Jim Hendry flips the Byrd to Chicago

I'm really just posting this because I didn't want to be scooped on the headline. MAybe in a bit, I'll have something substantive to write. For now, while I believe Marlon Byrd will be an upgrade over the "Fuld/Colvin/Johnson" alternative, I still beleive that money is getting used up where it should be put toward Hudson or Tejada, each of which would be more of an upgrade over Baker/Fontenot/Theriot.

In the meantime though, I have an awesome headline, so I'll be content with that.

I just don't get it

So I was thinking to myself - why are people so up in arms about this Bradley thing that they're upset that we traded him for Silva? So I tried to put an argument together. See boths sides. I could see people rightly thinking that, unlike Silva, Bradley has a much better chance of producing, the Cubs are a statistically weaker team now, and over the past two years, Bradley at his worst far surpassed Silva at his best. Good arguments. But there's one thing that fans don't seem to get but 29 other GM's knew for a fact.

Bradley would never ever do anythi ng productive while wearing a Cubs uniform. Ever. Done. Dead man walking. The ship has sailed. There are too many burned bridges. Actually they weren't burned. They were nuclear testing grounds. Only vapor is left.

Let's say the entire city of Chicago got a mega dose of prozac and was suddenly totally cool with him. Hendry, the Ricketts, the fans, the other Cubs players all said "Hey man, it's cool." What exactly - be specific and cite your sources - about Bradley's personalityt makes you think he's the forgive and forget type? Give me one shred of evidence. I dare you. HE was just as done with us, as we were with him. And nothing Jimmy did would ever convince anyone - fans, team, other GM's included - that this was not the case. No bluffing, no signing big deals, no throwing fatted calfs over the castle walls. Nothing.

You cannot complain that he's still here, then complain when he's gone. You only get to complain about one or the other. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go get Marlon Byrd's welcome reception ready...

P.S. Jim - don't make me put up the "Hudson Watch" in 2010.

Dumb A$$ Things People Have Said About the Cubs 2010 Season

Like our predecessor, constantly updated:

Quote: Hendry on Bradley: "No one could have really predicted how it turned out." Except of course, you know, everybody...

Headline: "Wild 2009 left Cubs looking to recharge" - Yeah, ok. We'll say 'Wild'

1/1 - Headline: "Ten questions facing the Cubs in 2010" Only ten?

1/10 - Headline: "Cubs sign LaHair" - Who gives LaCrap?

1/11 - Headline: Maddux joins Cubs as assistant to GM - Boy won't that be awkward when he wears a Braves hat to the Hall while working for the Cubs

1/21 - Headline: "Ex-Cub Edmonds confirms desire to play again" cough cough Brett-Favre cough

2/13 - Headline: "Hendry: Bad start doomed Bradley" No, birth doomed him.

2/28 - Headline: "Cubs' farm system starting to bear fruit" What's the big deal? It's been producing a bunch of lemons for years!

4/10 - Zambrano on yesterday's game "Basically, it was my first start..." Except, you know, it wasn't. (via @PWSullivan)

4/14 - Headline: "4/14 Soriano: "I like to play nine innings" - Well, we like to win games so you're sh*t outta luck. (via @CarrieMuskat)

4/24 - Headline: "More Milton Bradley: 'I'm as non-violent, non-threatening as they come'" - If by 'non-violent' you mean 'dickhead' then I agree.

5/6 - Headline: Ramirez back hitting fifth in lineup - Well, "hitting" is debatable...

5/16 - Headline: D-Lee: 'We don't come out here everyday to lose' - Damn, that's the one thing I thought you were good at.

6/1 - Headline: Piniella on Cubs' shakeup: 'Too much patience is stupidity' - God you're stupid

6/2 - Headline: Santo in good spirits after going to hospital - Funny, we were in good spirits that he went to the hospital (and was off the air)

6/29 - Headline: "Cubs look to Lilly to deliver win against Pirates" Maybe you should look to Theriot/Lee/Byrd/Soriano/Colvin/Ramirez/Soto/Castro ?

7/12 - Headline: "Cubs, Silva close first half with thud in LA" - I'd say more like a wet squishy splat like a bag full of poop, but ok.

7/16 - Headline: "Cubs send message in rout of Phillies" - Yeah like 'We can hit the crap out of senior citizens'

Buh bye Milt Buh bye

So there's dancing in the streets of Chicago because the Mistake is gone. Yes we're getting Carlos "look at the pretty ball fly away" Silva. But we're also getting $9 million from the M's. Really? That's a $6 million profit. Yes this will likely turn out bad. But really, anyone who thought this Milt saga would end with anyone in Chicago smiling was a foolish fool who never fooled a fool. Like even more foolish that Jim Hendry.

Trading Milt for anything without eating his entire contract was a plus. We actually made $6 million on the deal. As far as I'm concerned that's brilliant! Not exactly Eric Karros for Todd Hundley, but pretty damn close.

Jim, you have not even come close to redeeming yourself in anyone's eyes. But you managed to turn a ridiculously huge clusterf*ck and turn it into a really stupidly big mistake. That is an upgrade for those keeping score.

Now go get a centerfielder, middle infielder and a bullpen arm.

Here's what I'd do

For what it's worth - The Cubs need to bolster shortstop/second base, center field, and get an arm in the bull pen. Marlon Byrd is the best option for center field. So really, there are no options for center field. A quick look at the 2010 FA roster, Capps is the best option. So really, there are no options for the bullpen.

Which leaves us second base. There is one guy left on my wish list for second base, and that would be Orlando Hudson. As mentioned earlier, Orlando Hudson is basically a switch hitting Freddie Sanchez. at 283/.357/.417/.774, he's an upgrade over Fontenot and Baker, and he adds balance to the lineup.

One other thought - Miguel Tejada. After a slow start last year, he really picked it up after the first couple of months. He's a decent power bat, and he allows a move by Theriot over to second base - a more natural position for him.

One last thing: Signing the aging Tejada to a short deal - 1-2 years - would allow him to keep the spot warm for dreamy Starlin Castro who will undoubtedly revolutionize the way shortstops play. Tejada can also move over to thrid base when, er I mean if, Ramirez goes does, or worse, opts out of his contract at the end of this season.

Just a thought....

Salary Capp?

Gotta love these contradictory back-to-back posts. No more pitchers followed by, hey, let's sign a pitcher!. Matt Capps was not offered a contract by the Pirates. Capps was the Pirates "closer" (in quotes, because c'mon a closer of the Pirates??) and he could be a good plan B after Marmol. In the meantime, he'd be a serviceable addition to the late innings incase Guzman surgically detaches his arm again.

Then again, having Grabow, Capps, and Gorzalanny all on the same pitching staff didn't work out so well for them. I'd view this as a similar situation to Putz. Make an offer in the neighborhood of 1.5-2 mil with an incentive or two, and Viola, there's your non-threatening-to-Marmol-backup-closer. Or in other words, Kevin Gregg II.

Toodles!

Not Another one...

Headline: "Cubs trade for minor-league pitcher" Thank God. We don't have NEARLY enough of those.

Seriously. How many minor league pitchers do we need? It seems like, if a starting 8 player goes down, there's panic - who's going to play 1st if Lee goes down? Well, we could move Baker to third, put Aramis at short, have Soriano stand on his head.... but if a pitcher goes down, it's more like - no big deal, we'll just decide between these 16 kids all ready to come up. I know the old saying is, 'You can never have too much pitching' but c'mon guys. We paid 10 million dollars for a minor league pitcher with less innings pitched than Mark Grace.

Enough is enough. Now I know why everyone is so excited about Starlin Castro - he doesn't stand on a mound...

Winter meeting wrapup.

According to Musky the Cub: @CarrieMuskat: #cubs leave Winter Meetings with Milton still on roster. Hendry did talk to agents about FA CFs such as Byrd, Ankiel, Podsednik,

So whoopie. The Yankees get Granderson. Rich Harden said Ta-ta for less money than arbitration would've given him. And the Cubbies puleld off the biggest coup by doing absolutely dick. Methinks we are starting to see what Jimmy the Troll is capable of when his precious checkbook is taken away. And that adds up to a big fat nothing.

Seriously Jim. You had ONE job to do while you were there. Stop quibbling and just take Pat Burrell. Send Tampa all the money they want. Or, use my idea.

Didn't think I was serious about that did ya?

Did you hear that cry?

It was right around dinner time when our beloved Jake Fox packed his bags for Oakland. Unbeknownst to Oakland, inside Jake's handbag, was Aaron Miles. Jake was of course the only reason Oakland agreed to take on Miles. Well, that and their only other viable option at Shortstop is Bobby Crosby - that's a tough call.

Fox burst on the scene back in July-ish and was known for a solid bat, and less-than-solid-more-of-a-mucus-consistency glove. Unfortunately, like the All-State guy back in the 80's, couldn't hit a breaking ball to save his soul. So, overall no big loss. We got a bullpen arm back in the deal - Jeff Gray, who supposedly has a Guzman-like arm - only this one stays attached.

End of the day, we gave up a DH and a bad second baseman. I can live with that. Now all we have to do is unload the Mistake.

Cubs say "No Thanks" to another dominant pitcher.

So the Cubs passed on Arb for the following players -
Kevin Gregg - Heck, he's lucky we didn't shoot him, let alone take a pass on him.
Reed Johnson - On the fence for this one, but honestly Sam Fuld will do a passable job of 4th OF. So no big deal
Rich Harden - I don't get this one at all. Granted he's an injury risk, but I will remind you once more, Richy didn't even think of the DL until the last two weeks of the season. Frankly, I think that was more a ploy to scare off other teams. There was no reason to not offer him Arb this year, just as there was no reason to not offer Wood arb last year. Worst case - he accepts and you pay 8 mil - below market value - for a solid #1/#2 rotation guy.

Damn. That would suck.