Backtobanks

The bottom line is that: 1. Hendry made a mistake in signing Bradley. 2. Bradley wasn't the reason the Cubs didn't win the NL Central. 3. Bradley didn't meet expectations on the field and complicated matters by criticizing the front office, team mates, fans, and the media. 4. The chances of the Cubs making the playoffs center around other issues (health, rebound seasons, etc.) more than Bradley-Byrd. Trading Bradley for Silva is a bad deal for the Cubs, but add on Byrd (with cash from the deal) and I think the Cubs come out ahead. I think Byrd's numbers will easily surpass Bradley's 2009 numbers.

So now the city of Chicago was the problem since he was good before he got here. I still find it amazing that some posters are still blaming the media in Chicago for his troubles. This guy has had a history of mental issues for a decade. As for the expectation of 30 HRs, how about expecting him to bat 5th, play a decent RF, and try to act civilized for a year. He ended up as a disappointment as a hitter, fielder, and civilized person.

From MLBTR: Milton Bradley told Tyler Kepner of the New York Times that "obviously, it was something with Chicago, not me." Bradley says the Cubs tried to make him a player he's not, expecting 30 home runs.

As for Lee, I think Hendry and Lee will find some room for compromise on a 2 year deal. I don't think Ramirez will exercise his option and will return. The bottom line is that if either (or both) leave, the Cubs will have a ton of money and two gigantic holes in their lineup. Being a big-market team with a new owner, I can't see the Cubs being satisfied with a couple of years of Lyle Overbay-type production at 1B just because he's LH.

All the runners would be safe because he would hop (off the bag) on every throw. :-))

When I copied and pasted it, it didn't come out lined up. I tried editing, but it still didn't line up. You can find Rosenthal's column at foxsports.com.

He thinks it's time to seperate the Yankees and the Red Sox to give the other 3 teams a chance. MODEST REALIGNMENT In this scenario, the Red Sox and Tigers switch divisions, and the Astros move to the AL West. Each league would include 15 teams rather than the current 16 and 14, requiring an inter-league series to be played at all times. AL East AL Central AL West NL East NL Central NL West Yankees Red Sox Angels Braves Cubs Dodgers Tigers White Sox Rangers Phillies Cardinals Giants Rays Twins Mariners Mets Brewers Diamondbacks Orioles Indians Athletics Marlins Reds Rockies Blue Jays Royals Astros Nationals Pirates Padres Advantages: • The Yankees and Red Sox are broken up, creating better opportunities to reach the postseason for other teams in the East: the Rays, Orioles and Blue Jays. • The Yankees and Red Sox would play each other fewer times under an unbalanced schedule, increasing the odds that each would reach the postseason — and satisfying MLB’s television partners, including FOX. • The Astros would play in the same division as the Rangers, their in-state rivals. Disadvantages • The Tigers would be sacrificial lambs for competitive balance, moving from a division without an economic super power to one that includes the Yankees. • Fans of the Yankees and Red Sox would lament the change in their historic rivalry. RADICAL REALIGNMENT The current leagues and divisions are completely torn up, with geographic rivalries receiving a greater emphasis. Each league would include 15 teams. AL Atlantic AL Great Lakes AL Pacific NL East NL Midwest NL Southwest Mets Twins Dodgers Red Sox Cubs Diamondbacks Yankees Pirates Angels Phillies Cardinals Rockies Blue Jays Indians Athletics Braves White Sox Rangers Orioles Tigers Giants Marlins Brewers Astros Nationals Reds Mariners Rays Royals Padres Advantages: • The best of the inter-league series (the regional and intra-city rivalries) would become a staple of the regular season. • The idea of playing an inter-league series at all times would be less offensive; the old league boundaries would be gone. • The Red Sox and Yankees would be split, with each inheriting a new high-revenue division rival: the Phillies would play in the Red Sox's division, the Mets in the Yankees'. Disadvantages • The historic integrity of the leagues would be lost. •Combining teams from both leagues would require MLB to either use the designated hitter for all 30 clubs or abandon it completely. • The All-Star Game would carry less meaning and likely would need to be restructured. • The two Florida teams would remain at a competitive disadvantage, playing in the same division as the Red Sox and Phillies. REVENUE REALIGNMENT Teams are grouped in greater accordance to their revenues and geographic considerations. AL Money AL Budget AL Southeast NL Great Lakes NL West NL Southwest Yankees Blue Jays Braves Cubs Dodgers Diamondbacks Mets Pirates Nationals White Sox Angels Rockies Red Sox Royals Orioles Cardinals Mariners Rangers Phillies Reds Marlins Tigers Giants Astros New Jersey A's Indians Rays Twins Brewers Padres Advantages: • Most low-revenue teams would stand a greater chance of reaching the postseason. • The big-money teams in the northeast would fight it out with one another. • New York would gain a third team, cutting into the economic might of the Yankees and Mets. Disadvantages • The historic integrity of the leagues would be lost. • Several low-revenue teams still would play in the same division as high-revenue clubs. • The postseason would be less appealing with poor teams facing the rich. • Combining teams from both leagues would require MLB to either use the designated hitter for all 30 clubs or abandon it completely.

Another important point is that bringing Castro up too soon could destroy his confidence and development. I'm sure that when the people in charge decide he's ready, he will be brought up especially since Hendry has basically told Theriot the same thing.

I'd be more worried if Lou or Hendry said it instead of Zambrano. The last time I looked Carlos wasn't in charge of personnel.

From MLBTR: Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com says that the Cubs have some interest in Luke Gregerson and/or Jason Frasor. I've heard Frasor's name tossed about before, but not Gregerson. Gregerson's numbers are pretty impressive and he's only 25 years old.

From Foxsports: The White Sox’s exact offer is not known, but right-hander Dan Hudson and catcher Tyler Flowers were two of the players discussed, according to sources. The Jays, seeking young, affordable talent, surely inquired about second baseman Gordon Beckham as well. There is no chance the White Sox would have parted with a budding star such as Beckham unless they were able to sign Halladay to a contract extension -- something that might have been out of reach, given the team’s payroll limitations. Then again, a one-year rental of Halladay would have made little sense. Williams, endlessly creative, surely had it all figured out. In the end, though, he never had a chance of assembling his dream rotation. Halladay only would go to certain teams, and the White Sox were not on his list. -Ken Rosenthal Like I said in the original post, KW is delusional if he thought he could get Halladay for a package centered around Flowers and Hudson.

From MLBTR: Chuck Garfien of CSNChicago.com spoke to White Sox GM Ken Williams, who said that he nearly pulled off a deal that would have possibly given the club the best rotation in the history of the game. Williams wouldn't name names, but Garfien believes that he was referring to Roy Halladay. Just who does KW think he has in his farm system that he was going to trade for Halladay. I guess a deal centered around Beckham and Danks might be a start.

Seems like the smarter decision to wait until ST to test the knee. Amen to that! Now that he's not a "lead-off man", he can concentrate on power instead of stolen bases. Not much reason to steal when you're the #5 or #6 hitter.

What's so amazing about a bunch of Cubs fans focuing primarily on the dumassedry that comes out of the Cubs GM's mouth while not paying particular attention to what another team's GM says? My point is that the Hendry-bashers need to open their eyes and ears and realize that most of the other GMs are making the same comments and moves that Hendry is making.

Before the economic crunch, the only justification to sign with the Yankees was money.

Meanwhile, Kenny Williams said the WS considered Jermaine Dye, "but our biggest need would be a left-handed bat". It's amazing that so many posters criticize Hendry for all of these "left-handed" comments when Williams is saying the same thing.

From MLBTR: The Yankees signed pitcher Chan Ho Park, according to Korean reports.

Well he had better prove he's healthy and can play like he did before the injury because $11 million is nothing to laugh at. I agree he will end up with some serious money and years, but there aren't many SS make $11 million per year. Hanley, Jeter, Furcal, Rollins could be getting there soon, ARod who is still the best SS on his team, Carlos Guillen signed his deal as a SS and has transitioned away. Michael Young did as well. It's not that hard to get $11m a year as a SS. Hanley will be getting there soon, while Jeter and Young (now playing 3B) are already there. Rollins and Furcal had bad years and may not ever get to $11 million. Guillen last played SS in 2007 and was making $5 million. Also, many of these contracts were signed when money was free-flowing and that's certainly not the case now. That being said, there's still less than 10% of the SS making $11 million, so it's not that easy to make $11 million as a SS. Less than 10% doesn't mean much, considering salaries are kept artificially low due to the 6-year control of players, and shortstopping is a young man's game. It's still a premier position, and if you can get to free agency before, say, 32, and are pretty good, you are going to get paid. That's true, but it also means that many SS start at a younger age (like Hanley and hopefully Castro), so they should be able to reach free agency well before they're 32.

Well he had better prove he's healthy and can play like he did before the injury because $11 million is nothing to laugh at. I agree he will end up with some serious money and years, but there aren't many SS make $11 million per year. Hanley, Jeter, Furcal, Rollins could be getting there soon, ARod who is still the best SS on his team, Carlos Guillen signed his deal as a SS and has transitioned away. Michael Young did as well. It's not that hard to get $11m a year as a SS. Hanley will be getting there soon, while Jeter and Young (now playing 3B) are already there. Rollins and Furcal had bad years and may not ever get to $11 million. Guillen last played SS in 2007 and was making $5 million. Also, many of these contracts were signed when money was free-flowing and that's certainly not the case now. That being said, there's still less than 10% of the SS making $11 million, so it's not that easy to make $11 million as a SS.

Well he had better prove he's healthy and can play like he did before the injury because $11 million is nothing to laugh at. I agree he will end up with some serious money and years, but there aren't many SS make $11 million per year.

From MLBTR: Jose Reyes tells Kevin Kernan of the New York Post that he wants to finish his career with the Mets. Reyes says he's not thinking about the $11MM option the Mets have for his services in 2011 "he's not thinking about the $11MM option" :pig: :pig: :pig: :lol: :lol: :lol:

While I agree that it seems that whatever can go wrong will go wrong for the Cubs, I can't see a 3rd or 4th place finish. Most everything went wrong last year and they finished over .500 and in 2nd place. Everything would have to go right for the Reds, Brewers, or Astros to finish ahead of the Cubs.

Okay, I believe Thomas was clean, but I still wouldn't be shocked if his name ever comes out.

And no results have been posted except for a few names that were leaked. Again, I'm not saying he used, I'm just saying that nobody knows anything about the results. That would be an incredibly bizarre scenario if he was demanding that he be tested each year will using anything he shouldn't have been. I think we'd be letting the paranoid and melodramatic attitude towards steroids in baseball reach new heights of ridiculousness if we act like such a sceanrio is likely. Again, I'm not saying he used anything, but all I'm saying is that in this age of cynicism nobody would be totally shocked if his (or anybody's name) is linked in the future. It reminds me of the 60's when all of the government lies about Viet Nam came out and we had years of not believing anything the government said.

And no results have been posted except for a few names that were leaked. Again, I'm not saying he used, I'm just saying that nobody knows anything about the results.