Wheelimus

I almost thought about posting this news under the title "Chicago Acquires Juan Pierre" but decided I couldn't risk the bad karma. Ha.

How about we just tell Bradley to tell reporters he "found Jesus" during the off season and thus everything is different now. Aren't people still supposed to take that excuse at face value without question? :-))

This is really a solid move by all teams here. The Phillies were scared about Lee because he was determined to test Free Agency. The great unknown, and I don't think Philly wanted to get trapped into locking Lee up for 7 years or something. Instead, they get a better pitcher who is allegedly about to sign a 3 year extension. They'll get screwed in dollars per year but the years themselves is the draw. For Seattle, they get a friend for King Felix and a hell of a trade chip next season, sans no trade clause, and the hope that maybe they can talk him into sticking around. Hard to see an obvious loser here.

Sadly I'm not worried at all about them being able to retain Pujols. The way he seems to love St. Louis I don't think he'll go anywhere. He'll either give the Cardinals a discount or help them out in some other way such as deferring. :x

No, I thought what I was saying was pretty simple. Unless you can improve the team, the best move is to stick with Milton Bradley as a starting outfielder in 2010 unless he chooses not to. And the only way he could choose not to is by being a complete moron and not trying to bounce back and keep his nose clean. Why is it inevitable that every week there will be a new Bradley story? Last season he had requested to be allowed to not speak to the media. We made him. And see what we got. Why not just give his way a try and let him keep his mouth shut if he wants? I'm not sure what great trade you think is out there for Milton Bradley that beats that. If it's a swap for Pat Burrell and we're paying money twice (once to get rid of Bradley, once to get rid of Pat The Bat) no thanks.

Disagree. We just freaking hired the hitting coach who Bradley hit 321/.436/.563 for just one season ago. In the end the man was paid to not come to work at the end of last season. Does that really sound like a relationship that cannot possibly be reconciled? Not to me. These are grown men and we're talking about playing baseball for tens of millions of dollars a year. Somehow it could be worked out. A trade is only a good decision if it improves the team. I for one don't give a damn about excuses otherwise.

To be honest, without dumping salary we're really in dumpster diving mode. You can find trash a lot worse than Matt Capps. It's all in the dollars. He was dumped to avoid being paid a raise on $2.45 million in arbitration. If he's deal minded for a one year deal with a team option, why not. Then just find a GM stupid enough to trade for Grabow. Dreaaaaaaam. Dream Dream Dream. And so on.

Hey now, don't act like we don't have any other options. They're easy to find. Option #1 - If Milton Bradley really is this albatross that can't be traded...you release him. Right after idea #500 has failed. It will be March 2010 and you're going to have to do SOMETHING. This worthless baseball player cannot possibly play in the outfield for the Cubs and all. So what do you do? You sign the absolute best outfielder who will willingly sign for the major league minimum. It's all you're going to have baby. And the best player? Barry Bonds. Just imagine it. The senior citizen himself doing the best he can in left. Soriano trying to handle right. Kosuke in center. Let it sink in. Or, you know, we could just bring Milton Bradley to spring training and tell him that his punishment for being a little bitch in 2009 is being in an open competition for a starting position against "whoever the heck is cheap and present." And that every negative press quote will be met with a week on the bench. We sort of get to tell him what to do for the next two years. Sucks to be him. But that's just CRAZY talk. :-))

I'm as ready to toss Jim Hendry into a trash can and watch the New Age Outlaws push him off the stage ala Mick Foley and Terry Funk WWF Raw '98 as the next guy. But thus far, he's done what I'd want. Which is to listen to what deals are available, and do nothing if they make the team worse. Paying Bradley to play for Tampa in exchange for another player we have to pay to play elsewhere makes us worse. Thus far, every rumored scenario makes us worse. I just wish I had faith that doing nothing and just bringing Bradley back was actually an option on his table. I hope he proves me wrong, or pulls one more unexpected great trade out of his sizable posterior. EDIT: I mentioned it earlier in the thread, but if Milton is really that unstable they can just use the original ECW method of bringing Sabu to the ring. Now with video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-XiQTn6WL4 :rotfl:

Hendry is striking out on everyone so far this offseason. Maybe they didn't like what they saw? I think it is funny that Hendry gets crap no matter what. Signs folks early, FU Jim! Possibly waiting to see things materialize, FU Jim! I'm as ready as the next guy to send Jimbo to the unemployment line, but this is really nothing. Would it have been nice to take a cheap gamble on Putz? Sure. But I wouldn't have paid for then $3 million and it may have been Putz's choice. I won't pretend to know what the Sox bullpen looks like beyond Jenks because I don't care, but maybe he thought he'd be higher on the depth chart there.

To go the pro-wrestling well...since this entire soap opera feels like it could be straight off of Monday Night Raw...just use the old ECW method of dealing with Sabu on Milton Bradley. Namely, deliver him to the park in a straight jacket. And only take it off right before he enters the field. Joking and ridiculous...but some of the depictions of Bradleys "mental problems" would leave you with a mental image of Hannibal Lectar tied to a wooden board. Oh well, by the time we pay both Milton Bradley and Pat Burrell to play for other teams there should be enough money left for...nothing. :roll:

If Jimbo somehow pulled of Bradley for Soriano, I'd admit I was wrong, shake his hand, and offer to buy the man as many steaks as he can eat. And I KNOW that is a losing proposition. :-))

Apparently in 2007 the Padres figured out a way to deal with his mental issues. And it would appear that the following year Texas did as well. You know, the team whose hitting coach (who coached Bradley to his thus far career year) we just signed. Face it, the whole "Bradley's a mental case" argument is being overblown and repeated again and again because Bradley is the official scapegoat for managements failures in 2009. If his batting average had of been closer to his career average, he would have put up a .400 OBP. Had he done that and the Cubs made the playoff last year, instead of mentally unstable he would be quirky. Instead of a cancer he'd be a prima-donna, and it would be said with a jovial tone. Trust me, I'm not a Milton Bradley fanboy. But I see us in a hole already outfield wise, with little to nothing of interest on the free agent market besides Mike Cameron. Who, had we not wasted nearly 4 million on Grabow, we could probably afford to sign AND keep Milton Bradley. Which might make him a really expensive 4th outfielder. I'd just rather overpay for our 4th outfielder than wind up paying him the money anyway to start for someone else. While we settle for Sam Fuld as our 4th OF.

Lol, I guess I had that one coming. :-)) Now, more importantly, lets see the Fire Jim Hendry followup.

and won't accomplish anything The idea may be mockable, but it's better than the nothing we've apparently consigned ourselves to while our GM is hard at work making as stupid of a decision as possible. I realize we're beaten down, but even freaking Orioles fans can at least muster a protest outside their stadium when things are getting too stupid.

To me, all of us fans just giving up and accepting a Bradley trade as inevitable are part of the problem. We're giving Hendry the cover to purposely make a stupid decision. So that in a year when Bradley is pushing a .900 OPS while we pay him to play for another team, Jimbo can absolve himself of responsibility by just saying "I had to, the fans demanded it." I'm a fairly poor person so I'm not the right one to bring this up, but I think a full page ad from a dedicated group of Cubs fans saying "JIM HENDRY: PLEASE DO NOT GIVE AWAY MILTON BRADLEY. EVERYONE DESERVES A 2ND CHANCE" in the Tribune would catch his attention. And maybe even shift some of the talking heads talk from inevitable trade to the actual controversy that it is. Unless you can improve the team, you don't make a trade. And if you can't even improve the team by trading the talent AND eating most of the contract you REALLY don't make the trade. Personally, I don't really care about clubhouse rapport. Tell Bradley to show up, don't say a word before the game, don't talk to reporters, and then go home. And tell any of his teammates who choose to be whiny bitches that he'll be gone in two seasons, at the worst, and they just need to grow a set. You're being paid millions of dollars to play a game. You don't get to decide your teammates and you're not always going to like every single one of them. If Bradley doesn't bounce back, the "trade him for nothing and pay his salary too" option will always be on the table. But at least you'd be making it mid-season or in the 2010 offseasoon based on actual facts of his play. And not just freaking out because a primadonna has one down year.

We're all as equally qualified for the job that Looper is most qualified for. Cubs batting practice pitcher.

Seeing as Rich Harden apparently is looking for a one year incentive laden deal to re-build his worth I'd just rather re-sign him.

I'd actually think the longer we hold onto him, the more his value would increase. If he were to bounce back during the first half of 2010, he might become an attractive option. Since half of his 2010 salary would be behind him and the Cubs would probably happily eat the other half to get a good prospect in return. Not willing to wager on myself being right, but I don't think it's worse strategy than trying to trade him when his value is at an all time low.

That apparently there are still lines of coke to be snorted before Jimbo gets dumb enough to trade Bradley for Silva.

I'll miss Fox's bat on our bench, but it's hard to argue against any trade that gets rid of Aaron Miles and gets more than a bag of balls in return. Now I just hope we aren't trading John Grabow + half his salary for a bag of balls next offseason.

So, dump Milton Bradley for pennies on the dollar and then sign a significantly worse player. BRILLIANT.

My first inclination is to bitch about them not offering Harden arbitration...but I'm willing to wait and see what happens. I have a sneaking suspicion that Free Agent prices are going to drop even lower than last year, and teams with money left to spend in February or so are going to make out like bandits. Strangely enough, Jimbo obsessing on unloading Bradley might wind up setting us up for a steal or two. Heh, at least I can dream...

I'd much rather have Vizquel as my middle infield backup at 1 year $1 million than Aaron Miles at 1 year $2.7 million. Omar might be useful as a mentor, especially if you bring up Castro a few months in. All Miles can mentor on is wasting space and robbing stupid GMs.

Has anyone not looked at that list and that price tag and had "expletive" be the first thought in their head?