191 innings of work, won 12 games, and he actually gave the Cubs three months of solid-if-sometimes-stellar work. Unfortunately, the season is more like six months in length, and while Good Marquis was a pleasure to watch, Bad Marquis left Cub fans hammering their heads into walls.

It's really a tale of two seasons. Let's directly compare:

The Three Good Months: 15 starts, 101 innings pitched, 38 earned runs, a 3.38 ERA, a 7-4 record.

The Three Months that Made You Cry: 17 starts, 90.2 IP, 60 earned runs, a 5.96 ERA, a 5-5 record.

It's hard to determine, then, if Marquis was really a bust or not, even though Lou Piniella seemed to prefer running nails through his hand as opposed to letting Marquis pitch in October. Jason is still young - 29 - and he may still put up good numbers. He has displayed talent, but he's never shown that he can maintain a quality level of performance over the course of the season.

What he does do, though, is eat innings. Marquis should be in the rotation. Who knows, maybe he won't stay there for very long this year. Maybe he'll start out slowly and the Cubs will have to do something to solve the problem. But, it is Spring and we are optimists, and we have to hope and believe that Marquis will continue to be passably mediocre. If, as the #4 or #5 pitcher, he can kick out 12 more wins, then the Cubs will be in a good place. But speaking realistically, it's hard to see that happening for sure. Marquis could go either way on us, and let's hope that he doesn't prove to be another Hendry Bust.

Update - This article was written before it was revealed that Jason Marquis may demand a trade if he fails to crack the rotation. Hey, you can't blame the guy. He's a crappy pitcher at best, and as a starter he's making 8 million a year. As a mediocre reliever, he'll be lucky to command a third of that. I'm sure he is thinking about himself, his career, and in a theoretically team sport, that's a problem.

However, I think this will be much ado about nothing. Hendry will not find a suiter for Marquis, he may not be able to justify putting that big a contract in the bullpen, and I doubt that five of the Cubs seven starters will outperform him this spring. Jason Marquis may very well fail as a starting pitcher, but that failure will be complete by no sooner than June or July.

Well, that's my opinion, anyway.