AP: Foot surgery to limit Cliff Lee

SEATTLE—The Seattle Mariners say left-hander Cliff Lee is recovering from minor left foot surgery and will be limited when pitchers and catchers report to spring training this month.

The team announced Monday that its biggest offseason acquisition had surgery Friday in his native Arkansas to remove a bone spur that broke loose and was floating in his left foot.

Bodley: Zduriencik builds winner in Seattle

And all without sabermetrics! Way to go, Bods!

Jack Zduriencik reminds me of a movie star discovered in a Hollywood drug store who goes on to win an Academy Award.

Those who celebrate these kinds of successes are unaware of all the years of hard work, waiting on tables, daily struggles, toiling in the Minor Leagues, etc., for that defining moment at the drug store.

Baseball people are gawking at Zduriencik’s success since becoming Seattle’s general manager and even calling him an overnight success.

Don’t mention that to the 59-year-old Zduriencik (zur-EN-sik). The Z-man, as he’s called in Seattle, has more than paid his dues. For years he’s been anything but baseball’s best-kept secret.

“I got my chance, but I’m not doing anything differently than I’ve ever done,” he says. “I just try to be who I am. I want to be good; there are 30 clubs out there who want to be good.”

Morosi: The Tigers prove they can afford Justin Verlander’s immense ego

The Morosi you, the less I want to read you.

I have known Verlander for four years. He might be the most confident athlete I have ever been around. He has a very big, very forceful, very well-placed ego. And the Tigers had little choice but to indulge it with truckloads of cash.

In the end, Verlander’s self-assuredness resulted in a good deal for him — and the Tigers. And yes, he was right to ask for more money than Felix.

Verlander is too smart to declare publicly that he’s the best pitcher in baseball. But he’s probably too proud to admit that anyone else is better. Hence the need to receive the biggest contract of any pitcher in an arbitration class that also includes Hernandez and Josh Johnson of Florida.

...Sure, Hernandez has the better career ERA. And he is younger. But Verlander has won more games, posted more seasons of 15 victories or more, made more appearances in the All-Star Game.

He has the no-hitter. He has two starts in the World Series. He has the Rookie of the Year award. There is no denying that — so far — Verlander has accomplished more than Hernandez in the major leagues.

Mariners | Mariners are close to a deal with free agent Erik Bedard | Seattle Times Newspaper

Several news outlets reported Thursday that the sides are close to a one-year deal, pending a physical. MLB.com reported that a proposed deal would pay Bedard, who turns 31 on March 5, a base salary of $1.5 million, plus considerable incentives.

Hillis Layne, former Seattle Rainier, dies at 91

Hillis Layne, whose 17-year playing career in professional baseball included a Pacific Coast League batting title with the Seattle Rainiers in 1947, died Jan. 12 in Chattanooga, Tenn. He was 91.
[...]
Signed by the Washington Senators, Layne played three full seasons in the major leagues from 1941 to 1945, but missed parts of three seasons because of military service.

The left-handed hitter, listed as 6 feet, 170 pounds, played mostly third base. He played 17 seasons in the minor leagues, appearing in nearly 2,000 games and batting .335. He played three years for the Rainiers, leading the PCL in batting in 1947 with a .367 average. He hit .342 the next year. His last full season in Seattle was 1949.

The travails of J.J. Putz and the Mets

Putz has dropped a bombshell with an interview he conducted this week with Comcast Chicago (he recently signed with the White Sox). Putz makes a couple of inflammatory charges: One, that the Mets never gave him a physical after the trade with Seattle, and two, they told him not to mention his arm problems to the media. Putz underwent surgery to remove the spur in June. He returned in August, but experienced forearm discomfort and was eventually shut down for good.

Here are the key quotes:

MLB: Mariners ink Garko to one-year deal

In hopes of addressing their need for a right-handed hitter, the Mariners signed first baseman Ryan Garko to a one-year, $550,000 contract on Monday, according to The Associated Press.

Garko could up his salary to $1.075 million if he reaches 600 plate appearances with Seattle.

The 29-year-old batted .268 with 13 homers and 51 RBIs in 118 games for the Indians and Giants in 2009. For his five-year career—spent mostly in Cleveland—he is a .279 hitter with a .351 on-base percentage, .441 slugging percentage and 55 home runs.

In ‘07 and ‘08, Garko batted .281 while averaging 18 homers and 76 RBIs per year.

Originally a third-round Draft pick by the Indians in ‘03, Garko would earn an additional $25,000 each for reaching 325, 350 and 375 plate appearances in 2010. He would then get $50,000 apiece for 425, 450 and 475 plate appearances, and $100,000 each for 500, 550 and 600 plate appearances, the AP added.

McGrath: Kotchman’s not perfect – but he’s close

Ultra fielding percentage alert! (tosses pair of shaggy Kochmann SC 1000 Boots into piss-resting snow mound)

Seattle assistant general manager Tony Blengino, the organization’s stats guru, recently pointed out how a first baseman of Kotchman’s prowess offers a team more than conventional wisdom holds.

...Blengino acknowledged that one beneficiary of Kotchman’s defense could be second baseman Jose Lopez, whose responsibility will be eased on grounders hit to his left.

“Defense,” said Blengino, “is a team concept. If you put good defense next to good defense, all the sudden there’s a nice wall out there.”

Blengino is one of the several Mariners front-office executives who’ve followed Kotchman since he was a standout high school player in Seminole, Fla., outside of St. Petersburg. It was no surprise when the Angels selected him as the No. 13 overall pick of the 2001 amateur draft; the surprise is that Kotchman (a lifetime .269 hitter, with a mediocre on-base percentage of .337) hasn’t taken better advantage of his avoidance of strikeouts.

Kotchman is blessed with the hand-eye coordination necessary to put the bat on the ball. The challenge is to hit the ball where they ain’t. Don Wakamatsu suspects Kotchman is up to the task.

mlbtraderumors.com:  Mariners Sign Eric Byrnes

The Mariners have signed outfielder Eric Byrnes to a one-year deal according to a team press release.

Ichiro will retain M’s leadoff job even with addition of Figgins

Because he can bat leadoff any time he wants to!

Ichiro led the AL in hits last year with 225 while hitting .352. Figgins hit just .298, but he led the league in walks with 101, giving him a slight edge on Ichiro in on-base percentage, .395-.388

Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu, in town for a week as the club gears up for the start of spring training in three weeks, said he’s planning on sticking with Ichiro leading off – unless he hears differently from his right fielder.

``It would be my right fielder,’’ Wakamatsu said Thursday when asked who would be leading off for him. ``We’ll go into spring training thinking that. (But) if Ichiro says to me that it’s time for him to move (to another spot in the lineup) or that he wants to try and hit more home runs, we’d be open to that.’’

It’s clear, however, that the leadoff spot is Ichiro’s as long as he wants it. And while a couple of his former managers have toyed with the idea of having Ichiro bat third, the right fielder has never developed a liking for that idea. It would seem unlikely in the extreme that he’d change his mind now.

He doesn’t have to, at least not on Figgins’ behalf.

``I’ve talked to Chone and I know it’s not a problem for him,’’ Wakamatsu said. ``Chone wants to win.’’

Keith Law: Top 100 prospects

NO.  PLAYER
1 Jason Heyward, OF, ATL
2 Stephen Strasburg, RHP, WAS
3 Carlos Santana, C, CLE
4 Buster Posey, C, SFO
5 Mike Stanton, OF, FLA
6 Desmond Jennings, OF, TAM
7 Martin Perez, LHP, TEX
8 Dustin Ackley, CF, SEA
9 Justin Smoak, 1B, TEX
10 Jesus Montero, C, NYY
11 Brian Matusz, LHP, BAL
12 Starlin Castro, SS, CHC
13 Neftali Feliz, RHP, TEX
14 Domonic Brown, RF, PHI
15 Wade Davis, RHP, TAM
16 Aroldis Chapman, LHP, CIN
17 Jeremy Hellickson, RHP, TAM
18 Casey Kelly, RHP, BOS
19 Aaron Hicks, RHP, MIN
20 Brett Wallace, 1B, TOR
21 Logan Morrison, 1B, FLA
22 Tyler Matzek, LHP, COL
23 Jenrry Mejia, RHP, NYM
24 Michael Taylor, OF, OAK
25 Zach Britton, LHP, BAL

Scouting reports for the top 25 should be free, I think.

EV Tribune: Mesa unveils plan to keep Cubs; vote Monday

Mesa’s plan was developed after months of talks with the team to prevent the Cactus League’s most popular team from accepting a bid from investors near Naples, Fla.

The $84 million plan was drafted on requests that the Cubs had to develop a Wrigleyville-themed complex, Mesa City Manager Chris Brady said. The city would own the stadium and training facilities. Mesa maintains the current training facilities, but Brady said the team wanted to take that expense and gain advertising rights at the new complex.

Drayer: 60 Minutes With Ichiro

So it’s a week old.  Big deal.  I almost missed it, and I’m from Seattle. 

With all the preparation you put in to taking the field do you ever look around the clubhouse and see a teammate and think, if only he did this…

(laughs)

When I see Junior I always think he should sleep at home rather than at the clubhouse. I always think if he was able to that he could have easily hit seven hundred homeruns by now.

Also, maybe the Hit King better watch his back:

Where do you see yourself ten years from now?

I would like to be able to play baseball in the same way I am playing now.

Not sure I’d want to bet against the guy.  After all, he *is* Ichiro!.  And you’re not.

ESPN report: Felix Hernandez agrees to multi-year deal

One of Jack Zduriencik’s biggest goals this offseason was to lock up young pitching ace Felix Hernandez to a contract extension and the Seattle Mariners appear to have pulled that off Monday, according to an ESPN report.

Though no contract terms were reported, ESPN analyst Keith Law says a source with direct knowledge of the talks tells him a multi-year deal is now in place, pending a physical by Hernandez.

If Law’s information is correct, that would be huge news for Mariners’ fans who already have seen the team trade for pitching ace Cliff Lee, third baseman Chone Figgins and left fielder Milton Bradley as well as the long-term signing of center fielder Franklin Gutierrez and the one-year renewal with Ken Griffey Jr. this offseason.

Hernandez has developed into one of the top pitchers in baseball in his five seasons with Seattle and expressed a desire to stay with the team after last year. But there had been talk in some quarters that it would make sense to begin shopping the young ace while he had maximum trade value rather than let him enter into his final year or two before free agency, unless he was willing to commit to a longer-term deal.

Thanks to Barry.

The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived: Why is Ichiro so Hard to Predict Every Year?

Dunno...used to have the same flucuatin’ problem with Gil Garrido.

A lot of the reason for Ichiro’s fluctuations in batting average lie in the struggle for 200 hits. The slumps usually ride his average to at least 15 points less than what it ought to be. I don’t even know if I can explain this though: In his 9 seasons, Ichiro has never hit within 10 points of his career average. His career average is .333. He has never batted in the .330s or .340s. He also has never had an average in the .320s higher than .322. It is probably because of this that people don’t know what to expect from Ichiro on a yearly basis. It’s either something in the stellar .350s or something (relatively) terrible in between .300 and .325. The difference between .310 and .350 is quite enormous, especially to a fan who listens to all of the at bats. It may only mean one more hit per 25 at bats, but it certainly is noticeable. If .350 is a good season for Ichiro, then Ichiro has yet to have back to back good seasons. After 2001’s .350, Ichiro batted .321. After 2004’s .372, he had a BA of .303. After 2007’s .351, Ichiro batted .310. History does not seem to favor Ichiro for 2010. But perhaps the greatest thing about Ichiro is that he is not predictable. If that were the case, his average would decline every year like every normal speedy outfielder. I’ve already said that 2008 seemed to indicate that Ichiro was aging. He then followed that campaign with his second highest MLB average ever. With Griffey back, I’d say that the sky’s the limit for Ichiro.

Sickels: Seattle Mariners Top 20 Prospects for 2010

And still no Nezi Balelo…

1) Dustin Ackley, OF-2B, Grade A-: Love the bat, has the type of skills needed in a future batting champion. Can he really play second base though?

2) Michael Saunders, OF, Grade B-: I don’t like him as much as some people do. I see him more as a solid .270/.330/.450 type than a future star, but he should have a long career.

3) Gabriel Noriega, SS, Grade B-: I have issues with his strike zone judgment, but am intrigued enough with his youth, glove, and overall tools to cut him some slack at this point. Could go up to B+ next year, or down to C if he can’t hit at Clinton.

4) Alex Liddi, 3B, Grade B-: High Desert inflates his numbers, but I think he made some real progress. He looks like a better player to me at this point than Triunfel. Double-A will tell us a lot.

5) Carlos Triunfel, SS-3B, Grade B-: Injury mulligan. . .but at some point the numbers have to start living up to the hype. Doesn’t turn 20 until February, but he looks more like a third baseman to me than a shortstop.

...This is a tough organization to get a handle on. They have a lot of guys with huge upsides, but big questions about their actual skill levels. Thus, a list put together by a traditional scout is going to look different than someone going by sabermetric performance. I take a hybrid approach with a sabermetric lean, and thus this list might not satisfy anyone except me. Such is the risk of the business.

U.S.S. Mariner: The Project

Forget Tito Nanni...THIS is the biggest Mariner project ever!

We have partnered with Maple Street Press, a publishing company out of Massachusetts, to produce a 2010 Mariner Annual. It’s going to be 128 pages of ad free, Mariner specific goodness. Their production team is terrific, running full color, aesthetically pleasing productions that are of the highest quality. The images in the magazine come from Getty, and the entire thing comes off as a top flight press product. To give you an idea of the content that will be in this magazine:

Larry Stone: An In Depth Interview With Don Wakamatsu About Baseball Strategy.
Art Thiel: Griffey’s Return To Seattle
Jonah Keri: How Lou Gorman Built The 1977 Mariners
Geoff Baker: The Franchise Turnaround
Shannon Drayer: Ryan Rowland-Smith’s Road To The Bigs
Jeff Sullivan: The Actual Value Of Defense and Chone Figgins Is Better Than You Think
Vince Gennaro: The Secondary Value Of Defense
Dave Allen: Pitch F/x Tackles Cliff Lee
Matthew Carruth: Effects of Safeco’s Asymmetry
Derek Zumsteg: Edgar Belongs In Cooperstown and Ichiro Just Doesn’t Age
Jay Yencich: Top 10 Prospects
Jason Churchill: Dustin Ackley’s Future
Jon Shields: Catcher Of The Future (Adam Moore)
Dave Cameron: The Maturation Of Felix Hernandez

Lookout Landing: Thoughts on Randy

Tired of “Lipcurl” Pearlman? Here’s Matthew’s recollection of his first Randy Johnson experience: this one-hitter (August 14, 1991).

I don’t remember many concrete details about that game. Looking back now, I am bemused that Edgar Martinez was our lead off hitter. I remember the date. I remember Junior went deep and I think that the was the first of his home runs that I saw live and I wonder which will be the last. I remember that Randy Johnson seemed to be of some other world. An unhittable giant on the mound with blazing speed. I remember the 1 under the H on the scoreboard. That 1 came in the 9th inning. I remember a lot of strikeouts. I was hooked.

I remember how his pitches seemed too fast to watch. How the Athletic hitters seemed to agree. How the impact of leather covered ball against leather catcher’s mitt seemed to echo in the half-filled Kingdome. I remember watching a lot of missed swings and sad walks back to the dugout. I didn’t remember the actual number, I had to go look that particular piece of information up. It was 27. 27 times an Athletic swung and missed that night. When Felix is on, he mixes all four of his pitches and keeps hitters guessing. Randy did it with a fastball and a slider only. He was something else. He was a god out there.

Rosenthal: BoSox on verge of dealing Kotchman to M’s

Red Sox first baseman Casey Kotchman is on the verge of being traded to the Mariners, according to a major-league source.

The deal, first reported by ESPN.com, will bring the Red Sox a minor leaguer and possibly another player.

Kotchman became expendable when the Red Sox reached agreement with free-agent third baseman Adrian Beltre, ensuring that Kevin Youkilis will remain at first base.

Beltre’s deal will become official once he passes a physical. The Red Sox also are expected to trade third baseman Mike Lowell.

The addition of Kotchman should ensure that Jose Lopez remains at second base for the Mariners and could reduce the chances of the team re-signing free-agent first baseman Russell Branyan.

DelGrippo: Bay Will be Minaya’s Sexson

Sexson the Bay: Go easy on the Schnapps.

But that was the end of the line for Sexson with the M’s, whose last two seasons in Seattle produced OPS+ of 84 and 87. He only hit 32 HRs for the Mariners those last two seasons, and was subsequently released late in 2008.

He is now out of baseball, and is still only 34. He is known as the sixth worst free agent signing in Seattle Mariner history, although many Mariner fans likely consider him as No. 2 worst signing.

While the player and situation detailed above was not the recent Bay signing by New York Mets GM Omar Minaya**, it is eerily similar to the Sexson signing. And in the end, history will repeat itself with Jason Bay in New York.

**I have always considered Minaya the worst GM in baseball based upon he was GIVEN his initial GM job and all he does is spend an owner’s money on free agents. He never develops players within the organization. One of the big problems the Mets had last season were injuries, with no adequate replacements for the injured players’ positions. That is Minaya’s job as the head of the organization, a job he is terrible at.

Ron Fairly for the Hall of Fame!

OK, so it’s the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame...but I got a chuckle out of this.

Here’s a description of the campaign, taken directly from the Facebook group page:

“No one in the history of baseball has done what Ron Fairly has done in Canadian Baseball. You could look it up! Canadian Amatuer Champion Team member(1958 Edmonton), Montreal Expos All Star, Original Toronto Blue Jay and All Star, only one ever to be an All Star on both teams,and long time broadcaster for the Seattle Mariners which includes several radio and tv outlets in western Canada. Ron Fairly has had a profound influence on and has brought pride to many many Canadian baseball fans. He should be a member of this hall and it is incomplete without him. Stand up for a great ballplayer, teacher of the game, teammate and broadcaster.”

BDD/Golebiewski: What Happened to Ian Snell?

Really nice detailed look at the travails of a pitcher I’ve always liked, with this concise summary:

If Ian Snell is to re-emerge as a valuable starting pitcher, he is going to have to make wholesale changes. His passive, pound-the-outside-corner fastball philosophy has resulted in plenty of crooked numbers for the opposing lineup.

Snell never handled left-handers particularly well, but it seems as though righties have caught on to the concept that they’re rarely going to get an inside heater. Essentially, Snell works one side of the plate against same-handed batters. That’s an awfully predictable pitching pattern. It seems like Snell has strayed far from having a purpose behind every pitch he throws.

Ryan Divish: Where did the Mariners go wrong with Morrow?

To sit and wonder where it all went wrong for Brandon Morrow and the Seattle Mariners is an exercise in frustration and a walk into the world of bad baseball decision-making.

Perhaps the first thing that went wrong was that the two were even paired together.

Of all the bad decisions made under Bill Bavasi – the Erik Bedard trade, the signing of Carlos Silva, the signing of Richie Sexson, the trade of Rafael Soriano for Horacio Ramirez, the Kenji Johjima contract extension, Scott Spiezio, Carl Everett, Rich Aurilia ... well, you get the idea – the decision to draft Morrow with the fifth pick of the 2006 draft instead of Tim Lincecum ranks near the top.

Nothing about the pick made sense to those who covered the team, or to fans and folks around baseball.

On the day Morrow was selected, News Tribune columnist John McGrath wrote: “Still, the comparisons between Lincecum and Morrow will be made today, and they’ll be made when they sign their contracts, and they’ll be made as long as they throw pitches for a living.”

It’s safe to say Johnny Mac never quite knew how prophetic those words would be.

Yahoo Sports: Duk: The top 10 playoff disappointments of the 2000s

Next up are the most disappointing playoff teams of the decade, a group that crept close to the promised land before leaving all of their fans to wonder what might have been. We weighed a number of factors before including each member, but please note that this list does not include any World Series teams. It’s our view that an AL or NL title can rarely be viewed as a total downer. (We’re sure, though, that fans of the 2002 Giants, ‘03 Yankees, ‘04 Cardinals and ‘06 Tigers would like to disagree.)

Mariners have reached tentative agreement to trade Brandon Morrow to Blue Jays for B. League

From Robo via Pinto.

Sources: Mariners have reached tentative agreement to trade Brandon Morrow to Blue Jays for B. League and prospect.

More from Robo…

The Mariners still are not finished.

In their latest move, they have reached a tentative agreement on a trade that would send right-hander Brandon Morrow to the Blue Jays, according to major-league sources.

In return, the Jays would receive right-hander Brandon League, a reliever, and a prospect. The players must pass physicals before the trade can become official, sources said.

The Jays, who recently traded ace right-hander Roy Halladay to the Phillies, probably would make Morrow a candidate for their starting rotation. From the Mariners’ perspective, the prospect could be the key to the deal.

S.I.: Reiter: Mariners zig where others zag

The zig zag wanderer has a zigzag child!

There is, Zduriencik knew, more than one way to win a baseball game. One alternative way is to field better—far better—than your opponents do, and to that end Zduriencik last winter traded for center fielder Franklin Gutierrez, who had never managed to find a full-time role in four seasons in Cleveland, and last July traded for light-hitting Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson. According to the instructive Ultimate Zone Rating statistic, Gutierrez last season saved more than 10 more runs than did any other major league fielder (Gutierrez’s individual UZR was 29.1; Rays third baseman Evan Longoria was second, at 18.5), and had an 18-run advantage on any other center fielder. Wilson finished the season as the majors’ best-fielding shortstop, based on UZR. Those two players, along with stalwart defensive incumbents like Beltre and Ichiro, helped the ‘09 Mariners compile a cumulative UZR of 85.5, which is far and away the best single-season team UZR since the web site fangraphs.com began tracking the stat in 2002 (the ‘08 Rays are second, at 74.2).

It is within the realm of possibility that the ‘09 Mariners were the best-fielding team ever to play in the major leagues. If you wonder why the club won 85 games in ‘09, 24 more than they did in ‘08, and why the Mariners did a lap around the field and conducted a beer-spraying celebration in the clubhouse at season’s end, this is a good place to start.

Edgar And The Hall of Fame - A New Look

“When you match up the best hitters of all time Edgar is on a very short list not just in his quality but in quantity of value he added above the league average. His career was a lot shorter than a lot of people who are in the Hall of Fame but there are players who played five and six more years that he has more offensive value added over the course of the career. It is the on base component he added, as much on base value over his career in twelve qualifying seasons as Pete Rose did in twenty-two and Pete Rose is an all time on base guy, and Edgar had the power to go along with it!”

In twelve years Edgar Martinez had as much on base value as Pete Rose did playing ten more years. Make no mistake, Edgar was an impact offensive player. He was not beating out infield singles. This production Blengino is talking about is not a yearly average, it is not adjusted for career length. It is cumulative. Edgar simply was able to do more, dramatically more, in a shorter amount of time than others in the Hall of Fame. Should he be penalized for that?

If you take away questions about the position and the years played and look at the accomplishment and the raw numbers what you have in front of you according to Blengino is one of the best hitters in the history of baseball.

“In my book he is one of the twenty-five best hitters who’s ever played the game and all of the other guys on that list are in the Hall of Fame, and the vast majority of them were first ballot. For me he is an absolute first ballot slam dunk.”

Sullivan: Ryan Dempster likes Milton Bradley trade

NEW! “Dempster Diving!” by Milton Bradley. Rosie McCouchdent..."Dangly feeted fun for the whole damn family!” Booku Nardoosh..."WATCH OUT FOR THE ROTTING CORPSESESS!” Silvio Garlickmi..."Take that WM©!”

Donning a retro Blackhawks jersey, Dempster helped kick off the new skating rink located in the parking lot west of the ballpark. While getting his skates sharpened, Dempster chimed in on Friday’s trade that sent Bradley to the Mariners for right-hander Carlos Silva.

“I’m happy for him that he got a fresh start,” Dempster said of Bradley. “Hopefully he does really well and just enjoys playing. For us, we have a guy who’s capable of eating innings when he’s healthy, and it sounds like he is.

“I know (Silva’s) a really good guy. A lot of guys speak very highly of him. (The trade) definitely helps our team.

...The Cubs still are looking to sign free agent outfielder Marlon Byrd and reliever Matt Capps, but Dempster doesn’t believe the team needs much to get back to the postseason.

“We just need the guys we have on the team to play a little bit better, all of us included,” he said. “I think we have the right players to do it. When you’re not looking for the big, impact player on your team you don’t follow (the offseason rumors) that closely. But I definitely pay attention to what’s going on and who’s signing where. It’s definitely a little slower this winter.”

Olbermann: Milton Bradley Makes The Worst Teams In The World

Olbermann is Fullenwider...and then some.

Jack Zduriencik was one move away from completely rebuilding a shaken franchise in a little over thirteen months.

And then he made the move.

How much easier could this be to understand? You do not trade for Milton Bradley. You do not trade for Milton Bradley. You do not trade for Milton Bradley.

...And by the way, we are talking about a player whose career highs are 34 doubles, 22 homers, 77 RBI, 17 steals, and a .321 average. This is not Albert Belle. This is not even Carl Everett. Statistically, this is a poor man’s Ben Grieve (my apologies to Ben Grieve).

And after signing Chone Figgins and Russell Branyan (and maybe even re-signing him), and dealing for Franklin Gutierrez, Jack Wilson, Cliff Lee, Ian Snell, and David Aardsma, all the good work by Zduriencik is undone by adding a player who is being described as looking for a “fresh start.” This’d be his seventh. 

ESPN Chicago: Greenberg: The Cubs’ Milton Bradley nightmare is over, but is Carlos Silva the answer?

Dunno...but I’ll check in with ESPN Sammamish later on for some insight.

Bradley had a snappish, defensive relationship with Chicago reporters, enacting his own media ban and seeing problems where there weren’t any.

There was at least one incident that set a bad tone—a Chicago Sun-Times story with a tabloid flair on possible race-related conflicts. The story touched on comments from ex-Cubs like LaTroy Hawkins, Dusty Baker and Jacque Jones. The story was framed in a way that made Bradley the center of a story that had, frankly, no merit at the time it was published as the season was barely a week old.

Still, you can’t blame a headline for 40 RBIs. You can’t blame negative vibes for negative performance. Not at $10 million a year.

Bradley had some other problems. Supposedly, personal stuff affected his play. He’s too quiet to be a clubhouse lawyer, but he’s just moody enough to be a negative influence.

Think about it this way. You’re out with some friends and one person is complaining about the service, ruing his life. The vibe is affected. Bradley was consistently dour, and since no one knew him, it crippled his ability to interact with teammates. The unrealized expectations of the team made it much worse.