Bruce Miles

He signed a Major league contract, so they had to add him, I believe. Correct. They were obliged to add him when they signed him to the major-league contract.

Right now, it's too early to tell whether or when he'll be able to pitch again. He's one of the nice guys in the game.

Do you know if the contract was insured? I'm guessing that it wasn't since it wasn't big in the scheme of things, so I expect they assumed the risk. From what I understand, it was not insured. It was a straight, guaranteed deal.

Cubs are on the hook for the whole deal.

Eyre has a partial no-trade. They're not looking to move him. The way Hendry values the bullpen they'll definitely keep him if the Cubs are contenders.

Thanks Bruce. Any news on if the Cubs are eating the remainder of his contract or if there is some settlement on the matter? I'm working on that.

Cubs made our scoop-let official today by releasing Glendon Rusch. Nice guy. He also was the "tech services" department in the clubhouse, helping other guys with their computers and iPods. Wow, how the game has changed.

As I've said before, you don't have to worry or get your hopes up about the Cubs signing him. It ain't going to happen.

Maybe I can still give you guys the play-by-play again from that always exciting first intrasquad game.

You have to ask yourself though, how much is a guy worth if there's a 50% chance he'll never pitch for my big league club and a 75-80% chance that when/if he returns, he won't be pitching anywhere close to the level he once achieved. At this point, we're talking about a guy who has pitched more than 200 IP just once in a 5 year career and the next closest season was 166.2 in 2005, where he pitched decently but by no means great. Any team that signs a guy like Prior for more than one season is taking a huge gamble they'll end up eating a lot of money. Someone might give him a better contract for a single season, hoping to catch lightning in a bottle, knowing even if they do he might price himself out of their range in the offseason. Moreover, I don't see a lot of teams taking a big money chance on an injury risk. The market is high this offseason for pitching but, remember what the most important factor in pitchers getting contracts this offseason has been, innings pitched. Wouldn't we have gotten a draft choice if the Cubs had not offered arbritration and Prior left? I forget how that works but depending on how high the choice is, it might have been worth it to let him walk. No. The only way for the Cubs to have gotten rid of Prior was to nontender him in December. Then he would have become a free agent by virtue of that. He is not eligible for six-year free agency and would garner no draft pick in return had he signed elsewhere.

, I noticed that CM was one of their freelancers in the late 1990's. Given that she's used to writing positive pieces on the Cubs, I no longer question why she was hired for the website. that doesn't explain why she gets a vote for the HOF. Before she worked for MLB.com, she was a baseball writer for AP and UPI for many years and a member of the BBWAA for more than the 10 required to vote for the Hall of Fame.

Those are Perez's expectations. His situation will be similar to that of Grissom last year. If he has a great spring, he's got a shot. If not, the Cubs will give him the choice between Iowa or looking for another job. Ok, thanks for clearing that up. I realize the Cubs need players for spring training and to fill positions in the minors, but Perez really seems like a player for a team with a low budget desperate for anyone that can play SS. Maybe even all those spots are taken. They are taken. We already have Izturis, Cedeno, and Theriot. Even at Iowa Perez would just be a waste of space. Which is why you probably won't even have to worry about it.

Not really. The Cubs would have cut him had he not retired. He just made things easier for them and went out with a "retirement" instead of being cut. I thought Dusty said the final spot would have been his. I could be wrong though. Jim Hendry had a small say in the matter.

Those are Perez's expectations. His situation will be similar to that of Grissom last year. If he has a great spring, he's got a shot. If not, the Cubs will give him the choice between Iowa or looking for another job. Ok, thanks for clearing that up. I realize the Cubs need players for spring training and to fill positions in the minors, but Perez really seems like a player for a team with a low budget desperate for anyone that can play SS. Maybe even all those spots are taken.

Those are Perez's expectations. His situation will be similar to that of Grissom last year. If he has a great spring, he's got a shot. If not, the Cubs will give him the choice between Iowa or looking for another job.

Not really. The Cubs would have cut him had he not retired. He just made things easier for them and went out with a "retirement" instead of being cut.

Hey Bruce - if you are willing to give us some interesting insight, who were some of the worst when going through tough times? Who were some of the nicest players to deal with, and who were some of the toughtest? I understand if you don't want to touch that, but it would be real interesting to know from a fan's perspective. Dempster always has been one of the best, if not the best. Murton was fine, and I never had one problem with Jacque Jones, although he could get a little defensive. He usually had a smile. Barrett is terrific, and Derrek Lee is the same win or lose _ quiet but very gracious. Zambrano has been good to deal with. The most impressive thing I ever saw with him was when he volunteered to serve as interpreter for Juan Mateo. I remember when Carlos could barely speak English. He did a great job as interpreter, and I told him so. I wasn't a big Phil Nevin fan. He always carried the "I'm a jock and you're not" persona. Some of that rubbed off on Ohman, who can be very engaging at times. Prior and Wood seemed to go into shells a little bit. I suppose you can't blame them for not wanting to talk about injuries every day. Over the years, I've gotten on really well with most of the guys. So Bruce, how was Sammy to deal with? Sammy was interesting. At times, he was the most accessible superstar in the game. He'd grant anybody an interview. He'd say a lot of cliche stuff, but he'd do the interview. At other times, he was downright petulant. He'd bristle over seemingly tame questions. I grew weary of his favoritism toward the Chicago Sun-Times, a paper that clearly took the see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, report-no-evil approach when it came to Sammy, at least until the corked bat incident. Overall, I got along with him just fine, but you can see how one guy getting special treatment from a team can cause problems.

Hey Bruce - if you are willing to give us some interesting insight, who were some of the worst when going through tough times? Who were some of the nicest players to deal with, and who were some of the toughtest? I understand if you don't want to touch that, but it would be real interesting to know from a fan's perspective. Dempster always has been one of the best, if not the best. Murton was fine, and I never had one problem with Jacque Jones, although he could get a little defensive. He usually had a smile. Barrett is terrific, and Derrek Lee is the same win or lose _ quiet but very gracious. Zambrano has been good to deal with. The most impressive thing I ever saw with him was when he volunteered to serve as interpreter for Juan Mateo. I remember when Carlos could barely speak English. He did a great job as interpreter, and I told him so. I wasn't a big Phil Nevin fan. He always carried the "I'm a jock and you're not" persona. Some of that rubbed off on Ohman, who can be very engaging at times. Prior and Wood seemed to go into shells a little bit. I suppose you can't blame them for not wanting to talk about injuries every day. Over the years, I've gotten on really well with most of the guys. Who was the guy who threw a ball by some media members' head? Stynes? What about the former media relations person? I was listening to the score the day they said she was leaving, and Boers/Bernstein were going off on her talking about how everybody in the media felt she treated them like crap. Stynes threw a ball at a Tribune reporter back in 2002. True to form, he missed. The Cubs' media-relations director left at the end of 2006, but I got along just fine with her. I'm sure the way the media guys are treated depends a lot on the attitude they bring to the clubhouse. If some writer or reporter is a jerk and coming in to put a negative spin on everything the player or the team does, he/she will be treated negatively. If you are a fair and balanced reporter and show some respect, respect will be given to you. That might explain why Bruce gets along well with most of the Cubs. I would guess this is especially true in dealing with the over-the-top egos that many professional athletes (and reporters) possess. Yeah, there are enough egos on both sides to go around. You've pretty much hit it: If you show some respect, you'll get it in return. I have a tremendous amount of respect for what these players do _ this game is damned hard _ and for how hard they work. My approach always has been to ask a guy if he has a few minutes, do the interview and then thank him for his time. Sometimes, a guy will want to shoot the breeze for a few minutes afterward. If not, I don't try to force it.

Hey Bruce - if you are willing to give us some interesting insight, who were some of the worst when going through tough times? Who were some of the nicest players to deal with, and who were some of the toughtest? I understand if you don't want to touch that, but it would be real interesting to know from a fan's perspective. Dempster always has been one of the best, if not the best. Murton was fine, and I never had one problem with Jacque Jones, although he could get a little defensive. He usually had a smile. Barrett is terrific, and Derrek Lee is the same win or lose _ quiet but very gracious. Zambrano has been good to deal with. The most impressive thing I ever saw with him was when he volunteered to serve as interpreter for Juan Mateo. I remember when Carlos could barely speak English. He did a great job as interpreter, and I told him so. I wasn't a big Phil Nevin fan. He always carried the "I'm a jock and you're not" persona. Some of that rubbed off on Ohman, who can be very engaging at times. Prior and Wood seemed to go into shells a little bit. I suppose you can't blame them for not wanting to talk about injuries every day. Over the years, I've gotten on really well with most of the guys. Who was the guy who threw a ball by some media members' head? Stynes? What about the former media relations person? I was listening to the score the day they said she was leaving, and Boers/Bernstein were going off on her talking about how everybody in the media felt she treated them like crap. Stynes threw a ball at a Tribune reporter back in 2002. True to form, he missed. The Cubs' media-relations director left at the end of 2006, but I got along just fine with her.

Hey Bruce - if you are willing to give us some interesting insight, who were some of the worst when going through tough times? Who were some of the nicest players to deal with, and who were some of the toughtest? I understand if you don't want to touch that, but it would be real interesting to know from a fan's perspective. Dempster always has been one of the best, if not the best. Murton was fine, and I never had one problem with Jacque Jones, although he could get a little defensive. He usually had a smile. Barrett is terrific, and Derrek Lee is the same win or lose _ quiet but very gracious. Zambrano has been good to deal with. The most impressive thing I ever saw with him was when he volunteered to serve as interpreter for Juan Mateo. I remember when Carlos could barely speak English. He did a great job as interpreter, and I told him so. I wasn't a big Phil Nevin fan. He always carried the "I'm a jock and you're not" persona. Some of that rubbed off on Ohman, who can be very engaging at times. Prior and Wood seemed to go into shells a little bit. I suppose you can't blame them for not wanting to talk about injuries every day. Over the years, I've gotten on really well with most of the guys.

But Bruce, if he sometimes found himself not as prepared as he should be, he's no better than that good-for-nothing Paris Hilton wannabe Rex Grossman. :jocolor: I was a little confused by this paragraph: “Somebody said, ‘Oh, they’re going to be kind of rough on you at the convention,’ and I said, ‘Why?’æ” Dempster said. “I’m ready. I said, ‘If there’s any animosity toward me, I’ll change all that in the first couple weeks of the season.’ Was he saying he couldn't understand why a fan would be hard on him? I do get a little bit of a sense that Dempster was walking the tight line between showing optimism about next season and potentially blaming negative fan attitudes for any lack of success. Coming off the Dusty Baker era, maybe I'm too sensitive to anything that resembles the us vs the world, excuse laden environment around the Cubs. I do like Dempster and I'm fine with him as closer. I'm not particularly happy they are contractually obligated to pay him for 2 more seasons though, as the less than elite relievers can fall apart rather quickly. But the Cubs are going to win or lose with their lineup and rotation. No, he wasn't blaming fan attitudes at all. He was blaming himself. I just think he was trying to be optimistic about how he'll be treated. He acknowledged he could get some boos but he vowed to turn them into cheers with his performance.

Dempster is one of those guys I pull for on a personal level. He remained civil to us during all of his struggles last year and didn't make excuses. He sounded very upbeat when I talked to him. I hope the fans cut him a little slack at the convention.

Not necessarily. This happens a lot with top draft picks. They negotiate in an invite to spring training the following year. Huh, no kidding. Never knew that. Thanks! Also, I predict Colvin ends next season in Daytona. Daytona sounds about right.

Not necessarily. This happens a lot with top draft picks. They negotiate in an invite to spring training the following year.

No, from everything I hear, he'll be fine. He got through the difficulties with healing last year.