Time to go

Carlos Marmol
Courtesy of bleachernation.com

Former closer Carlos Marmol was designated for assignment by the Chicago Cubs Tuesday. Frankly, I'm surprised it took the Cubs this long to make that decision.

Marmol has not been the type of lock-down pitcher you'd want to see as your closer. His best season was his first full one as the bullpen's ace (2010) when he earned 38 saves, posted a 2.55 earned run average and struck out 138 batters. After that, Marmol posted diminishing returns each season:

2011 -- 34 saves, 10 blown saves, 4.01 ERA, 99 strikeouts

2012 -- 20 saves, 3.42 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 72 strikeouts in 61 innings pitched

This season, Marmol went from being the closer to being a middle reliever and then being sent home after 31 appearances. A 5.86 ERA, a 1.70 WHIP and 21 walks can do that to a guy.

What happens to Marmol from here depends on whether he can regain the form he showed in 2010. He's still young enough (30) to make a comeback, but he needs to get his mind right and find the reliever that struck out 100 or more batters twice in the last six seasons.

As for the Cubs, this move is purely superficial. It will take a lot more than sending Marmol away to fix all of the problems on the north side of Chicago.