Backtobanks

Do you really think Bradley hasn't been told to do this during his career? I don't think his teammates are the problem because I think most would deal with it and go play ball, but when you disrespect the manager, coaches, front office, media, and fans in an entertainment venue, you've got to resolve the problem. A lot of posters are forgetting that Chicago is a 2-team city and negative publicity aimed at one team while positive publicity is aimed at the other could jeopardize finances for years to come.

Of course there's a chance of that. But why in the world would the Cubs want to do that? To dump Bradley. I'm not saying it would happen, but I suggested a trade to the Yankees awhile ago that would be an example: Bradley + Marshall/Gorz + Colvin + Stevens/Atkins/Berg for Swisher + Marte. If the Yankees won't do Swisher, tweak the deal and make it for Cabrera while removing one of the pitchers from the Cubs. It's not pretty, but it's better than paying Burrell to sit on the bench and Bradley to play in Tampa. Including prospects is just throwing good money after bad. If the Cubs really just want to get rid of Bradley, they should just get rid of him. There's no reason to give up future assets in order to get a marginally better return. If the Cubs are going to trade prospects, they shouldn't be traded with Bradley. That only dilutes their value. I don't neceassarily disagree but keep in mind that money is an issue and if it would save perhaps $10 over the next 2 years I could see where that might be deemed worth it. A better solution might be to put him on irrevocable waivers like the Red Sox did with Manny Ramirez. Perhaps there's a team willing to take him at that salary. If no one takes him it sends him a message that he needs to shut up and not let things bother him or he'll either be out of baseball in 2 years or have to take a big paycut. Why would a team take him on irrevocable waivers when they can have him now for next-to-nothing and Hendry will pay most of his contract? As for including prospects with Bradley in a deal, the obvious answer is that it gets this sad saga over with and the Cubs can move on. As I stated, it's not going to be pretty, but there is a possibility that Marte, Swisher, or Cabrera could help by playing a role on the Cubs.

Of course there's a chance of that. But why in the world would the Cubs want to do that? To dump Bradley. I'm not saying it would happen, but I suggested a trade to the Yankees awhile ago that would be an example: Bradley + Marshall/Gorz + Colvin + Stevens/Atkins/Berg for Swisher + Marte. If the Yankees won't do Swisher, tweak the deal and make it for Cabrera while removing one of the pitchers from the Cubs. It's not pretty, but it's better than paying Burrell to sit on the bench and Bradley to play in Tampa.

Seems like Cameron on a short term deal wouldn't be all that bad an option at this point. Whats annoying about the Granderson trade and about last year's trades is that it seems as if it went against what Piniella wanted. Piniella wanted Ibanez last year but yet Hendry said no and instead went after bradley. Piniella wanted Granderson this year and it appears that Hendry didnt bendover backwards to get him. Its true that Piniella wanted a left handed hitter after the 08 season but i doubt he ever wanted hendry to trade Derosa or let go of Wood in the process. As a GM yes you do need to make moves but you also need to listen to your manager. I'm starting to lose faith in Jim and if the cubs dont get rid of Bradley somehow, i have a feeling the Ricketts will lose faith and replace him. One of Hendry's faults is that he listens to his manager too much. Lou wanted Granderson one second and wants Cameron the next. As much as Hendry wants to move Bradley, I'm sure Lou has told Hendry he doesn't want Bradley back either. Don't forget that Hendry has to clean up after Bradley makes a media mess, but Lou has to deal with him everyday in the clubhouse and in the dugout.

Maybe there's a chance of packaging Bradley with some interesting prospects (to entice the other team) and getting back a bad contract.

He also thought that the Cubs would move on and sign a CF (Cameron?) and possibly a relief pitcher before going back to the Bradley situation. Apparently Hendry is confident that the Bradley deal (to the Rays while eating most of the second year) will still be there. Also, apparently Ricketts told Hendry that he could spend what he wants now as long as he gets back to the budgetary limit by opening day.

How about expanding the deal. The Yankees are kind of upset with Swisher, so maybe work a deal around him. Cubs get: Swisher + Marte Yankees get: Bradley + Marshall/Gorz + Colvin + Stevens/Berg/Atkins. Money comes out pretty close - Swisher ($6.75, $9, $1 buyout), Marte ($4, $4, $.25), Bradley ($9, $12) Bradley plays LF/RF/DH, Marshall/Gorz replace Marte, Colvin and Stevens/Berg/Atkins replace prospects given up in the Granderson trade. Swisher plays 4th OF/PH/sub 1B and supplies power off the bench. As others have posted, Bradley in NY would be entertaining. Not sure Girardi wants to deal with Bradley.

If we could get money coming back to us in a trade for Carlos Guillen, he could be a decent (but expensive) pinch hitter. He's owed $13 million in both 2010 and 2011, so maybe the Tigers can send $2-$4 million in 2010. He's 34 years old switch hitter with a career line of .287/.358/.446/.804 and hits LHP and RHP equally.

I think all this talk about Theriot is pure nonsense. Everything I've ever read or heard points to the fact Hendry and Piniella love Theriot as a player. Again that's not my opinion, just stating what I've seen and heard.

why would he? Because Hill isn't very good? That's why he's a backup catcher. Backup catchers aren't very good or else they'd be starting catchers. Zing . Is Meph back ? The guy caught every game for over a month, made only 3 errors while throwing out 40% of the base stealers, managed to keep his OBP over .300, and made less than 1/2 a million in a backup role. But lets get someone better, he isn't very good. And then let's all complain about how Hendry replaced a decent backup catcher and paid him too much money.

I certainly agree, but apparently many posters seem to have trouble moving on now that he has been traded. Actually, if these prospects are anywhere near as good as reported, this could turn out to be a great trade.

That's the best joke I've heard this week. =D>

Both of them are non-contenders, broke, and expecting Hendry to give him away and pay his salary. Yep. And guess where Bradley will end up playing? Tampa, Texas or San Diego. Book it. Speaking of Texas, I would still love to see a deal where we get Millwood. I see he's owed $12 million next year and $15 million signing bonus spread over 2011-2015. How about a deal like: Texas gets Bradley + Marshall/Gorz + Atkins/Berg/Stevens Cubs get Millwood + $2 million (2010) + $1.5 million per year (2011-2015) - basically splitting the salary and signing bonus. Getting a bad contract, yet somewhat useful production, like Millwood back would be way better than I would have expected. I'm predicting it to be more like the Marquis trade, though, but with Hendry paying even more of Bradley's salary. I mean, I can understand that Hendry can't hide the fact he has interest in Cameron, but that doesn't help his leverage with Bradley at all, and it actually hurts it. It further proves Hendry wants Bradley gone at all cost. And with Fukudome and Soriano already locking up two of the outfield spots, that leaves Bradley as the odd man out. As if teams needed anymore evidence, however. Hendry wants to dump Bradley is the world's worst kept secret. Another good point about trying for Millwood is that Millwood or Lily could be a valuable trade chip at the deadline if some of our young pitching produces in the first half.

Both of them are non-contenders, broke, and expecting Hendry to give him away and pay his salary. Yep. And guess where Bradley will end up playing? Tampa, Texas or San Diego. Book it. Speaking of Texas, I would still love to see a deal where we get Millwood. I see he's owed $12 million next year and $15 million signing bonus spread over 2011-2015. How about a deal like: Texas gets Bradley + Marshall/Gorz + Atkins/Berg/Stevens Cubs get Millwood + $2 million (2010) + $1.5 million per year (2011-2015) - basically splitting the salary and signing bonus.

Yet two of those teams (Texas and San Diego) have expressed interest in having him back. Both of them are non-contenders, broke, and expecting Hendry to give him away and pay his salary.

You also traded away a guy in Fox who can be useful doing things this team actually need, scoring runs, as opposed to another mediocre arm doing things this team doesn't have that much trouble with. And Miles wasn't brought here to give 170 PAs, part of the problem of having him on the roster was the complete lack of replacement when Ramirez went down. There's an opportunity cost there that is more than just what Miles did. Gray is a 28 year old who wasn't a particularly good minor leaguer and hasn't been a particularly good major leaguer. He's the quintessential dime a dozen bullpen arm. To be honest, Fox was pretty much a dime a dozen slugger who can't hit a slider and can't play defense. When opposing pitchers figured out that Fox was waiting for fastballs, his production went way down.

It will take a miracle for Zambrano to earn his contract. He is at best break even production vs salary now and it is much more likely his value goes down before it goes up. More importantly giving a long contract like that to any pitcher is a bad idea. Fukudome it is still too early to tell but I think that one will work out ok. Everybody complains about long-term contracts, but sometimes you have to offer them or else you'll never sign a FA and you'll lose all of your players to FA. The best that you can hope for is that you catch someone young and productive enough to stay productive through the life of the contract.

But wait, hes a clubhouse cancer, and all his teammates hated him I thought?................. Maybe he got along with Fox. Then again it might not look good for a fringe player to badmouth a team mate the day after being traded.

AMEN!

I'm trying to sift through all of this Hendry-hate to find some logic in some of these posts. Hendry made a mistake in signing Miles, but now we want to criticize him for making a very good trade and dumping Miles because he sent $1 million to the A's? Is it really that complicated? Are you really that blind? I'm not criticizing him for the move. I'm also not applauding him for patching a mistake. Some people got all giddy because he improved the 2006 team, forgetting that the 2006 mess was all his doing in the first place. Some people say he had to go get Soriano because of the complete lack of outfield talent in the system, so they applaud him for that. But the lack of any talent in the outfield was his fault in the first place. Figuring out how to dump Marquis while only paying part of his salary was applauded by many who thought it would be impossible to move Marquis, but he was only in that position because he signed him in the first place. You don't get credit as a GM for putting band aids on your self inflicted wounds. So the only solution is for Hendry never to make a mistake? Hendry is working under a limited budget this year and so far he's cleared some dead weight (Miles, Heilman, Gregg) and saved money while getting some good prospects in return. You don't get credit for putting band aids on self inflicted wounds, but that's better than letting them fester forever.

I'm trying to sift through all of this Hendry-hate to find some logic in some of these posts. Hendry made a mistake in signing Miles, but now we want to criticize him for making a very good trade and dumping Miles because he sent $1 million to the A's? Last year most posters were willing to DFA Miles and eat his whole contract. Hendry got 3 young, cheap players for a player with no position in the NL and Miles and we don't want to give him an ounce of credit for not only correcting a mistake, but turning it into a positive.

I suggested DeJesus awhile ago as a possibility for CF. Not sure what the Royals would want, but Colvin/Fuld + Berg/Stevens + another prospect might pique their interest.

The reason is simple, Hendry didn't sign Polanco. As I've posted often, some posters criticize Hendry for every transaction he makes or doesn't make. Look at the criticism he's getting in the threads about Padilla and Ankiel, even though Bruce pointed out that the rumor about Padilla is false.

I don't place much credence in a press release from the player's agent to a Latin American newspaper which has to be translated into English. This agent must be the Spanish Scott Boras claiming 9 teams are interested.

1. So you wanted him to offer Gregg arbitration? 2. So you wanted to keep Miles? The real offseason hasn't really started yet, but dumping Heilman, Gregg, and Miles looks like addition by subtraction. As for Bradley, I'm sure it won't be pretty, but we'll have to wait and see.