Jason Marquis to the Colorado Thin Airs is official, finally clearly Marquis’ gaudy, and somewhat undeserved salary off the books. Yah for saving some money.

And after Cubs GM Jim Hendry made some comments about getting another pitcher before the season started, the Sun-Times‘ Gordon Whittenmyer speculated that with some more cash at the Cubs’ disposal, they could again be making a play for Jake Peavy.

Please. God. No.

But let’s hold up for a second here: Has anything much really changed? Sure, money was supposedly one of the sticking points in the deal, but as my esteemed colleague wrote somewhere else on these here Internets today, the Cubs didn’t have or weren’t willing to part with the prospects/personnel the Padres wanted the first time around. There’s nothing to indicate that’s changed now. Furthermore, it’s looking like contract clearance for 2010 won’t be given until the new ownership group is in place.

As Hendry previously said and said again yesterday, there’s a couple guys in the bullpen that could fill the starter’s role and there’s certainly a few other free agents the Cubs could target as well.

Or, there’s Jake Peavy. There’s always Jake Peavy.

No Jake Peavy To Speak Of

Multiple reports have the Cubs shipping Jason Marquis and his too large of a salary to the Rockies for reliever Luis Vizcaino. I would think upon reading this news item, there would be some mention of the Cubs freeing up money to go after Jake Peavy one more time. But, no Jake Peavy to be mentioned here. Looks like Sean Marshall and Jeff Samardzija will battle for a starter’s spot. Crazy to think Samardzija could be a starter as soon as next year, but this is also a guy that could have been a first-round draft pick in the NFL, so hey: Go get it, Jeff. {Hardball.}

Return Of the Kirk

Remember Kirk Hinrich? He’s the guy that used to carry the ball up the floor for the Bulls before they drafted that Derrick Rose cat. Looks like he’s going to be back before expected from his right thumb surgery:

Bruce Weber Will Rule Us All One Day

If you give Bruce Weber talent, he will produce a good basketball team on the floor. With Bill Self’s recruits, he led one of the best college basketball teams in recent memory to the national championship game. Last year, without talent, Illinois lost their most games in history.This year, things are on the up and up, as the Illini are now 13-1 after an upset win at No. 9 Purdue last night. The Illini did what they do best: defend the hell out of you. Purdue shot 38 percent from the field and 25 percent from three-point land. {Mark Tupper.}

UPDATES, UPDATES, UPDATES:

Cubs utility stud Mark DeRosa has been shipped to the Indians for Jeff Stevens, Chris Archer and John Caub. Aaron Miles is now a Cub, too. It’s been a busy day for the North Siders. {Bleed Cubbie Blue.}