Milton Bradley Talks... Other Notes....

Thanks to MLBTR for this-

Milton Bradley's comments to Gil Lebreton of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram are causing a mini-stir. He spoke about how the Rangers wouldn't commit to him:


"My agent was saying that Jon Daniels was telling him, 'There are days when he doesn’t want to play because of his health.' Well, you can get a healthy guy to go out there and play 162 games, but he won’t do what I did in 120."

As Lebreton said, the comment was "crudely self-serving" but "mostly right" given his production last year. Worse, though, Bradley seemed to admit to prioritizing his stats:


"If I'm being paid, and I've got the commitment to me that I give to them, you make more of an effort to be out there every day. When you're on one-year deals constantly, you've got to put up as good numbers as you can. When you have days where you’re not feeling like you can contribute, you're not going to go out there, because you’re not going to want your numbers to suck. So, if you're in a situation like I am now, if they want me to go out there when I'm feeling a little banged up, I've got no problem doing that because they've made the commitment to me."

To be honest, I cannot disagree with Bradley. He has gone through out his career with only one year deals, if he in fact hurts himself he has no guarantee that he plays next season. He was concerned about getting a multi year deal so he can have some security. Not to mention have someone that actually depended and believed in him. I am glad the Cubs took a chance on Bradley and think it will benefit him and the Cubs in the end.

Here are some other Cubbie notes-

- The Cubs are still keeping tabs on Bobby Crosby but want to subtract some payroll to get him. The Cubs are talking about possibly trading Luis Vizcaino and the 2.5 million he is owed for 2009. If the Cubs traded Vizcaino for Crosby straight up they would only be adding 2.75 million to their payroll if no money is thrown the Cubs way. The A's said they would make a trade if the Cubs included a prospect (Guzman?) according to a source.

- I know the season has not even started and Spring Training stats along with the WBC does not matter that much but I think the Cubs should have traded Lee and the 26 million due to him, kept DeRosa as a utility player, and signed Dunn (even though I do like the Bradley signing). They could have put Dunn in RF, Hoffpauir at 1st, with DeRosa backing up all positions, and Lee would have brought back good prospects to stock up our farm. Would have worked out better. Just my opinion though.

- The Cubs are hitting again! Beating the M's 8-1. Everyone pitched great. Harden had 2 innings with 2 hits, Dempster had 3 innings with 2 hits, Heilman had 3 innings with 2 hits, one run, and 5 strike outs (favorite for 5th starter) and Ascanio had one inning of no hit ball.

- Lou told Kosuke that he will mostly hit 2nd for the Cubs this season. Besides having Lee in the 2 hole he is the next best thing. I also think Johnson would be nice in the 2 hole, if he starts hitting again.

- Corey Koskie will join the Cubs on Thursday.

- Dempster or Z will be the opening day starter, Lou will make he decision at the end of the week.

- If Vizcaino is traded, that could mean Shark or Waddell would move into the Cubs pen. I think Shark should be a starter in AAA and Waddell should get the nod as the other lefty in the pen.

That is all for now, more to come!