Guancous

Minnesota is building a new publicly funded stadium, partly to raise revenue for Mauer's new contract. There's no way the Twins won't resign their local hero. The citizens wouldn't let his car get to the airport.

Valid question. Couple in the health related issues with the potential for misconduct, and that was a gamble Hendry was still willing to make. He lost that gamble and he should be forced to suffer the consequences of such a horrible decision. If it was his only bad decision, I could see giving him a pass. He screwed this up beyond comprehension. And it's an unfixable mistake at this point because Silva's contract is now completely unmoveable. The best case scenario at this point is that Carlos Silva gets Tommy John surgery next spring and the Cubs recoup the insurance money. come to think of it, that might explain why the Pirates traded for Matt Morris a few years ago. This trade means Jim Hendry threw away $15 million instead of $20 million. That fact is not commendable. The question should be: which general managers are available and who should be next?

You'd think we'd learn from the last offseason. There's a small chance that someone will be available in January for a below market deal. Look at all the one year deals passed out last year.

I have a question for anyone trying to rationalize this move: Are the 2010 Cubs better without a starting outfielder and throwing Carlos Silva in the mix? I'll bite my tongue if the Cubs end up with a David DeJesus type. I'll be standing on a watchtower if Scott Podsednik is the Opening Day centerfielder.

... THE CUBS' BAD SEASON HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH CHEMISTRY. Bad chemistry didn't take out Aramis for almost half a season, make Soriano and Soto terrible or turn 2nd base a nightmare of pain and suffering and despair until Jeff Baker showed up. Team chemistry had zilch to do with this team reguarly going out there with 3-5 offensive dead spots in the lineup. Carlos Silva will not help rest the bullpen.

Just for curiousity's sake, what was the length of time between Aaron Miles and Carlos Silva getting on the roster?

Illegal behavior is just that. Teammates actually forgive that, also. Heck, Michael Vick kills puppies and he's still playing pro sports. The question is how is anything Milton said or did this year affecting the play of his teammates? No, the question is how would committing a crime affect the play of his teammates? How did we get through 60+ pages without violating Godwin's Law?

Nutshell, meet Jim Hendry's offseason. I gave Jim Hendry the benefit of the doubt last year with the ownership change and desperate economic conditions. This offseason is inexcusable. Rich Harden and Milton Bradley turned into Carlos Silva and maybe Marlon Byrd. Read that last sentence again.

There would be a lot fewer complaints if it was Kevin Millwood coming back. There's so much Silva outrage because he is much worse at playing baseball than Milton Bradley. We made our pitching staff worse and we still have a gaping hole in the outfield.

My boss would fire me if I paid $20 million for an employee, fired him to get $5 million back then replaced him with Bernie Madoff.

One bad trade and everyone turns into Lee Elia. You got to admit, I can't remember a time when a team willfully took on a bad contract this expensive. (And didn't get Miguel Cabrera as well.)

Here's the Fangraphs link that has Bill James' and fan predictions: http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=973&position=P There's also an article up about the trade. It's not in the Cubs favor.

thank you. for all here that absolutely know for a fact of what silva will do, well what's your excuse for what you absolutely knew for a fact of what bradley would have done this year from past history, all of his past history on and off the field? when silva starts trashing the main people who help pay his salary (that would be the fans who show up to the ballyard, buy overpriced concessions and souvenirs), then i'll throw him under the bus. until then silva may or may not do well this year. but none of us knows FOR 100% CERTAIN that he will be a bust this year right now. Remember when the Mariners tried to have a mutiny against Ichiro? Who do you think orchestrated that? For $15 million, Silva better be making balloon animals in the clubhouse. Apparently he's just as bad, if not worse, than Bradley. http://ussmariner.com/2009/03/27/ichiro-returns-to-fetid-odor-of-silva-suggestions/

It's 5, and no. I bet you'll think differently if an injury occurs to some other team, or if at the trading deadline some other team comes along and takes Bradley from Seattle. Giving Bradley away in a salary dump for a career A prospect come July is still going to be a good deal for the Mariners. Hendry however is stuck with Silva for the two years and the money on his contract. Noone is ever going to trade for Silva. At least one team did. I'd trade Silva to the Giants for Angel Villanova, straight up.

He was a PR nightmare on the team that cares more about PR than almost any team in sports. You don't have to like it, but it doesn't make it untrue. That still doesn't make it something that they have to do. How would this "PR nightmare" effect the team? The Cubs stunk last year because 2B turned into a black hole offensively for much of the season, Soto was fat, hurt and awful/had a ton of bad luck and Soriano was bad and playing hurt. Bradley definitely got off to an ice cold start offensively but ended up being a productive player. People aren't going to stop buying tickets and merchandise because of Milton Bradley. Milton Bradley can't make his teammates play worse. Never at any point has moving him beein something they had to do. Who gives a [expletive] if he doesn't like the fans? BECAUSE HE WAS A DISTRACTION IN THE MEDIA, TO HIS MANAGER AND HIS TEAMMATES. NOBODY LIKED HIM AND NOBODY WANTED HIM AROUND. IT WAS A BUSINESS DECISION THAT HE HAD TO BE REMOVED FROM THE CUBS PERFECT, HAPPY, FUZZY, STUPID EXISTENCE. That's just how that [expletive] works. Everyone here is angry because that business decision cost the Cubs a roster spot, removed a productive hitter, added a below replacement pitcher and cost millions of dollars over three years. (Including the buyout. Good God, it never even occurred to me that the 2012 option might get picked up. After today, anything is possible.)

Take a look at this roster from the 2008 Cubs: http://www.baseball-reference.com/pl/player_search.cgi?search=2008+Cubs What has improved? I'll be generous and say Randy Wells is better than Jason Marquis. Otherwise everything remained the same except for age and additional holes in the roster.

Trachsel in 07 was honestly one of the worst Cubs pitchers I have ever seen, I don't think Silva will be quite that bad, but it could be close. Silva was worse last year in twice as many innings: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/trachst01.shtml

The general manager is responsible for creating that situation by doling out a three year/$30 million deal instead of a 1 year/$10 million contract. This entire situation was entirely avoidable. I was excited when Bradley was signed. I thought we would be more durable over three years than Abreu or Ibanez. The market shifted and a third year wasn't even necessary for Abreu. I was wrong. That's why I'm not the GM.

No, that is not the key, because the Cubs lost a player that can be servicable and acquired a player who sucks, but are still playing a large sum of money. You also have to factor in the marginal cost in lost production compared to Silva's ERA that looks like Zambrano's K/9.

Remember all the jokes about Hendry overpaying middle relievers? He trumped them all: The worst middle reliever in baseball for 2 year/$15 million deal. No one let Bill Bavasi know there's a job opening up soon. Serious question: When was the last time the Cubs had a pitcher as bad as Carlos Silva on the roster?

There better be an amazing Part 2 to this plan. Either that or Jay Jackson better turn into 1998 Kerry Wood and Tyler Colvin better turn into Andrew McCutchen.

Behold and weep: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/6880/career;_ylt=AkwNC79pUSO8HIhtwFAxv9mFCLcF

Other than complaining on a message board, how else are people supposed to show their frustration at having an idiot run the team? I love the Cubs, but watching them and having that viewed as supporting Hendry's ability to do his job makes me sad. And mad. I'm already in the boat of watching my Hawkeye basketball team and the Raiders get run into the ground, I don't need another one in the same position. At least we still have Hawkeye football! This trade made the Iowa Cubs a lot more interesting.

Does Silva have any moral clauses in his contract? Maybe we can hire a private detective to follow him around in case he has a dogfighting ring.

It's only been 45 years since the Lou Brock trade. I'm not saying Milton Bradley is a Hall of Famer but intentionally taking on the Carlos Silva contract... it has to be a cry for help. Someone should institutionalize Hendry for his own benefit.