Saturday, December 19, 2009

More Trade Reaction

Other Links and Notes:

David Kaplan, Dave Van Dyck, and Paul Sullivan talked about the Bradley trade on Chicago Tribune Live yesterday with Jim Hendry:

  • Hendry is happy to have the whole Bradley thing behind him.
  • It's no secret that Bradley never really achieved on the field, and had issues off the field that weren't tolerable.
  • Jim takes full responsibility for the Bradley signing.
  • The Cubs had other avenues that they could have taken, but in the long run this is a good deal for them because they got some cash back in the deal.
  • He will look at the trade based on not only Silva's performance, but also based on the performance of the player that the Cubs get with the extra money they receive in the deal.
  • When Paul congratulated him on the deal, Hendry said thanks but it's not something he thinks of as congratulations, but you have to move on and put it behind you.
  • At the meetings, the president of Seattle told Sully that the M's were not looking at Bradley.
  • Jim said that he first heard from the Mariners on Bradley 2 days ago.
  • This week, two clubs that Hendry had not talked to all off season long (one being Seattle) contacted him this week.
  • Van Dyck thinks that the Mariners kept Silva on the DL longer than he needed to be because he wasn't performing well.
  • "He's not hurt, he's 30 years old, and maybe he just needs a change of scenery. This is a very good guy, a good team got, and he helps young pitcher," Hendry said of Carlos Silva.
  • He'll be a candidate for the rotation and for the middle relief job.
  • The Cubs have been keeping track of all their possibilities. They know they would like to move Kosuke back to right field.
  • Jim is also looking to add a bullpen piece to go with Grabow and Marmol.
  • They would also like to add a quality person or two to their bench, and they need a right handed bat who can play with Kosuke in right field.
  • Reed Johnson is a guy that the Cubs will always consider for their baseball guy. Johnson is a great team guy, but he has had a tough time staying healthy.
  • Jim certainly wouldn't rule out Reed coming back.

After Jim was off the phone, the guys talked more about the Cubs:

  • They were surprised that this deal to Seattle got done as suddenly as it did.
  • Van Dyck thinks that when they relized how big of a contract Jason Bay wanted, they decided that Bradley might be a better fit.
  • Kap thinks that he will go out to the West Coast and have a great season.
  • Dave thinks Ken Griffey Jr. will have a good impact on Bradley.

Todd Hollandsworth joined the guys next:

  • The first thing Todd said was, "Christmas came to Chicago early."
  • It was a good time to get Bradley out.
  • Silva has a little up side and potential in the bullpen.
  • Hollandsworth thinks that one person can have a huge impact on the clubhouse. Chicago's relationship with Bradley was not a good one.
  • Todd believes that this could possibly be a very good situation for Carlos Silva, who is an innings eater and a ground ball pitcher.
  • He thinks Carlos could be a fit in the bullpen.
  • Bradley hurt the Cubs in the clubhouse and on the field. He was brought in to be the guy in between Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee.
  • When Aramis got hurt, Milton needed to step it up. When the Cubs needed him the most, his game really started to turn south. A lot of things played off of that.
  • Todd says that there's not a lot of pressure in Texas. The pressure in Chicago got to Bradley.
  • Hollandsworth thinks that it was the best situation for both Silva and Bradley to go to a new place.

More CTR Cubs talk:

  • Dave Van Dyck thinks that if Bradley would have signed for 1 year $8 million it might have all ended up differently.
  • Kaplan thinks Lou Piniella has to come in with a little more edge next year. Sullivan says that they just need to hit.
  • Kap thinks the manager has to hold people accountable.
  • Van Dyck and Sullivan agree that the hitters not hitting was the key to the season, not Piniella's lack of fire.
  • Dave pointed out that the Cubs won 97 games under Lou in 2008.
  • Paul says that if you want to blame Piniella for something, blame him for sticking with Kevin Gregg too long and leaving Soriano as the lead-off man for too long.
  • Frankie O. from Harry Caray's restaurant called it an awesome day. He said today the people at Harry Caray's were celebrating the trade of Bradley.
  • Milton never endeared himself to Cub fans. He was the guy that the fans had a lot of resentment towards. Frankie says that this team needs to move towards winning. Cubs fans want to see what will happen next.
  • People want to see if this Cubs team can hit next season.

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted on Everything Cubs as always!

No comments:

Post a Comment