The Cubs have taken the first two games against the Reds by scores of 8-5 (Friday) and 5-3 (Saturday). In the Cubs last nine games since the All-Star break, they are 7-2.
In the two games against the Reds, Alfonso Soriano is 4-for-8 with a homerun and an RBI. It’s an incredibly small sample size, but maybe, just maybe, he’s turning things around. Milton Bradley continues to struggle, but he did have a pinch-hit homerun on Saturday.
Randy Wells got the victory on Friday pitching 6.0 innings and giving up three earned runs. Kevin Hart pitched 6.0 innings on Saturday for the victory. He gave up one earned run while striking out five and walking one.
Micah Owings (6-10) gets the start for the Reds today against Rich Harden (6-6). Harden has been much better on the road this year than at Wrigley. Even so, he’ll be leading the charge for the series sweep.
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Ted Lilly was placed on the 15-day DL yesterday with a sore shoulder. Lilly is expected to be out of action for three or four weeks.
According to Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago, Lilly has agreed to have his knee scoped while he is out on the DL. Doctors suspect that the problem with his knee has altered his mechanics, causing the soreness in his shoulder. Lilly’s knee will be ready to go at about the same time his shoulder is healed, so there’s no reason not to have the knee repaired while he’s on the DL.
I read this morning (although I can’t find the link now) that there is speculation that Lilly may have a torn bicep. From what I’ve read, that’s probably a stretch. It’s a possibility, but there’s no evidence of a torn bicep at this point.
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Are the Tigers interested in trading for Milton Bradley? Steve Stone and Dave Kaplan say “yes.” But both Jim Hendry and Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski say “no.” So what gives?
According to Steve Stone (former Cubs broadcaster and current White Sox broadcaster) on Twitter:
Rumor is that tigers are interested in trading for milton bradley. Cubs should fly him in a private jet. #Cubs
Kind of snarky, don’t you think.
Dave Kaplan (host of Chicago Tribune Live! on Comcast SportsNet and WGN Radio’s Sports Central) followed up on his blog with this:
“Two very solid baseball sources confirmed for me just moments ago that the Detroit Tigers are interested in Cubs RF Milton Bradley. They believe that Bradley would be a much better fit as a DH than as a right fielder and that he would mesh well with Tigers manager Jim Leyland.
“Both sources say that the Tigers have scouted Bradley and are interested depending on how much of his contract the Cubs are willing to eat. Here is the remaining money left on Bradley’s deal which depending on certain clauses has two more years left on it.”
Regardless of what Stone’s and Kaplan’s sources have to say, both Hendry and Dombrowski deny that there have been any discussions.
So who to believe? Who knows? I’d like to think that Jim Hendry is working on getting rid of Bradley. And it could be that Hendry and Dombrowski want to keep any conversations quiet for now. But I just find it hard to believe that Detroit has an interest in Bradley.
And let’s be honest, if Steve Stone wasn’t the one who broke this story, it would have more credibility. The fact that Dave Kaplan confirmed the rumor does give it a little more credibility.
If Detroit is really interested, who could the Cubs get in return? How much of Bradley’s contract would the Cubs have to absorb? All good questions, but they could be moot if there’s nothing to the rumor.
UPDATE: After sending his original Twitter post, Steve Stone spoke to Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski who said he was not interested in adding Bradley to his team. Dave Kaplan also followed up on his blog saying that his sources also confirmed that the original rumor was just that, a rumor.
So how did this happen? Kaplan explains it this way:
“So how did a rumor which happens all of the time take off so quickly? Perhaps because people are so desperate to see Bradley in another uniform they ran with a rumor that it turned out had no substance to it. Whatever the reason is it really doesn’t matter. The Tigers aren’t interested in trading for Milton Bradley and it appears he will be the Cubs RF for the forseeable future.”
Interesting…Kaplan is right that there are a lot of people who would like to see Bradley in another uniform. Even so, it doesn’t explain how the original rumor got started. Why did someone supposedly credible tell Steve Stone that the Tigers were interested in Milton Bradley? And why did “[t]wo very solid baseball sources” tell Dave Kaplan that the Cubs and Tigers were talking about a Milton Bradley deal?
It’s weird how rumors get started, but it appears that this rumor was created from whole cloth. In other words, it doesn’t appear that there was ever any truth to it. My gosh, if you can’t trust baseball rumors, what can you trust?
