Saturday, September 26, 2009

Milton Bradley Rumors....

Who would have thought that Milton Bradley would have teams calling the Cubs. Bradley who has tons of bagage has the Padres, Giants, Rangers, Rays and Mets intrested in him. The Cubs are said to be confident they can deal Bradley without paying the majority of this 2 years 21 million left on his contract. Bradley can be either traded for a bad contract or the Cubs could pay more of his contract to get a better player.

Here are some players the Cubs could target if they deal Bradley to one of the teams above.

Padres-
minor leaguers- The Padres do have Adrian Gonzalez but the Cubs already have a first baseman and do not want to overpay for Adrian so they would have to deal with receiving some minor league players.

Giants-
Aaron Rowand- He is owed 36 million over the next 3 seasons but if the Giants pay the difference or take on Miles contract I can see a deal getting done here. Rowand is a personal favorite of mine and would really look good in CF for the Cubs.

Edgar Renteria- Him and Lilly do not get along but the money basically a push. Not likely for the Cubs.

Jonathan Sanchez- The Cubs would have to put in some money to get this done but it is still a possibility.

Rangers- Not likely to happen, not that interested.
Kevin Millwood- Owed 12 million next season. Would love him in the rotation for the Cubs. The Cubs would have to pay over half Milton's contract to get this done.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia- Rangers not to impressed and have picked Teagarden and Rodriguez over him. Him and Soto behind the plate would be nice next season.

Rays- Matches up the best
Pat Burrell- Have had issues with some players on the Rays. Owed 9 million next season.

Carl Crawford- It will take a lot more to land Crawford than just Bradley.

Akinori Iwamura- If his 4.25 million dollar option is picked up this could be a big peice for the Cubs next season.

Willy Aybar- Again would have to kick in more money to get it done.

BJ Upton- Being shopped and will take more than Bradley to get him.

Mets-
Oliver Perez- Enough said.

Here are some other players I came up with for the Cubs to look into.
?

Gary Matthews Jr.- Same pay, no way the Angels say no.
Eric Byrnes- Who would say no?
Juan Pierre- I would do this in a second but I do not think the Dodgers would without more incentive
Carlos Guillen- That would be interesting.
Dontrelle Willis- A headcase but would like him over Oliver Perez
Nate Robertson- Another lefty possibility.
Aaron Cook


I give the Cubs a 90% chance they deal Bradley. I think the Giants, Rays, and Padres are the most likely of landing places.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Cubs Like Cameron and Union to file Grievance?

-The Chicago Cubs are going to get rid of Bradley this off season and Mike Cameron could fill his void. The Cubs are looking to add a CF this off season and move Fukudome back to RF where he is more comfortable. The Cubs are looking for a one year guy to fill the CF void until Tyler Colvin is ready and Cameron could fill that void. He has been a good clubhouse guy and a leader for the Cubs.

Another inexpensive stopgap they should consider is Marlon Byrd, Andruw Jones, Mark Kotsay, or even Randy Winn.

- The players union may file a grievance for Milton Bradley because of this suspension.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Milton Bradley..... and Other Cubs Notes....

- Players did not shy away from commenting on the suspension of Milton Bradley. Dempster hit it right on the head!

- Milton Bradley for Oliver Perez? Joel Sherman said the Cubs and Mets should look into it. I say no to this deal. While I am in favor of trading or getting rid of Bradley, I do not like this trade. One headache for another does not make to much sense for either club. Now how about Bradley for Castillo? I would do that!

- The Cubs designated Thomas Diamond for assignment to make room for Tyler Colvin. He did well in his ML debut going 1 for 3 with a RBI.

- The Cubs activated Reed Johnson off the DL.

- Lou said since the Bradley suspension the clubhouse has been loose and fun again. He also stated they have moved on and with some moves this off season the Cubs will be back in the playoffs next season.

- Buster Olney said that Texas Rangers would NOT welcome back Milton Bradley. Kind of a shocker considering how well he did with them. He did say the Padres may want him back but only if the Cubs pay almost all his contract I assume. Buster did say the Cubs would have to pay 18-19 million of the 21 million left on Bradley's contract to get any deal done.

- The Indians are looking to unload Wood and his 10.5 million dollar contract so they can rebuild. Could the Cubs trade Bradley for Wood straight up if the Cubs pay 14 million of Bradley's contract? Could they trade Bradley for Wood and Peralta? Wood and TJ recovery man Jake Westbrook? There may be a trade partner here for the Cubs considering the small market Indians and the thought of Bradley doing some DH work.

- Aram did not have a comment on his 14.6 million dollar player option for 2011. That is worry some but we can worry about that later.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Bradley Good As Gone and other Cubs Notes....

- The Chicago Cubs have suspended Milton Bradley for the rest of the season. Bradley who has recently took shots at the Cubs and in the past called Cub fans racist is finally gone. This guy is just a POS and does not deserve to get paid millions of dollars to play a kids game. While the Cubs will have a hard time finding takers on Bradley I think they could trade him by picking up most of his contract or taking on another contract near 20 million over the next two years.

I do not care if Bradley hits .400 with 50 homers and 150 RBI next season with someone else, I would not regret trading or releasing him if the Cubs do in fact do that. He is a cancer on baseball.

- Baseball Prospectus says the Cubs will try to sign John Grabow and Reed Johnson before the reach free agency. They also say that Jake Peavy for Carlos Zambrano deal this off season would not surprise some in Chicago. I would do that in a second.

- Mark DeRosa is willing to return to Chicago next season.

- Zambrano said he does not plan to waive his no trade clause but a lot can change from now until the start of the next season.

- Here is a trade scenario for you..... Carlos Zambrano and Milton Bradley for J.D. Drew and Dice-K. Would the Sox do that? Would the Cubs? There is only a 4 million dollar difference in the contracts, so that should not be an issue.

Until Next Time Cub Fans....