Guancous

Milton Bradley was worth 9.5 VORP. That put him between Omar Infante and Cliff Pennington. Carlos Silva was worth -9.3 VORP. That placed him 47 spots behind Dontrelle Willis. Once again, the Cubs are now spending 8 figures annually on a guy that may very well pitch worse than all of our AA rotation. Curses.

Here's the worst part of that Larry Stone article:

Wow, I thought turning Bradley into Podsednik was my worst nightmare. Silva has the 2nd worst contract in baseball. I'd rather trade Bradley for Zito, straight up. I've never said this on this forum before but this is a fireable offense. I'll contain my rage until I hear the particulars about the deal. This move looks better if we get Michael Saunders too and cut Silva. The savings over the next five years would counteract some of Silva's money. Otherwise it's the equivalent of signing Andrew Lorraine again to a 2 year/$24 million deal. Unfathomable.

Milton Bradley = Carlos Silva+X. What is an acceptable X? Jose Lopez? Brandon Morrow? Michael Saunders?

That's where my mind is at. But, a few posts before yours, someone said that Seattle might be interested again. I haven't looked, but how bad was Bedard last year? Is he over his injury troubles? Now that they have Cliff Lee along with King Felix, maybe Bedard helps free up some money for them to go after Bay again. We know it won't be Silva unless Hendry is truly feeling career suicidal. Bedard is a free agent. Their two most expensive players are Carlos Silva ($12,000,000!) and Jack Wilson. Neither of those guys make the 2010 Cubs any better.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-mariners-lee&prov=ap&type=lgns I suppose Carlos Silva would be the albatross contract the Cubs would get in return? I much rather KEEP Milton Bradley if it meant not taking on Carlos Silva. I can't imagine Hendry views Jack Wilson as a fill-in until Starlin is ready. I'd rather trade for Corey Patterson than Carlos Silva. He's below replacement level with none of the potential upside of a Randy Wells.

Marlon Byrd? Because the last time Hendry signed a Texas Ranger off a career year worked out so well.

While we're self-flagellating: "And introducing your new GM, Jim Bowden!"

Opening Day, 2010: "Introducing your new leadoff hitter, Coco Crisp!" (Scattered applause and throat clearing)

Since last August, the Phillies effectively traded Carlos Carrasco, Jason Knapp, Lou Marson, Jason Donald and potentially Michael Taylor for Roy Halladay and potentially a Mariners prospect.

Why would anyone keep Matt Capps in a keeper league? 20 keepers per team, 200 total. Any closer with a solid hold on the job has value in this league.

Curious move. I assume Neal Huntington had another motive besides screwing me over in my keeper league: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09347/1020667-63.stm

Here's my impersonation of a casual Cubs fan: "Ah, the winter meetings are over. Let's head over to NSBB and see what the Cubs did. Ah, they picked up a pitcher in the Rule V draft and... nothing else. Wait, Milton Bradley is still on the team?"

It's a pretty stupid one. Does it always have be about race. Maybe it's just about Bradley being a petulant ass while in Chicago, just like he's been his entire career. This really just needs to be done with. Not because the team will be better or worse with or without him, but because he is too much of a mental midget to deal with the situation like an adult. It's only stupid if you don't know what is being said. I never said hating Milton Bradley makes you racist. I never said wanting him gone makes you racist. I never said anything of the sort. I've said repeatedly I think he's an ass. My point is that the mythological creature that is the Cubs fan who would abandon the team due to the presence of Milton Bradley is probably going to be a racist person. It's really not a controversial statement. It makes no accusation about anybody here because I'm fairly certain nobody here is going to abandon the Cubs (even if several people threaten to every season). I'm talking about somebody saying, "I love the Cubs. But Milton Bradley is still on the team so I'm done with the team." A) It's very unlikely to happen. B) That rare creature is probably motivated by racial tendencies. Are you saying that it's impossible for a black fan to abandon the Cubs in a similar fashion? I'm saying nobody is going to abandon the Cubs in this fashion. EDIT: Nevermind, someone already mentioned Todd Hundley.

Oy, I just posted this exact same post in another thread.

Fangraphs has their top 10 Cubs prospects up: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/chicago-cubs-top-10-prospects 2009 draftees are not eligible. 1. Cashner 2. Castro 3. Vitters 4. H-J. Lee 5. J. Jackson 6. Carpenter 7. Flaherty 8. Rhee 9. Watkins 10. Gaub

If Milton Bradley causes such animosity in this thread, imagine what the clubhouse must be like! Woe are the Cubs!

There not locked into anything they just don't want Milton around anymore. Most of the players hate him, most of the coaches dislike him and the common Cubs fan hates him as well. Having Milton on the team is just bad PR and will make them look bad next season. Plus I think they really wanna improve the outfield defense, and that includes moving Fukudome back to RF and getting a new CF. But when it all comes down to it, Ricketts doesn't want Bradley on the team anymore. Otherwise I don't think it would be a must like it is. Emotional decision making processes will turn the Cubs into the Royals.

Worst case scenario: Someone breaks a leg in March and Bradley gets shipped somewhere with severe outfield injuries. Banking on that? Horrible, horrible idea.

Delmon Young is only 24 through next September and had a stronger 2nd half. Would he be a downgrade from Milton Bradley? Certainly. I'd still rather have his upside on the Cubs over Carlos Silva.

At least we'd save millions of dollars. This is like waiting for test results back from your doctor.

Church>Podsednik

Word on the street is that the Marlins turned down Neftali Feliz and Justin Smoak for Josh Johnson. I guess the Marlins have Logan Morrison and Mike Stanton, but wow.

Only if the other team requires it. Byrnes: How about Robinson Cano? Cashman: Make it Phil Coke and we have a deal. Byrnes: Sweet!

As if any trade involving Bradley has us on the edge of our seats eager with excited anticipation and hope for the future. Too bad the surprise team isn't the Diamondbacks. We'd have a shot at Justin Upton.