Cubs Suspend Bradley

After a disappointing first season with the Chicago Cubs, the team confirmed reports that they have suspended OF Malcontent Bradley for the rest of the season. Bradley, who has a history of obnoxious behavior, has been a bust after signing a 3 year, $30 million dollar deal this past offseason. I would imagine that Bradley is excited by the news, as he's been booed since getting ejected and suspended after his first Wrigley Field AB.

In an interview with the Arlington Height Daily Herald, Bradley reportedly said, "You understand why they haven't won in 100 years here." He went on to say that his first season in Chicago, "its just not a positive enviroment. I need a healthy, enjoyable environment. ...Its just negativity."

The thing is Milton, when you're signed to provide power from the leftside of the plate, bring stability to the lineup and play a decent RF, you'll get that positive environment. When you hit .257, only hit 10 homers and muff the most basic of fly balls, chances are you're going to get booed, even if you're playing RF at a family picnic. If Bradley doesn't want to be here, it's in Hendry's best interest to move him. But with the terrible season he had, Hendry has no leverage in any trade talks and might have to unload him for a bat boy, who might play RF better than Bradley anyway.

From Bad to Worse

According to Chicago Tribune, in a response to a question about Brian Urlacher's wrist injury, he replied through text message, (no doubt with just one hand, which texts messages are hard to type that way) "Season's over."And while he certainly meant that as his status for the season, it's sadly a reflection on what the results might be for the Chicago Bears as well.

While one game does not make a season, the inept playcalling from the offensive mind of Ron Turner, who undoubtledly wanted to show off his shiny new toy in the backfield, forgot about the shiny new toy from last year Matt Forte for most of the 1st half. And when they did run in the second half, the Green Bay Packers defense was quick to greet him mostly in the backfield. Running for 55 yards on 25 carries, Forte was mostly a mystery in the offense from the get-go. Zero catches from you're top reciever from last year isn't going to get a whole lot done, not when the Bears are trotting out wideouts who don't seem to complete their routes. And while we hope that Cutler will get better (he has to, right?) without anyone besides Greg Olsen and Desmond Clark to throw to (and they're not immune from bad play either; Olsen with a drop and Clark stopped running in  the endzone), it's going to be hard for the Bears to do anything if they don't get Forte involved.

The Defense however, has been the heart and soul of this team since Lovie Smith rode into town and declared that they will beat the Packers. The once great defense has take some hits recently though and last night only exemplified and shown that it might not be the strength it once was. Nathan Vasher looked dreadful on the touchdown to Greg Jennings, but when you have 8 in the box to stop the run, that leaves single coverage on the outside and Vasher doesn't play corner like he did a couple of years ago when he got his payday. And now you have lost arguably the leader on defense, possibly for the season with a wrist injury. Urlacher isn't the stud from 2004 anymore, but he's still one of the top 5 or 10 middle linebackers in the game and will be sorely missed. This is the time when Lance Briggs, coming off a Pro Bowl year after getting his big contract, will need to step up and be the leader that the Bears are paying him to be. And even then, I'm not sure it will even be enough.

The Cutler Era Looks Like the Grossman Era

With supposedly the first "real" quarterback since Sid Luckman, the Chicago Bears looked like they had 'Sexy' Rex Grossman throwing in the pocket instead of the 'franchise' Jay Cutler. But he wasn't in the pocket for long when he was back there with the Green Bay Packers consistently getting pressure on Cutler through most of the 1st half. And it really was a tale of two halves. Cutler threw 3 picks in the first half and one in the second. In the second half, Cutler had time to throw the football, something he couldn't get in the first. But the blame doesn't all lie in the hands of Cutler.

All offseason, pundits, fans and just about anyone with a pulse and an understanding of football knew that Cutler was throwing to Greg Olsen (who also played poorly), Desmond Clark (who had a nice catch, a terrible blown route in the endzone) and a bunch of nothing. Countless times receivers were not where they were supposed to be, ran the wrong route or just gave up on the route. Cutler also made some mistakes, throwing across his body to the middle of the field, not throwing the football away when nothing was there and not trying to find Matt Forte out of the backfield. He lead the team in catches last season and doesn't have a catch this game. All in all, a poor performance. And why is Nate Vasher still on this team?

Honeymoon Over at Halas Hall?

On a day where the Minnesota Vikings take center stage with an end to the Brett Favre saga, the Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler made some noise over the weekend that hurt Devin Hester's feelings. It was the truth, but I guess it riled some people up. And what upset Hester is exactly what I tweeted while watching the game on Saturday night. In case you don't click the link, here's what I said:

"Hmm, Cutler looked like Grossman throwing off his back foot a bit there. Of course, doesn't help that Hester doesn't fight for the ball."

Which was true. Cutler shouldn't have tossed the ball up there like that, but Hester didn't bother trying to break it up. So, here's what Cutler said:

"Devin is more of a go-get-it guy; he is not really a back shoulder or jump-up-and-get-it (guy),'' Cutler said Saturday."

So, what he's trying to say is this: Hester will outrun someone to the ball if you throw it far enough, but won't go up for a jump ball. Which is precisely what's wrong with him as a Wide Receiver. Hester has amazing speed. He can outrun anyone to the ball in the NFL and make a catch in stride. But sitting at 5'11", he's not going to out jump people for footballs and won't help QB's by breaking up passes. Bears fans have been saying this since the decision to give him more playing time at wideout then returner. But instead of being a 3rd WR or 4th, the Bears are paying him and playing him as a #1, which is the biggest mistake. The man was a standout return man and while their shelf life in the NFL might not be a long one, there is a long list of return men who were called in to try another position instead of the spot that made them the threat. And Hester is ruined now because of that.

Peavy Finally Heads to Chicago...

But it's not for the Chicago Cubs. GM Kenny Williams flew under the radar again and traded for Jake Peavy, formerly of the San Diego Padres, again, but this time, Peavy didn't say no and agreed to a deal that sends him to the Southside of Chicago to pitch for the White Sox, eventually.

The White Sox gave up quite a bit in the deal, including their top pitching prospect Aaron Poreda, current 5th starter Clayton Richard and 2 more pitching prospects, Adam Russell and Dexter Carter. This was the same deal that Williams originally offered the Padres in May.

Picking up a former Cy Young award winner at the deadline is a coup reserved for the teams with the best farm system. And the hual that the White Sox gave up was a good one. But there's a few slight problems.

Peavy is owed $52 million over 3 years, which will severely limit the money that the White Sox will have in each offseason. The White Sox have quite a few contracts that expire at the end of this season, but with them moving two of their young starters, it'll make it that much harder to replace them without dabbling in the FA market.

But more concerning for the White Sox is whether you view this as a win now trade for the White Sox. Peavy has been on the DL since the middle of June with a tendon problem in his right ankle. The earliest he's be back in very late august or early September. Will the White Sox still be in the race at that point? And what's the guarantee that the Peavy you get is the Peavy that won the Cy Young in 2007?

In Peavy, you get a pitcher that is dominant when he's on, but doesn't finish a lot of ballgames, completing only 7 in his major league career. And achilles heal of the 2009 White Sox as of late, has been their bullpen. Getting a 6 or 7 inning pitcher isn't going to help as much as one would hope.

But the trade makes you wonder just what exactly would it have cost the White Sox to get a different Cy Young award winner, Roy Halladay from the Toronto Blue Jays. Besides Poreda and Richard, how much more would the White Sox need to give up? Gavin Floyd or John Danks? Would that have been a better price for a pitcher that would pitch in August and who's deal ends in 2010?

Cubs Make a Move for a Lefty, Done For Now?

A day after I wrote up about the Chicago Cubs looking for a lefty out of the pen, the Cubs finally swung a deal with their frequent trade partners the Pittsburgh Pirates and snagged John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny in exchange for RHP Kevin Hart, RHP Jose Ascanio and 2B Josh Harrison.

The good news is the Cubs didn't give up a lot in the deal for Grabow. Sure, they gave up a starter at a time when they kind of need them, especially with Ryan Dempster not having a great return to the rotation this past Tuesday and Ted Lily on the DL. But Ascanio is projected to be a MR at best in the big leagues. Harrison was 6th round pick in 2008, and has progressed to High A Daytona before being included in this deal. He does have some speed, but hasn't walked much yet in his baseball career.

Grabow will instantly show up in the Cubs bullpen, probably tomorrow while Gorzelanny will report to AAA Iowa. But that brings up an interesting question. If Gorzelanny is heading towards Iowa, who's going to start for the Cubs on Tuesday of next week? Sure, they can call him back up by then since the 10-day demotion rule doesn't apply to him since he was already with the Pirates AAA affiliate. But if not him, does that mean that Sean Marshall will be taken back out of the pen and inserted into the rotation, leaving Grabow as the only lefty in the pen, the reason why this trade was made in the first place? And is Gorzelanny the best option left in AAA to make that Tuesday start?

Gorzelanny, an Evergreen Park, IL native must be happy to come home and be able to pitch for a hometown team, though I suspect he was more a White Sox than a Cubs fan and was in fact drafted by the White Sox in 2000, but didn't sign. But since his good 2007 season where he finished 14-10 with a 3.88 ERA, he's had some major control problems in the majors, walking 74 batters in 114 innings. He's pitched much better than that in AAA in 2009, there is a significant jump in talent from AAA to the majors. Unfortunately, it's either him or Marshall on Tuesday and I don't want them to take Marshall's bullpen ERA of 1.25 to go anywhere but where he's been.

As far as any more deals, there doesn't seem to be any rumblings of the Cubs going after anyone else. They can use some help at secondbase, but with Freddy Sanchez already moved to the San Francisco Giants, there doesn't seem to be much of an option out there. Sure, Brian Roberts of the Baltimore Orioles always seems to have his name thrown around in trade discussions, but there doesn't seem to be any indication as to whether the Orioles are entertaining offers for him. A curious name that I was surprised to see shopped briefly was Carl Crawford from he Tampa Bay Rays. Presumably the only reason why the Rays would need to move him would be to free up money for a Roy Halladay deal, but with Crawford's deal up at the end of next season at the latest, or after this year if his option isn't picked up, he makes an intriguing possibility. Where to play him? Well, he's played mostly LF in his career and a few games in CF. But what about RF? There's been some rumblings that the Cubs might be looking for a left-handed hitter to platoon with Bradley in right, since Bradley's a much better hitter right-handed than left. Of course if the Cubs could pull off a Zito for Soriano deal, well he can play there too. But that one's not happening. But Crawford is an intriguing name. Mark Teahen of the Kansas City Royals is another name that's been thrown around for possible trades. Teahen is a poor man's Mark DeRosa, except bats from the left side of the plate. He's played 1B, 2B, 3B and RF all this season and has a .290/.344/.437 line so far this season. And under team control for 2010. He's a name I would love the see the Cubs go after to help solidify the 2B conundrum the Cubs have this season.

Cubs Thoughts

I promised this blog a couple of day ago on my twitter account, but haven't gotten around to working on it till now. So, without further ado, some Chicago Cubs thoughts leading up to the trading deadline:

• With the Cubs 9-3 since the All-Star break, is this the run that everyone has been waiting for? Granted, it hasn't been against the best of competition, wins are wins. These are the teams they have to beat if they plan on getting to the playoffs again and it won't matter who they beat, as long as they start racking up the wins.
  
  
• Even with the signing of BJ Ryan, the Cub are in desperate need of another lefty out of the pen. Bringing in Sean Marshall in the 6th or 7th innings negates them from having any ability to throw him in there against a tough lefty in the 8th. Coming into today's game, he's pitched in 3 straight games. With the lack of another lefty on the roster, Marshall also pitched in 7 straight games in late June. That can't keep happening unless you plan on having zero lefties in the pen eventually.
  
  
• On the lefties front, GM Jim Hendry has reportedly sniffing around John Grabow of the Pittsburgh Pirate and George Sherrill of the Baltimore Orioles. Hendry has good relationships between both teams, stealing Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton from the Pirates in 2003 and gifting Rich Hill to the Orioles this past offseason. But I'm not sure that Hendry has the prospects to get either pitcher from the teams. Grabow is more likely but plenty of teams are calling. Arthur Rhodes from the Cincinnati Reds is another option, but I'm unsure that the Reds want to deal within the division.
  
  
• Has the real Rich Harden finally showed up? In his last 3 starts, Harden has dropped his ERA almost a full run, giving up only 2 runs in his last 19 innings. He's still giving up a lot of flyball outs, which can turn into homers, but his improvements has been his walks. In his first 14 starts, he has allowed at least 1 walk in each and that only happened 3 times. In his last 3 starts, he's only walked 2 and they came in the same start. Not exactly a cause for excitement, but definitely some signs of encouragement.
  
  
• Since moving to the 6th spot in the lineup on July 4th, Alfonso Soriano's been hitting extremely well, to the tune of .356/.413/.575. His overall batting average on the season hasn't been as high as it is now since May 29th and he's hitting the ball out of the park again, with 4 homers in 19 games. Not a lot when you consider that he's capable of hitting 40 a year, but seeing as how he had zero homers from June 9th through Juky 19th, much better. But with his monstrous contract, it would be hard to move him. Unless you can unload him on a team looking for a right-handed bat and a big contract in return. Enter the San Francisco Giants.
  
  

• Now, I'm not saying that this is a deal that should be made, or if it can be made, since both players have full no-trade clauses, something Hendry seems to just include in everyone's contract nowadays. But let's think about something for now. Barry Zito has a terrible contract, one just as bad as Soriano's, if not worse. Zito is owed $83 million over the next 4 years, including a 7 million buyout for 2014. Soriano is owed $90 million over the next 5. So, you save 7 million to begin with and one less year. But I'm not sure if you can use him in the rotation here. And no one knows whether he's willing to pitch out of the pen and if you want to pay a MR $20 million a year. But Zito has pitched ok at Wrigley in his 2 starts and has looked better in 2009 than any other year since he signed that contract. It's not going to happen, but it's probably the only shot to find someone to get Soriano's contract off the Cubs books without the Cubs giving some money in the deal as well.