Starting In Right Field For Your 2010 Cubs: Milton Bradley

The Winter Meetings have come and gone, yet, Milton Bradley is still a Cub.

Are you surprised?  You shouldn't be.

The Cubs butchered this whole ordeal from Day 1.  And not Day 1 of the offseason, either.  It all began when they signed Bradley in the first place. Three-years and $30 million for a player who has been on seven different teams in his big league career and had accumulated 500 plate appearances only twice in his entire career. 

Signing a guy coming off posting a .999 OPS to lead the American League is a good idea.  Signing the guy for three years when he hadn't spent more than two full seasons on a team since the first three years of this decade is a bad one.

Then, there would be the handling of Crazy Uncle Milton, who was treated as if he had "fragile" stamped on his forehead.  It all fell apart in September when Hendry & Co. botched the season-end suspension.  Rather than keep in in house, the Cubs pissed all over any trade value Bradley would have had by throwing him under the bus.

Hendry could have spent the offseason saying, "We sat Milty the last two weeks of the season because we wanted to have him healthy going into an offseason where we knew we'd try to trade him.  He wasn't a fit with our team, but he could fit yours."  Now, there's no hiding behind that anonymity because everyone knows Bradley's a dickhead.

The sad this is that Bradley has handled his demotion well.  He hasn't been seen or heard from, which is good.  It might make things easier come Spring Training when the Cubs have to mend fences after publicly trying to trade their starting right fielder who is set to earn $21 million over the next two seasons.

Oh, and just to make things even more difficult, the guy who has nothing to do with baseball operation has to open his stinkin' mouth.  Go away, Crane Kenney.  Do so as quick as possible.

If you thought he was a dick before, imagine how much more of a dick he could be if he wanted to be after this failed fiasco.

And for the second straight year, the Chicago Cubs have been handcuffed by a contract Jim Hendry outbid no one but himself to sign.  Last year, Hendry was so dedicated to unloading Jason Marquis' $9.875 million contract, it bogged down any progress in getting his guy -- Jake Peavy.  This season, Hendry found himself strapped with Crazy Uncle Milton's contract, so much so it proved to be one of the deciding factors in Hendry's inability to get his guy -- again.  This time it was Curtis Granderson.

The New York Daily News has it covered.  And by "it" I mean, manager Lou Piniella being pissed about not getting what he wants for the second straight off-season.

"Our primary need is an outfielder who can hit fifth, and Granderson was our No. 1 choice," Piniella said Wednesday. "There was just no way we could get him, and once again the Yankees swooped in and got their man. I know he struck out a lot, but that's the product of being in that lineup over in Detroit where they all come out swinging. He probably tried to do too much last year and he was trying to pull the ball too much. When he gets over to the Yankees, he'll automatically become more selective just by association."

It's December, and Sweet Uncle Lou is already pissed off about the prospects of the 2010 season.

There is no secret that Piniella is entering lame-duck status next season, but I'm not sure why.  If anything, he should be given an extension for what he did last year.  Piniella has been the most successful manager the Cubs have had in my 23-year lifetime.

Of the 16 managers the Cubs have had since 1986, only three have been at .500 or better.  Piniella is one of them, and before he took over, you've got to go back to Jim Lefebvre, who was 162-162 in two years with the team.

At times, it looked like Piniella was lost and being out-managed.  And while Piniella might have lost a step in those too-tight-for-comfort baseball pants, he has yet to lose his eye for talent.

Meanwhile, Jim Hendry seems to be the Stevie Wonder of spotting talent.

Let's compare what Piniella has done in regard to talent recognition compared to what Hendry has done.  For the sake of space, I'll choose six.

Hendry:

• Identified Alfonso Soriano as a lead-off hitter and center fielder (people forget that one)
  
• Outbid himself to sign Milton Bradley, Jason Marquis to three year deals for no reason
• Failed to identify Josh Hamilton as a possible outfield option
• Traded three valuable pieces for one year of Juan Pierre
• Traded the once untouchable (and under team control for several years) Jose Ceda for one (very bad) year of Kevin Gregg
  
• Traded Greg Maddux for Cesar Izturis.
  

Piniella:

• Sent Carlos Marmol & Angel Guzman from the rotation to the 'pen
• Moved Ryan Dempster from the 'pen to the rotation
• Replaced Cesar Izturis with Ryan Theriot
• Had the foresight to play Geovany Soto in a playoff race in 2007, and let him flourish in 2008
• Sent Michael Barrett to the bench before Hendry eventually sent him packing in 2007

The Cubs should find a way to remove Hendry from making player personnel decisions, while somehow giving that task to Piniella upon his retirement.  Believe it or not, Piniella changed the mindset of fans and the way this franchise looks at some of its young talent.
Piniella's biggest miscues as a manager (Soriano in the lead-off spot, Gregg as closer) came about because of Hendry's miscalculations.


Here's hoping Henry's latest gaffe is his last.  Until then, start training your eyes to see No. 21 in right field ... again.