Reports are beginning to emerge that the Cubs have traded Milton Bradley to the Seattle Mariners for pitcher Carlos Silva. Larry Stone of the Seattle Times-Intelligencer is reporting that the trade is even up. Bradley is owed $21 million over the next two years while Silva is owed $25 million in 2010-11 with an $11.5 million for 2013 and a $2 million buyout. so the Cubs are taking on extra money, but they are getting rid of a headache.
Silva apparently is not good. He 4-15 with an 6.46 ERA in 2008. He injured his shoulder early in 2009 and missed most of the season. While he was available in 2009, he posted a record of 1-3 with an 8.60 ERA.
Carrie Muskat of MLB.com and Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports have both confirmed the trade.
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Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune is reporting that Seattle will be sending $9 million to the Cubs along with Silva. That’s a surprise to me. The reports are still coming in hot and heavy, so we’ll see how things actually shake out.
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Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald confirms that the Cubs are getting $9 million in cash. Miles may not always get the story first, but he almost always gets it right, so if he says the Cubs are getting $ 9 million, then I believe it. He also says that the Cubs will be having a press conference to go over all of the details.
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In a news conference held to announce the Bradley-for-Silva trade, Jim Hendry took responsibility for the “Milton Bradley era” not working out. There’s no dount that signing Bradley was a mistake and thinking he would behave himself was wishful thinking, but I place the vast majoity of the blame on Milton Bradley himself. He chose to be belligerent and anti-social. He made that decision, not anyone on the Cubs. The responsibility for Bradley’s behavior rests solely with Bradley.
That doesn’t mean that Hendry and the Cubs didn’t play a role in this fiasco. Hendry was responsible for the signing in the first place. The, he completely mishandled Bradley’s suspension and subsequent comments. Piniella could also have done a better job of being a mentor and father-figure to Bradley. However, that’s not Piniella’s style and everyone knew it when the Cubs first signed Bradley. So it’s difficult to put too much blame on Piniella for not being something he isn’t.
