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40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

28 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, and twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 

Last updated 3-26-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 15
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, P 
Alexander Canario, OF 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

 



 

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Bradley Done With Cubs in 2009

The Cubs have announced that Milton Bradley has been suspended for the rest of the season.

"The last few days became too much for me to tolerate," Hendry said.

"I'm certainly not going to let our great fans become excuses," Hendry said. "I'm not going to tolerate [Bradley] not being able to answer questions from the media respectably."

Paul Sullivan and Gordon Wittenmyer could be seen congratulating each other after the announcement.

Comments

combined effort of lame... milton being milton...lou can't be bothered to walk though a clubhouse pre-game while he chills in his office with friends/coaches and lets the team run itself...hendry set the 2 up together and it was fail. just yelling at someone isn't gonna get through to milton...that's something everyone should know by now. he needs his hand held and told things are okay, it's how he's always thrived and if hendry/lou weren't willing to abide by the baby's needs they shouldn't have gotten him. neat. time for some team to get a .380ob% guy with some pop who can play CF/RF on the cheap. awesome.

I've been very consistent in my criticism of Bradley. I was concerned about his attitude and his behavior prior to the Cubs signing him, and Bradley did absolutely nothing to make me feel like I was wrong about those concerns. In fact, just the opposite it true. He confirmed my concerns and then some. Having said that, is suspending Bradley really the best thing to do this late in the season? Isn't it going to make it harder to trade him in the off season (I'm assuming they'll want to trade him)? Bradley is a complete jackass, but they've put up with him this long. Couldn't they have just put up with him another few weeks?

Is "respectably" really the word Hendry wanterd to use? Seems "respectfully" is really what he meant.

...at least someone besides bobby scales should get some work with bradley out. i was amazed last night when sam fuld came in the game not only to pinch run, but to play, too. that means (before bradley was a late replacement) scales was playing over fuld, fox, and hoffpower. what the hell is up with that?

I'm of the belief that Lou is sending subtle signals to Hendry with the guys he is playing. Trying to say "these guys are shit" basically. How else can you explain Kevin Gregg to face Albert on Friday, Heilman and Scales? As for Bradley, what secret gets out now? Everyone in baseball knows his reputation. The Yankees eat salaries all the time-Irabu, Kei Igawa, etc...just eat the frickin salary and move on.

I am just happy Bradley got what he deserved. Just wait for after he is gone for the faked injuries announcement. This is also factoring into the Cubs decision. You can bank on that.

The Indiana Pacers paid Jamal Tinsley for over a year to sit out-they did it to let the fans know they would no longer tolerate the "thug" mentality. I think this situation is identical. It's about ticket sales-for next year.

I wonder if there is a "termination with cause", clause in Bradley's contract. His off field actions can be considered detrimental to the reputation of the organization. I'm sure it would get the players union all riled up and generate probably millions in legal fees but it just might be worth seeing how that plays out since there is so much documentation of disrespectful behavior. It would take some large cojones to do that though.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

it'd be bad form...hard to deal with any agent/player/etc. if the team even tried. i'm personally shocked things got this bad. taking on a player like milton means doing things to satisfy his ego and pacify his fears. this is the job of his coaches and managers to supply this constant feedback. it don't matter who thinks a player shouldn't have to have that and he should suck it up because no one wanting it that way will make it that way. bradley is what bradley is. lou and hendry came together to bring a problem child into the cubs family without much thought to the care it would take. milton bradley, the cubs expensive dead goldfish. neat.

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In reply to by crunch

The Milton situation reminds me of something in the news. A criminally insane murderer was taken to the local county fair as a treat and then he escaped. You can't change who Milton is, or expect him to act different because he says so. And you certainly don't treat insane murderers to the county fair. Just like you dont pay 30 million over 3 years to an often injured prick. There are certain life lessons that dont really need any special insight. Murderers dont get to go to the fair and have fun and you dont fucking sign Milton Bradley to a 3 year deal. If you do any of the above things, you probably deserve to be fired from your job. My favorite little oh shit moment from an article on that escaped murder, it comes at the very end. Reagan wrote that Eastern State staff believe Paul poses little danger unless he remains at large more than 48 hours, at which point his medication would wear off and he could become violent if confronted.

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In reply to by Cubster

it'll never work, if they're try to say he's faking the injuries, bradley's has knee surgeries to point to and lou saying that he was indeed hurt on thursday.

unless he slugged someone in the lockerroom, I don't see the cause unless being an asshole suddenly becomes one.

as for disrespectful behavior, we have lou calling him a piece of shit, milton not engaging him and no one refuting that was the way the story went down. 

I think Milton's $23M is pretty safe.

Hendry's job on the other hand probably shouldn't be....

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In reply to by Dr. aaron b

You had your answer to that question as soon as Hendry suspended Bradley and made his stated about the PR reasons for doing so. If he were going to DL Bradley in order to give himself an out, Hendry should have done so before he made any statements about Bradley's attitude--preferably as soon as Bradley took himself out of that game. I'm usually not a Hendry hater, but he's played this situation like a true amateur. So has Lou. (So has Bradley, but we're already in consensus on that, I think.)

Dear Jim Hendry - please hire Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan as soon as the season's over, I hear they're both angry at Cardinal's management.

It's just stupid, there's no other word that accurately describes this. Bench him, deny the media access to him, but what's the point of suspending him? So the fans don't get their feelings hurt? Fuck the fans. If you win ball games, the fans will come. A good poll idea: Worst thing Hendry has done in his tenure. The Izturis trade, sabotaging Sosa's rep, Bradley suspension, signing Bradley, signing Soriano, I am sure there are a few more. I may even to be tempted to throw signing Pinhead onto that list.

Does anyone remember that one of the criticism's of the 2008 version of the Cubs was that the clubhouse was too blase?

Tyler Colvin called up. Lou on pregame said he will join team in Milwaukee and will be in the lineup. Wonder if Scales will still be in LF, probably will be.

Assuming Ricketts is keeping score at home on this one, he should have ample reason to launch Hendry and anyone else his new GM would want to change. It isn't that someone (probably Texas) would take Bradley (Cubs still paying a substantial portion of his contract), it's that NOBODY was offering this piece of shit anything beyond a one year contract anyway. Example number too many of Hendry negotiating against himself for a free agent.

Absolutley spot on. I frankly could give a fuck as a fan whether Bradley likes us or not. I certainly don't think that to protect the Cubs fans' feelings we should suspend one of our most productive hitters. I'd much rather suspend Soriano for jogging around the outfield after fly balls, you know, something that actually effects the team's performance. Further to that point, despite the fact that he's been clearly out to sea in a couple of instances with his criticisms on the organization and general enviornment, there have been a number of ones with quite a bit of merit. It was an idiotic contract when there was no recognized bidder in a market where Pat Burrell and Bobby Abreu ended up with one year contracts for far less mm per year with organizations with far better GMs, discipline, and an interest in not bidding directly against themselves. The biggest myth of this season is that Bradley has greatly underperformed his career averages. People expecting him to replicate his power numbers from the Ball Park at Arlington simply didn't understand baseball. Over his career, he hasn't been a prolific power hitter and frankly he had a below par year in regards to his BA but nowhere near the disapoinment that Soriano, Soto, Fontenot (probably just playing to his ability), or Zambrano (largely injury related) have been. I'd much rather see Hendry thrown on his ass then see Bradley suspended.

Napoleon had Waterloo Hendry had Bradley I wonder if Hendry had a Napoleon for dessert in that meeting with Bradley.

Bradley suspended? Nice try Hendry... You totally fucked up this offseason Teflon Jim, Cubs fans aren't going to buy this. Mr. Ricketts, get rid of them both and Cubs fans will indebted to you forever. And at what point is Cubs nation going to start calling for Lou's head on a per minute basis, ala Dusty? What a fine mess you have gotten this organization in to Jimbo!!

Longer piece on Bradley by Sullivan --- Ryan Dempster said it was "unfortunate," but that Bradley brought it on himself. Aramis Ramirez said Jim Hendry made the right call, and Derrek Lee called on Bradley to apologize for his actions. "At the end of the day, he was provided a great opportunity to be part of a really great organization with a lot of really good guys," Dempster said. "It just didn't seem to make him happy- anything. Hopefully this is a little bit of a wake-up call for him and he'll realize how good of a gig you have. It probably became one of those things where you start saying things that you're putting the blame on everybody else. "Sometimes you've just got to look in the mirror and realize that maybe the biggest part of the problem is yourself and (not) wanting to be here and play every day, and (not) wanting to have some fun. It didn't seem like he wanted to have some fun, even from spring training. http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports_hardball/2009/09/d…

Paul Sullivan to Gordon Wittenmeyer during their post-suspension high five: Dude! We do matter! And this is why Jim Hendry should be tarred and feathered--for failing to prove to sportswriters that they are complete unimportant and obsolete, and that they've made themselves that way. Well, it's not his job to prove that, but it's also not his job to feed their senses of self-importance.

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In reply to by Charlie

Charile, Wait a minute...are you saying that the Cubs suspended Bradley because biased articles against him were written in the media? Are you kidding? This had NOTHING to do with articles written in the papers. Bradley earned this suspension, he can hardly hide his disdain for playing for the Cubs and Wrigley Field in general. Have you ever worked with someone who hated their job? Do you know what that does to the atmosphere at work, the culture? Why has Bradley had this effect in most places he has been? These developments are not surprising, lots of people saw this coming. I've been a Hendry supporter through good and bad decisions he has made since becoming GM, and I think the good has outweighed the bad overall. However, this signing was bad enought that I think he deserves to lose his job. The fact that no one in the locker room is coming to his defense speaks VOLUMES. Make no mistake, everyone is glad he is gone. This was not something cooked up in the media, the strife surrounding Bradley was real. The exciting part is we can look forward to next year and debate what they should do to fill the hole in RF.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Thanks for the link, I take it that your point is that if you treat him differently and put up with the skittishness, these things don't have to blow up. On the other hand, that article is a year old, Milton is playing for the Cubs and not the Rangers (I suspect the Cubs management and players are much less of an environment that is Milton ready for a variety of reasons), and the main rationale given in the article for putting up with Milton's behavior is he is leading the league in OPS, which he definitely is not doing this year. If he was, I suspect this all probably would have been handled differently. Combine underperforming with an amazing lack of PR skills and anti-social behavior, and welcome to the three ring circus of the 2009 Chicago Cubs.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Neal -- Who is blaming all of the Cubs' problems on Bradley? I haven't heard anyone associated with the team saying that, nor have I read any posts on TCR where anyone has said Bradley was to blame for all of the team's problems. Everything that I've heard, whether from Hendry, Piniella, or any of the other players, seems to be limited strictly to Bradley himself. I haven't heard anyone say Bradley was to blame for the Cubs poor showing. Have you heard anything differently?

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Absolutely not. I haven't heard anyone with the team or on TCR claim that Bradley is to blame for the Cubs poor showing this year. I know that I've been very critical of Bradley, but I've never suggested that Bradley was to blame for all of the team's problems. Considering your comment, I thought you might have heard something different.

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In reply to by Sweet Lou

OK, who has been the most booed player at Wrigley this year? Who has been the most complained about player here at TCR? Fans? Check Teammates? "Sometimes you've just got to look in the mirror and realize that maybe the biggest part of the problem is yourself" "If a guy gets suspended, I'm sure he did something to deserve it," "All of us are really surprised that a player could come here and not have the time of his life..." I wonder where they were at when the fans were heckling and booing Bradley. Any ideas? Players? Check Management: Well Hendry suspended him for doing an interview. Note this very carefully, I am going to 'shout here' because I want you to READ THIS STATEMENT. "Last year, I don't know how many times I heard from the media we had the best clubhouse in the league. And things don't change that rapidly in a year. So Jim made the decision, and I support it." Wait a second? I thought that Bradley was suspended for making comments about the fans who booed him disproportionately and made derogatory signs - now all of the sudden it's about the clubhouse? Management: Check And don't say 'well they all didn't say "we would have made the playofffs if not for Bradley" - actions speak louder than words, and your actions: relentless criticism of Bradley when 8 others on the team deserve as much or more of the blame for the lost season.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

TRN -- Thanks for responding, but you're really reaching with your answer. Obviously, people have blamed Bradley for the things he has done. The fans booed Bradley because he underperformed, but I think it is a huge stretch to then say that the fans blame Bradley for all of the Cubs problems this year. Likewise, the players who commented about Bradley's suspension addressed Bradley's specific behavior. None of them even insinuated that Bradley was the cause of all of the Cubs problems. Piniella commented on Bradley's impact in the locker room. He didn't say, insinuate, or even hint at believing that Bradley is the cause of all of the Cubs problems. I don't know why Piniella commented on Bradley's impact in the clubhouse (I'm assuming he was asked a question about it), but he didn't blame Bradley for anything but being a negative influence in the clubhouse. The truth is that Cubs fans, including those on TCR, recognize everything that happened to doom the Cubs season this year. No one has made the claim that Bradley is responsible for the Cubs crappy season. As for my "relentless criticism" of Bradley, again I think you are exaggerating. I've been critical of Bradley, but never have I made the claim, explicitly or otherwise, that Bradley is to blame for all of the Cubs problems. What I have done is restrict my comments to Bradley when the topic is Bradley. I didn't feel any need to discuss Soriano's crappy season or all of the injuries when the topic was Bradley.

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In reply to by Sweet Lou

OK, you're right. No one will think the Cubs would have gone 161-0 had they not had Bradley on the team, therefore no one thought he was the source of all the Cubs' problems. The fact remains that if you were to privately poll all the people with an interest - Cubs fans, players, staff, media and said simply "the largest single problem with the 2009 Cubs is..." the overwhelming winner would be 'Milton Bradley'.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

TRN, Your points are well taken but I don't think for a minute that Bradley is being suspended for underperforming, leading to a lost season. There certainly is enough blame for that to go around. And since none of us are in the dugout we don't have the best perspective. That leads to the question, what has Bradley done deserving of punishment that Soriano, Fontenot, Soto, Gregg, etc. have not done? He has in common with them not delivering on expectations, and some in that group are more guilty than Bradley is. However, they have not made complete spectacles of themselves separate from the team. Except Zambrano, and rumor is they will shop him this offseason too. They would have been better off to let him play out the season and then try and trade him to get better value. "Everything is just bashing you. You go out there and you play harder than anybody on the field and never get credit for it. It's just negativity." ``And you understand why they haven't won in 100 years here, because it's negative. It's what it is.'' http://blogs.suntimes.com/cubs/2009/09/too_much_negativity_for_cubs_b.h… Imagine if Gregg said, 'I work harder than all the other relievers on the field. I shouldn't be criticized for giving up more homers than any reliever in baseball.' Bradley was just never a good fit here from day one, and if anything, looking at his career games played and the number of teams he has played for in the number of seasons he has been in the league should have been the only two numbers Hendry needed to not make this signing.

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In reply to by Pat Kane

Once again, let me bring up the important, often ignored fact that Bradely, not Soto, not Soriano, not Pinhead, not Miles, not Fontenot not Ramirez not the DL Rotation, not Gregg and Marmol has been the most criticized player on the team by the fans and the media, and it hasn't even been close. So when a guy says: "Everything is just bashing you. You go out there and you play harder than anybody on the field and never get credit for it. It's just negativity." A person who has been booed and hounded by the media pretty much all season long, you have to take it in context. Seriously, what type of drugs in Reed Johnson on when he comes up with that quote? Read this again: "All of us are really surprised that a player could come here and not have the time of his life..." Really, answer this question, Pat or anyone. If you were Milton Bradley (who again hit .296 .407.485 at Wrigley) and you're getting booed by the home fans, they're making signs to belittle you, even though the guy playing the other corner outfield spot is jogging after baseballs all year and has no signs, and your teammates can't understand why you're not having the time of your life... what would you think? You would think that Cubs fans are stupid losers and deserve what they get, and to be honest, you'd be right. You would think that your teammates don't 'have your back' and you'd be right in that as well. One of those guys (and it could well be that one of them did say this and Sullivan edited it out, but obviously it wasn't Johnson) could have at least said "The booing is a little out of whack for Milton" but of course they're afraid to draw the ire of the Cubs 'fans' themselves.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

The only parallel I draw with Sosa is the Cub organization's strage need to make a public example of a player before parting ways with them. That wasn't handled well. In both cases this did nothing but to serve to lower their trade value, which is counterproductive, but hey, we did get Fontenot for Sosa, right? Again the theme I get from the articles written when he was with the Rangers is that Bradley is a different kind of guy that a lot of people don't know how to take him, but as long as he is productive he is worth it. The key is production on the field. However, what did he hit with runners in scoring position this year? How bad were his slumps early in the season? He's productive now but he was horrible until about August. Too little too late. Did any of us expect him to take all year to get 40 rbi's? All this served to conspire against him in Chicago. Like any sport, if you produce, people can put up with a lot of crap, if you underperform, people will nitpick you to death.

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In reply to by Pat Kane

Sosa was public enemy #1 to Cubs fans following the season. Same as Bradley. The Cubs as you pointed out, needlessly conducted an anti-PR movement against Sosa - same as Bradley. 'A bad clubhouse' was pointed to as a reason for the Cubs lack of success in 2004, same as 2009, and Sosa and Bradley were in theory the main culprits. The main culprits for the bad clubhouse atmosphere in 2004 was the amount of DL time that the Cubs suffered through. Same problem in 2009, with the addition of the failures of the closers, Bradley, Soriano (though he should have been on the DL), Fountainout and Soto. The Cubs went into 2005 with downgraded talent, thinking that fixing the clubhouse, and better health from their pitchers would get them back to the playoffs. Want to take bets on their plan for 2010?

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Christ TRN....you're usually a well reasoned, insightful poster here..but your man-love for the 2009 MB is just amazing. Please list all tirades in the press by Soto and Soriano, who were also disappointments this season? Bradley should stfu, play the game, and perhaps try enjoying himself once in a while out there...he get to play a game, for millions of dollars. Waahhhh.

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In reply to by Dusty Baylor

What tirades are you talking about? Please list one tirade by Bradley. Bradley should stfu, I agree. It's not going to happen, and no one ever thought it would, so why not just say Pinhead should fill out lineup cards like he's sober and Hoffpauir should walk 100+ times? I'm just pointing out the facts, like I've been doing all along. Strawman away, but it won't change that many Cubs fans wanted Bradley to fail and got on his case when he struggled. Get on a player's case because of effort, like real fans, and most of this wouldn't have happened.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

No, it shows that I've paid attention to his performance this season, and not just his OBP. Did you see him give Prince Fielder a triple last week? He's better than Burnitz, Jones, et al in RF...but wow, is that faint praise. Bradley stinks this year. He isn't alone....see Soto, Soriano, Fontenot..Gregg...Zambrano even, but he sure isn't this misunderstood guy having a decent season that you're painting him to be.

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In reply to by Dusty Baylor

Did you see him slide at 90% speed into the foul wall? Did you see him bust his ass down the fist base line? Last week he didn't go 100% after a ball, with a swollen knee - yep he's been jaking it all year. Good catch. When did I say Bradley was having a decent season? Can you make any argument without constructing strawmen?

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In reply to by The Real Neal

"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." Real Neals vision of Milton is different than the one i quoted from Milton himself. Watch the video of Miltons last game, he jogs back to the dugout. He doesn't limp, crawl or need any assistance. No one in the dugout even bothers to make eye contact and the trainer has his arms crossed head down going "what now" like the rest of the team. Read the writing on the wall. Milton is faking his injuries to not play baseball. Everyone on the team knows it. You think he was suspended for the rest of the season for just his comments? He is dictating when he comes out of games, when he plays or doesn't play. Clearly the training staff, Lou, and Van Joshua thought he was healthy enough to atleast pinch hit, but Bradley being the team player he is refused. Is that really a guy you want on your team? When the going gets tough you lay down and die? He was healthy enough to jog off the field, healthy enough to do all the warm ups but game time comes around, nahhhhhh i am not playing. Fine you can atleast pinch hit, nahhhhh i am not playing. Fine fuck you your suspended. Milton is a smart man don't get me wrong, but I figured out his game long ago. Hide behind your injuries and master the art of "day to day" and you can play or not play whenever you want and no one can question you.

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In reply to by MikeC

It's really funny how your viewpoint can skew everything. You think it would have been better had everyone been staring at Bradley as he came off the field? You can see on the hit that he is having trouble getting to first. Isn't the injury a swollen knee? How do you fake that, exactly? Is he pumping his knee full of saline solution?

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In reply to by Pat Kane

Have you ever worked with someone who hated their job? If everyone who hated their job got fired for hating his job, I'd be unemployed. But isn't Hendry saying that Bradley is being suspended for talking trash about the fans and the media to the media? Am I misreading that? I'm in the let Bradley talk as much trash about the press as he wants as long as he keeps that OBP over .380 and the Cubs owe him his salary anyway camp.

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In reply to by Charlie

It's Hendry's job to assemble the best 35 man 'roster' that he can. It's Pinhead's job to get the most out of those 35 players. It's Bradley's job to hit, field and run the bases. Of those three guys - who's done the worst at their actual job in 2009? All that Hendry needed to say was 'well, that's Milty being Milty. We know he's opinionated and his fiery temperment is one of the reasons we brought him in." and made a non-story out of it. Now it's finger pointing time and it looks like the 2009 Cubs have found their 2004 Sosa. Can we bare to hope that the 2010 season is as great as that magical 2005 one?

Nice to see MLB trade on the Adenhart's family tragedy with that commercial. Just a class organization.

I think it's the muppet/garfield goose signal that did him in Hendry doesn't like to be parodied like that.

There is not one redeeming quality of Kevin Gregg. And then they don't hold Yadier Molina on and he steals a base.

ESPN tells me that Pujols and Lee will be free agents at the same time. Let's not spend too much money this off-season. Nice job there Miles. Will we lose 3 games in the bottom of the 9th to our arch-rivals (hey that's a pun) in 3 days? I think so!

Yay, no more Milton! Count me as happy, it ain't my money. Eat the contract and move on. Here's a big "fuck you" to Milton as the door hits his ass on the way out. Buh bye!! Next up: move Fukudome to Seattle where he can play with Ichiro and Johjima and hit twenty different sushi restaurants around town. I'll take a bad contract back to get rid of Dome, two years is enough of seeing his whirly-bird shit at the plate. More than enough.

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In reply to by Ryno

I wouldn't be surprised at all if Bradley plays again for the Cubs this year. Part of his problem is that he cares too much what people think (he could take lessons from me on that), so those comments in the press may get him to try and mend some bridges with his teammates... or he may just say 'fuck you bastards' and let it ride. I could see it going either way. That Johnson quote really pissed me off, and I could see it making Bradley nuts. It was really a stupid move by Hendry, any way you cut it up - unless his intent actually is to 'fix' Bradley.

That's some bullshit baseball by Holliday. I'm all for playing hard, but a double-play is a double-play. Eat it and move on.

Anyway, let's hope Lee's take on it comes true and Milton does whatever he has to do to get back on to the field this year. Part of growing up is learning to lie to people's faces, and it shouldn't be any surprise that that's what the Cubs want Bradley to do here.

Lol...the Cubs would like MB to play somewhat remotely like he did last season...oh..that was an outlier? Hmm..I see.

New blog post from Bruce Miles: http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/2628 Interesting excerpts:
Let's make no mistake here about Bradley. Although the Cubs took action by suspending him, Bradley brought it all on himself, and not one player in the clubhouse here at Busch Stadium rose to his defense. In fact, there was a feeling that a great weight had been lifted from the Cubs. We've all had our little set-to's with players. Jim Edmonds and I got into it right here in St. Louis. We got over it, and were chatting about baseball a few days later. That's all I wanted to do with Milton Saturday. Right away, he said, "I'm not talking about my knee." I told him I wanted to talk baseball, and, true to form, he turned it into something else. It happened a few weeks ago in Chicago, when he was asked about being comfortable at the plate before turning it into "hatred and adversity."

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Miles seems to be the most reasonable of all the beat writers, so I'm inclined to cut him a break. I do think, though, that it's a bit unseemly to have an immediate "now it can be told" reaction piece, and saying "true to form, he turned it into something else" is needlessly argumentative. I think what he meant was that Bradley ignored his question, and seemed to take offense where none was meant. Miles should've just written that. It's Sullivan and Wittenmeyer who have really amped up the drama to such a degree that it's yet another reason to be embarrassed to be a Cubs fan. They are so intent on reporting on who is a Bad Person, and who is Behaving Strangely, and so on, that that becomes the story, the water-cooler talk. People assume that Cubs fans are concerned with whatever silliness they're rambling about, and then we (again) look like idiots. Thanks guys. (NOTE to the torch-wielders: I am not saying that the writers caused the Bradley problem or that they are a greater cause of the Cubs' problems than Bradley was/is. I am saying that the way they write is a) bad and b) detrimental to the team to a certain degree.)

Well that was awesome. I get into my hotel room, put on ESPN, and the game is still on 'cause it's bottom 10th. Before I'm unpacked, I get to see Fox and Marmol kill off the Cards. Not even Joe Morgan can ruin that.

Although it may have been missed because of the buzz from the interference-double play, Caridad really looked good tonight. Especially getting the DP grounder with the bases loaded but the 10th was very solid (K, K, P02). I hope that bodes well for him in 2010. I think he may be the first of the pipeline of young pitching that is coming our way from the minors and we should see some more of it next year.

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In reply to by Cubster

I was thinking that he's the guy that I would like to see given Harden's start - though pitching tonight probably nixed that. I don't really see a lot of fifth starter candidates around. I think Smardizija is going to need to figure things out at the big league level, but not in a starter role. Atkins, yikes. Cashner is probably headed for a bullpen spot, maybe as early as next year. You see Cardidad's fastball and have to wonder, but it seems a bit straight and I haven't seen any secondary pitches that stand out from him.

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In reply to by The E-Man

Good observation--and ol' Jake will make a nice career for himself in the big leagues if that is his comparison point. I always liked Stairs and was sorry to him go elsewhere..... Hendry should seek out one of the new bullpen arms he'll need for 2010 from an AL team that could get better usage out of Fox. I would think his bat is strong enough that a smart GM could get a nice 7th/8th inning guy for Fox, and that trade would help both teams. Which AL teams have an excess of (preferably young) bullpen talent?

Jim Hendry has truly been awful this year. Every major move a complete bust, from Bradley and Gregg, to Gerut and Miles. Just a spectacular failure in building a succesful team...and worst, because he took a very succesful team and effectively blew it up because of 3 lousy games in October. However, I absolutely think this was the best move Hendry made all season. Bradley wasn't suspended for being mean to fans, he wasn't suspended for being mean to sportswriters, he was suspended for not wanting to do his job that he was getting paid $10 Million to do...and for letting that complete lack of desire and interest impact everyone around him, and quite honestly, diminish the franchise as a whole. I think it's rather amusing that we sit here on this blog and criticize sports writers and blame them for everything, while basically claiming Bradley was nothing more than a victim of circumstance. We feed the sportswriters...we read that stuff daily, good or bad...and we all pretend, as every blogger/poster does, that we can do better than them for free...yet we do it with no accountability, and often no face attached, we are anonymous and we don't suffer the consequences of losing a job or income if we don't do our job. Some of the comments here...such as claiming that Bradley's slugging percentage was inflated because of his stint in Texas...and that he really isn't having that bad of a year is just downright weird. For a site that counts so heavily on stats, I would think people would actually take a look at stats before making such comments. Overall, Bradley is a full .50 points below his career average in slugging, with his lowest total since 2001. And even more importantly, while we sit here and blame writers and fans for picking on Bradley...we seem to entirely ignore the fact that in April, his slugging was .150 points below his career average, followed by an average may, and then a June that was .100 points below average. Bradley had one very good month. 1. A month when the Cubs were losing as a whole and falling out of the playoff picture...and on the back of that one month, both Bradley and some notable people here turn the other cheek and point in every other direction but his. Bradley was paid $30 million to do a job. $30 to show up to work and grind it out...and he not only had not interest in doing that, he went after his employers, made enemies with his co-workers and caused a PR crisis for the company. Unlike the rest of us who would get fired instantly for doing what he did, he gets to keep all his hard earned money, so be it...that's baseball. But to blame anyone else but Bradley for the disaster that Bradley has been this year, is rather pathetic.

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In reply to by blockhead25

bradley's having a down season stats-wise, but that has little to nothing to do with why he's suspended right now. his mouth wrote a check bigger than his contract yesterday. it'd be nice if teams getting players like this had people who can manage/corral/work with people like this. the team is about to pay someone to take a .370+ ob% hitter with pop who can play RF/CF off their hands. it's bradley's fault, but it shouldn't have gotten to this point, imo.

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In reply to by blockhead25

So you're saying Bradley is having a sub-par season? Thanks. Is he having a bad year compared to what some other Cubs should be doing? Not as much, and that was certainly the only point I ever was making. He's been decidedly average overall as a ballplayer this year, which is of course not what the Cubs wanted, yet better than some other Cubs. But he has a big mouth, so he's got the biggest target put on him.

Anyway, he was at an OPS of .738 around July 21st, then proceeded to start hitting pretty much through August 30th. The Cubs went from 2 back to .5 game up to 10.5 back in that window, so to say he turned it on just when they were falling out is inaccurate. So you should probably check some stats too...

Did the writers send Bradley out of town? Nope. Are Wittenmyer and Sullivan out to get Bradley? You betcha'. You think the lamebrains in the bleachers that are booing aren't influenced by their articles? I sure do.

That all being said, Bradley is responsible for himself and he obviously pissed off just about everyone in the clubhouse with his antics. It's remarkable to me that the Cubs didn't realize what they were getting themselves into...I would have guessed they might have did a little research and figured out the best way to acclimate Bradley into Chicago and keep him happy. Apparently all they saw was a left-handed bat, and hadn't turned on Sportscenter in the last 5 years.

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In reply to by Rob G.

This underline's many points that agents and players need to really be on the same page when signing with the Chicago Cubs. It is more than a "baseball team". Boston and the Yankees, vie for greatness, while the Cubs team is forever linked with a huge following and a source of constant futility. Honestly, I really don't know if the team will ever win a World Series during my lifetime either.

I was SO wrong about Bradley...how could I be so wrong? I actually rooted hard for the guy most of the year, thought he would turn it around any day now lol...man I suck....might as well flush 20 million down the toilet.

Sullivan updated his MB article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-21-cubs-cardinal… Bradley had been more erratic than usual this weekend, telling teammates he was having marital difficulties and sparring with hitting coach Von Joshua. Hendry spent the last three days contemplating the suspension. Bradley took himself out of Saturday's lineup, then refused to pinch-hit late in the game, leading to Joshua getting in his face. When Bradley complained to the Daily Herald about "negativity" surrounding the organization, Hendry finally pulled the plug.

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In reply to by big_lowitzki

But if he's hurt, shouldn't he go on the DL instead of being suspended? It seems to me that Hendry handled this poorly. Had he gone on the DL, the Cubs wouldn't be dealing with the PR mess they've created and Bradley would have been more marketable in the off season. Also, as I understand it, the third year of Bradley's contract is not guaranteed if he ends the 2009 season on the DL. -edit- According to Cot's Contracts, the third year of Bradley's contract is not guaranteed if Bradley is on the DL at the end of 2009 season with a specific injury and not on the active roster by 4/15/2010. Chances are, Bradley's knee injury would not have prevented him from being on the active roster by 4/15/10.

I think the main difference with the fans' treatment of Bradley from the other players is that Bradley didn't have a cache of fan favor going into the season like the majority of the other guys on the roster. Reed Johnson hit .216 .310 .216 in April with 0 XBH's and 0 RBI's, and as far as I can tell, I'm the only one who noticed. It's really baffling, though, that he thinks the fans treated him and Bradley the same. That's just a Bradley-like detachment from reality.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Reed Johnson is a 4th OF/platoon partner for Fukudome. His poor performance should not be viewed in the same light as the high priced free agent that was brought in to be the left-handed hitting missing piece to the Cubs puzzle. Not nearly as much is expected out of Reed Johnson, nor should there be. Bradley was rightly held to a higher standard.

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In reply to by Newport

A higher standard in this instance would be, just for example, take the scenario where a batter strikes out with 2 guys on base. Player A gets 1000 boos and Player B gets 2000 boos. At Wrigley field if Bradley goes 3 for 5, but leaves a guy on base in one of his outs he gets 10000 boos. If Reed Johnson goes 1 for 4 and leaves guys on base in one of his outs he get's 100 and 12 groans. That's totally different, and these guys are in theory right next to each other on the depth chart. It's a totally different standard - comprende?

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Milton Bradley is a STARTING RF. Johnson is a BACKUP OF. They may be "right next to each other on the depth chart". Johnson being UNDER Bradley on the depth chart is right next to him, but still UNDER him. I hold the starting RF to a higher standard than a 4th/5th OF. You clearly do not. I also hold a guy with a 3/30 deal to a higher standard than I do a guy with a 1/3 deal.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

I don't follow this Reed Johnson business. What does Reed Johnson have to do with anything? Milton Bradley is yet another example of how stats can fail the game of baseball. Looking at a box score or career stats you'd never see that Milton Bradley is a clubhouse cancer who will not come through in a pinch. Stats are important to the game, sure, don't get me wrong, but you also have to look up from the spreadsheets once in a while and see the player as a human being. You have to watch the games to know that it's a guy who won't come through in game situations.

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In reply to by Ryno

Reed Johnson thinks that starting in right field and being heckled and booed relentlessly by fans makes Wrigley field a perfect baseball playing situation. My point is, and I don't think that I was obtuse or obscure in the least - is that Reed Johnson has not been treated the same way by the fans that Bradley has been, so where does he come off saying what he did?

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Yeah, I guess this is the real rub. Some people believe it makes it more difficult to play when you are boo'ed and heckled and some people believe a professional should act professionally and ignore it. I remember one of Barry Bond's last games he played at Wrigley, I sat in LF near the bullpen and I can tell you he was boo'ed, heckled, people were saying some downright cruel shit and he didn't even flinch. No eye contact, no gestures, nothing. He just played his game and hit a home run to deep center field during his final at-bat.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

You really are stupid arent you? Compare Bonds career to Bradleys and figure out why Giants fans cheered him. Would they cheer Bonds if he had the career of Miltons? Not a chance in hell. Its not rocket science smart ass. Your just thinking in a vacuum where you put Bonds and Bradleys attitudes on the same plane and throw out their entire career and go "Seee they didn't boo Bonds at home" to prove your retarded point. Drive up to Yankee stadium or watch a game in Philly. They will boo your ass if you don't perform star player or not. Right there your entire theory gets dropped kicked out of the ring.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

I see, getting boo'ed by your home team will really mess with your game, getting boo'ed on the road doesn't. I see. Does it matter if they are booing or just jeering? What kind of environment does Milton Bradley prefer? Is the boo'ing okay, just not the jeering or is it really more the jeering? Are his feelings being hurt? I say the team hires someone on board to really get to the bottom of the FAN IMPACT on the PROFESSIONAL BALL PLAYER. This is a really big deal, don't you know. It's not that Milton Bradley is an douchebag who can't hit in the clutch, no it's the fan's fault.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Your an idiot Real Neal. Bradley was brought in to do one thing and one thing only. Hit the baseball. He has no reputation as an offensive force, no reputation of health, but he does have a reputation of being the biggest dick in sports. Only one thing could have kept the fans off his ass, hitting the baseball and staying healthy. He got injured in Spring Training, injured in the first week of the season. Then he didn't hit until August or September and only did that for less than a week. You can't point to anything in Bradleys history and say, "you know what this is a down year he will bounce back to his career averages." Guess what he is pretty much exploring his career averages right now. He has no goodwill built up because he doesn't have the past history to point to and say, see I have been a dependable, productive and reliable player. And he certainly doesn't have the faith of the fans when he has proven he hasn't been productive over his career. Alot of fans didn't like this move but hoped it would work out. It didn't, and it didn't work out from day one because the shitty non productive Bradley of the past showed up with an attitude to match it. You simply can't be a smug prick with 40 RBI in September.

Reed Johnsonn in April sucked. gopod call there. Johnson in May? .366/.413/.707, 3 HR, 14 RBI. Yeah he sucked again in June. Gee TRN...a straw man argument to defend MB?

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In reply to by big_lowitzki

A straw man argument is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position. Using Reed Johnson, in any way to defend or refute anything said against Milton Bradley, is comparing apples to dachsunds. I say Bradley stinks, and he has not played well this season . Poster X says" Well Reed Johnson sucked in April and should not open his mouth." What does Reed Johnson have to do with Bradley being an underperforming douchebag?

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In reply to by Dusty Baylor

Trying to be nice here. Two players sucked in April. One was the Cubs fourth outfielder and one was their second outfielder. By the end of April, the #2 outfielder was garnering, what 20 times as much?, booing as the #4 outfielder. So, when #4 outfielder says, the outfielder who is doing just as poorly as #2 but not hearing about it says "All of us are really surprised that a player could come here and not have the time of his life..." then outfielder #4 is off his rocker.

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In reply to by Dusty Baylor

1. You just said you were going to let it rest 2. You don't know what a Strawman argument is 3. The booing of Bradley started in April. 4. Last year Johnson had a 99 OPS+. This year he's got an 85 OPS+ and has missed about half the year. 5. Reed Johnson is getting paid $3 million this year, which is comparable to what Bradley got paid last year. He's not a $350K second year player.

Johnson is still a backup, makes under half as much as Bradley does, and has no bearing on Bradley's underperforming, insufferable season. I went to 3 games in May..and we cheered for Bradley when he did something good. Lots of fans did. Johnson's OPS+ last year was 99. Ok...Bradley's this season is 100. Wow..for twice the $$. Oh...Johnson was $1.2 million last season. Would I rather have Reed Johnson than MB? Talent wise? Of course not. Attitude wise? Yes. 2008 Johnson: 374PA, .303/.358/.420, 52 runs, 6HR, 50RBI 2009 Bradley: 473PA, .257/.378/.397, 62 runs, 12HR, 40 RBI Bradley stinks this year.

Dear E-man: I am sorry that you were upset with my performance as a GM. I will try harder. If you're out in LA, I know a restaurant where the veal picata isn't to be missed. I go there to recruit all my lefty outfielders (unless they prefer sushi). All my best, J. Hendry

Dear Mr. Hendry: Thank you for FINALLY fessing up to this disaster you have let us fans enjoy during the 2009 season. May your next doughnut cause you sudden remorse and make you realize you chose the wrong career, where you will rightly decide to move to a different career. Don't let the door hit you in the back. Sincerely, The E-Man

Bradley was booed early because he came to town with a (valid) reputation for being a prick. He is a very hard person to root for, even in good times. Everyone had to know that if he got off to a slow start, things would turn ugly quickly. See "Jones, Jacques". Wrigley is a brutal place to hit in April and much of May. The outcome was fairly obvious and very predictable.

Doesn't the Jake Fox/Bobby Scales saga tell you anything? Lou does what he wants. He is old school. OLD, old school. Whether MB played or not, Lou told Hendry to go more left handed and Hendry obeyed. Does anybody here remember Billy Martin? How about Bobby Valentine? Sometimes (it is rumored) they CAUSED controversy to get their ballplayers motivated, or distracted or angry so they played hungry. Would you describe Bobby Scales as hungry for a championship? Or even D Lee. Fact is, some players are hungry only for their agents' negotiating power. Lou's style is to have pampered chef cookware available. Not to shout, BUT THERE WAS NO FIRE in Lou Pinella this year, and Rothschild had the look of a chicken about to have its neck wrung. MB did not do well in that system. At bat-wise, neither did Font, Sori, Fuku, Miles, Soto, Reed, Blanco, Freel, and half the season, D Lee. Milton Ballsy was the only one who had the guts to say something..I hope they keep them so he can at least have the opportunity to stay in one place in the lineup, get his knee 100% and spark something we haven't seen in Lou since his NY days. We still don't have a legit leadoff guy, and Soto needs to leave off the munchies so he can throw runners out again (and help the bull pen). And I for one wish we would stop mentioning White Sox retreads for trade bait. Hey! There's one for you - trade MB to the Sucks so Cub fans can boo him when he has a contract year for Ozzie! That is my last Lou rant for the season, we will see what happens when Uncle Tom gets full control (at least new pee troughs).

As of post #152, 42 of the comments are Real Neal's - 27.6% - although I am sure he will tell me that I calculated the percentage incorrectly or that there is a better stat out there to measure the level of contributions of a commenter. But setting those issues aside, I think it's clear that Milton Bradley himself has taken over Real Neal's account, or maybe has been him all along (it would certainly explain the pro-Bradley bent and the general douchiness). But sadly, despite the barrage of posts, Bradley has found just as poor of a reception here as he did in the Cub clubhouse. But by all means don't stop, because I am sure if you keep telling everyone they are wrong for disliking you (maybe the 50% comment threshold?) they will magically change their minds and start loving you - both Milton Bradley the player and Real Neal the commenter. On the other hand, be forewarned, it could backfire and TCR people could grow to think of you both as even bigger bonches than they did before.

man, I haven't had to this in awhile, but I'm going to have to shutdown the comments on this one. Let's all just cool down and think about what we did wrong. Normally I get on Neal for jumping down people's throats, but for the most part he's been staying civilized lately, he's just defending Milton to the end. Everyone else on here has decided they didn't like that and resorted to my one pet peeve/no-no and that's insults and namecalling and now it's escalated. So let's just calm down... Bradley's a douche, the Cubs fucked up the situation? That sum it up?

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    yeah, for me this isn't about who's better at 3rd.  it's madrigal, period.  for me it's about who's not hitting in the lineup because madrigal is in the lineup.

    occasional play at 3rd for madrigal, okay.  going with the steele/ground-ball matchup...meh, but okay, whatever.

    seeing madrigal get significant starting time...no thanks.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

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    morel played almost exclusively at 3rd in winter ball and they had him almost exclusively there all spring when he wasn't DH'ing.

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    this is a tauchman or cooper DH situation based on bat, alone.  cooper is 3/7 with a double off eovaldi if you want to play the most successful matchup.

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