As frustrating as Marmol is, I think he still has value in the right trade. He's not going to get two legitimate starting pitching prospects anymore like Mike Adams did at midseason (after the Cubs told the Rangers they didn't have interest in trading Marmol...ugh). But his name still has value, and it's not out of the question that he could be part of a deal for a pretty good player with a similar not-great contract. That's why I brought up the Marlins...if Nunez/Oviedo can't come back, then something like Marmol, Zambrano+money, and a couple of prospects/younger players (Colvin and a prospect?) might interest them for Nolasco and Morrison (if they really are interested in moving Nolasco).
I think there are also situations to exploit this offseason in trades, and I hope the Cubs take advantage of them. With the Dodgers' and Mets' money problems, it's very possible Ethier or Wright could become available for less than their full value. With the epic Braves and Red Sox collapses, who knows what they might be able to be convinced to do? I mentioned it the other day and I think it's even more likely now...the Braves are going to want to add a bat, LF is the obvious place to do it, and Prado (in his second year of arbitration) might be expendable for not that much in return. He's far from perfect at third base, but far better than any non-Ramirez free agents.
I really wish we had a better idea of what Castillo and Clevenger could do at the major league level. It seems like they could end up as John Buck and Koyie Hill, which would mean the Cubs would have one decent backup and one AAAA player. Or, they could turn out to be Ramon Hernandez and Gregg Zaun, which would make Soto very expendable. It's unfortunate the Cubs have been so stuck on Koyie Hill the last two years.