GoatRiders of the Apocalypse

The Cubs hit the road from Mesa to Peoria today, facing the Padres at the Peoria Sports Complex. Along with Surprise, Peoria is home to one of the PITCHf/x installations that first came online during the Arizona Fall League. What a perfect chance to see how some Cubs arms are shaping-up in camp.

David Patton

Patton is destined for AA Tennessee in 2010. He survived Rule 5 status with an even balance of shorting the Cubs bullpen and rehab time for a strained groin.

What we saw in 2009 was a young, short-arming pitcher with decent stuff. Very rough, but he may have some upside. Or we may never see much of him again. Patton's outing on Thursday was interesting from a stuff perspective -- we saw nothing but two-seam fastballs and a few of his curveballs.

While Patton did use the sinking fastball a bit in 2009, it was just 78 of his 300 total fastballs thrown. So, the focus on that pitch today is very telling -- he's looking for weaker contact. His stuff is about 4-6 MPH off full-speed, with his sinkers just under 87 mph (compared to 92.5 last year) and his curves around 75 (79 last year).

Esmailin Caridad

Well, Mr. Caridad. Angel Guzman's bad fortune may be your big break. Caridad looks headed towards later innings than expected, barring a move by Trader Jim. Caridad is a little stronger at this point than Patton, just about 2 mph off his 93+ average fastball from 2009. He did crack 94 a couple of times, so he's not far from his 95 that makes me so giddy. He threw a couple of his slow slurvey sliders, one sinker but no change-ups. Of the nearly 300 pitches he threw in the majors in 2009, only six were change-ups, so the lack of those today is no surprise.

The big takeaway from Cardidad's day is he warmed up twice. Finishing off the 8th for a struggling Jeff Stevens (see below), Caridad struggled himself in the ninth. Still, his two fastest pitches (94.6) both came in the ninth, and one was his penultimate offering of the game. Looks like he's rounding into shape nicely. Keep in mind, he broke 95 mph 39 times last year, 97 seven times, including his top pitch of 98.2 mph.

Carlos Silva

Talking about round shapes .... sorry, I'm miffed that Silva showed up to camp out of shape. However, since then, he's been doing and saying the right things. He seems fairly humbled and willing to be a student. He's also modified his delivery (thank you Larry) and had a much better outing against the Padres than his miserable debut against the White Sox.

Silva hasn't touched 92 mph yet, but I have a sneaky feeling he may be getting back some lost velocity. Silva's sinker went from an average speed just over 92 mph in 2007 down under 91 mph each of his two seasons in Seattle. Averaging just under 90 today, he's already closing in on his 2009 version of full strength. His splitter is already full speed.

Unless I'm just being overly optimistic, he may be stronger than his physique suggests. If he can make 20-something starts, and have that sinker working, he will be a Jason Marquis-esque fifth starter, which is not a bad thing at all.

Carlos Marmol

The Rubberband Man is almost full strength. He ripped one fastball of at 96.4, so he hasn't reached his peak of 97.5 to 98.5 yet. But he's getting close. It's just one game, but these numbers are pretty funny -- Marmol's average fastball speed by year:

2007 94.1
2008 94.9
2009 94.7
2010 94.8

Six fastballs don't get into stamina testing land, but it's nice to know he's coming out of the box at full strength. If nothing else, two of the Cubs young late inning power arms are already showing plenty of power. Control? Oh well, that's for another day.

J.R. Mathes

Finally, some PITCHf/x on J.R. Mathes! And I'm just a nonplussed as I suspected I would be. Just a handful of fastballs (three of which I believe were two-seam sinkers), 84 to 86 mph. It's hard to say what that means on March 11, given the lack of prior PITCHf/x on Mathes. He has always been a ground ball pitcher, and he's left-handed, so he's got that going for him.

Vince Perkins

Last I saw Perkins (in PITCHf/x), he was working at full strength in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. The Canadian journeyman averaged 93 mph with his sinker then, but was just around 89+ on Thursday.

Perkins is another ground ball pitcher, even more than Mathes, but makes things way to hard for himself by walking guys. Sure, ground ball pitchers can get away with that, but he has a sketchy K:BB ratio in the minors, well, enough said. And that he's 28 and just made it to AAA during the 2009 season.


Jeff Stevens

Stevens struggled in his Major League debut in 2009, after putting up a long string of deceptively good ERAs as a reliever in the minors. He struggles with walks, and that showed as a Cub. Stevens has reasonably good stuff, with a 93 mph fastball (not quite 90 on average on Thursday) and a very pure 12-6 curveball.

What looked like a cutter in 2009 looks more like a slider now, possibly due to the low velocity (79, as opposed to 84 last year). He did throw some similar pitches in 2009, slow and slider-like, but, with his overhand delivery I'm not sure they're really different pitches, then or now. We'll see what that pitch looks like as he builds up strength -- right now he seems to be in Patton's situation, and not up the pace Marmol and Caridad look to be setting.

Summing it Up

Despite some uneven performances, I'm finding some good signs in the PITCHf/x data from this single Spring game. Marmol and Caridad look strong. Silva may actually be in pitching shape sooner than later/never. Stevens and Patton aren't that strong yet, and were both having trouble throwing strikes. Perkins and Mathes probably have Break Glass in Case of Emergency written on them.

Because I will be leaving for Arizona this weekend, I made arrangements with the Cubs ticket office to pick up my tickets ahead of the big FedEx shipment they are sending out this week (for those of you who are season ticket holders, you should have received an email with a FedEx tracking number, or will get such an email within the next couple of days, letting you know when they'll be delivered).

As you can see above, the tickets look pretty much the same as they did last year, with different photos. Also as last year, my two tickets came in one book, with the tickets for each game back-to-back as shown. Just thought all of you would like to see them. Click on the photo to open a larger version in a new browser window. (And yes, I took off all my personally identifiable info and the barcodes.)

Since a considerable amount of angst was spilled over the Xavier Nady "can't play the outfield regularly" report yesterday, before I recap today's 8-7 Cubs win over the Padres, here's the straight story from Carrie Muskat's blog:

Nady will be able to play outfield on Opening Day but is not expected to be able to throw at full speed until June 1. There's been no talk about having Nady open the year on the disabled list.

"My understanding from talking to the trainer and our medical people is he can play a couple days a week early in the season and hopefully by the first of June, if need be, we can put him out there on a more consistent basis than that," Piniella said. "We'll have to wait and see. I don't see the DL scenario at all. We haven't even discussed that."

So seriously, where's the issue here? Nady's supposed to be a platoon right fielder as it is. If he can play two days a week substituting for Kosuke Fukudome (and likely be replaced defensively by Sam Fuld in the 8th or 9th inning), where's the big problem? I don't see it, and the attacks on Jim Hendry for this signing were, IMO, uncalled for. It's my belief that Hendry wouldn't have signed Nady if his medical reports didn't check out.

Also before the game recap, let me say that I thought ex-WGN announcer Andy Masur did a nice job on the PBP of today's game -- makes you understand how truly awful Judd Sirott is and how the Cubs miss him as the replacement for Pat Hughes.

Now, about Carlos Silva. He managed to throw three scoreless innings, but got hit pretty hard doing so. He allowed two doubles and two singles, issued a walk, struck out no one, and about half of his outs were outfield fly balls or line drives, against a Padres lineup with a handful of regulars. Does this one start mean he'll be any good? No, not any more than the last start meant he should be summarily DFA'd. Let's see what happens in his next outing. (Thanks to BCB'er mikegncb34 for the headline idea!)

Starlin Castro, who got the start at SS in this all-substitute team, was the hitting star today, scoring three runs and hitting his first homer of the spring. Sam Fuld doubled and made a nice leaping grab of a Scott Hairston drive against the CF wall in Peoria. The rest of the pitching staff did well, allowing the Padres only one hit, a couple of walks, and an unearned run, until Jeff Stevens got hit in the 8th and Lou had to yank him. Esmailin Caridad put out that fire, but then let the Padres make it close in the 9th. That's not good, although, to be fair, all of the six runs San Diego scored in those last two innings were unearned, due to several errors by kids who will spend most of the year at the lower minor league levels.

From the Muskat blog link above, here's the pitching (and managing) lineup for this weekend's split-squad games (half the team is headed to Las Vegas to play the White Sox):

Alan Trammell will manage the Cubs in Las Vegas. Lou Piniella is staying back with the other half of the team in Arizona for games Friday against Milwaukee and Saturday against Cincinnati. Jeff Samardzija will face the Brewers while Tom Gorzelanny will start Friday in Vegas against the White Sox. Ryan Dempster makes his second start Saturday in Vegas while Sean Marshall faces the Reds. Piniella said he hopes the team can make some definite plans with the pitching by March 21-22.

That's a good opportunity to get all the candidates for the rotation some innings. I'll be posting multiple game threads tomorrow, when there will be a day game vs. the Brewers at Maryvale and a night game vs. the White Sox in Las Vegas. On Saturday, the games will be at 2:05 (vs. Reds at Mesa) and 3:05 CST (vs. Sox), so just the regular afternoon set of threads then.

I don't purchase many new albums. In a rock music landscape full of self-loathing, skinny jeans and makeup wearing hipsters, it's hard to find anything new and good these days. The last album I bought that I thought was worth a damn was the Yeah Yeah Yeah's "It's Blitz". But I recently found something worthy enough to add into my regular rotation.

Broken Bells self-titled debut album came out this Tuesday and through the urging of many of the "music" guys at EOC I picked it up and haven't put it down. The duo consists of the Shins frontman, James Mercer, and hit-maker extraordinaire, Brian Baker aka DJ Danger Mouse, who has worked with a variety of artists from Beck to Gorillaz to the Black Keys. He is most notably known for another paired partnership with Cee-Lo Green in the group Gnarls Barkley.

So what does it sound like when a progressive producer and the lead singer/songwriter of a pop friendly get together? Surprisingly the result is a melodic, beat heavy, chorus driven style that is as catchy as it is fresh. But I'm really not that good at all this review stuff, so let's let Rolling Stone describe the album:

It turns out the two pop-science geeks are a perfect match. Danger Mouse pushes Mercer's gorgeous, existential tunecraft outward with Day-Glo dynamics. "'Cause they know, and so do I/The high road is hard to find," Mercer sings on the opening chorus of Bells. The lyrics are about the loneliness of decision-making — they may refer to life in the trenches of normalcy, or, perhaps, to Mercer's recent professional decisions (he more or less fired two members of the Shins). But what sweeps you up are the sweet, ascending verses, the rolling chorus and the Danger Mouse touches: analog-synth swirls, slo-mo kick drums, a melancholy bass line — hip-hop for turned-on shut-ins.

Cool variations on the Gnarls formula — Danger and a quirkily excellent singer making arty, transcultural pop — run throughout the album. "Vaporize" begins with Mercer's fey workaday voice and a strummed acoustic, then takes off with smeared snares, bouncy organ and a jaunty Bacharach-David-style horn break. It's punchier than the Shins, and livelier than you'd expect from a song whose title suggests innovative marijuana consumption — an anthem of solidarity for malcontents, teenage and otherwise, not unlike "Crazy." The catchy, midtempo "The Ghost Inside" even has Mercer singing in a T-Pained falsetto — it's not hard to imagine it on the hit parade, along with the soaring, U2-flavored "October."

Broken Bells isn't all crossover ambition. Tracks like "Your Head Is on Fire" — a drum-machine space waltz floating between Syd Barrett and something from Brian Eno's Another Green World — won't make the short list of Glee covers. But with a new Shins record reportedly brewing, Mercer seems to be following some of the instructions in his own songs: Life is short, brother — go for it. The introverted indie guy isn't gone, and he's still not afraid to tell you that we're ultimately alone on this journey. "If you want to follow me, you should know," he sings. "I was lost then/And I'm lost now/And I doubt I'll ever know which way to go." Maybe. But for the moment, in Danger Mouse, Mercer has found a promising fellow traveler.
If you like anything that Danger Mouse has produced, this is a definite purchase. It's not so much the Shins as it as genius record sung (and co-wrote) by the guy from the Shins. I picked up the MP3 CD off amazon.com for $4.99 (unfortunately it is now back to regular pricing), which made it even a better deal. If you're one of those "oldies" that want's something tangible, swing by your local record store, or pick it while getting picking up your coffee at Starbucks you fucking hipster.


And, Go Cubs!

Only one person who partook in online betting would have had any success last week.  Congratulations to StevieY for guessing (yeah guessing) that the Wings would beat the Hawks.  I wouldn’t exactly hire him to run my sportsbook, but he is definitely the cream of the crop this week.  We also welcome back Javier Sandooski this week, who managed to sit out last week’s bloodbath.  March Madness has begun, so expect many more college basketball picks the next few weeks.

Friday 3/12 at 1:25pm – Illinois @ Wisconsin (CBB)

• StevieY19 (15-9) Wisconsin over Illinois – Can Illinois play its way into the field of 64? Should I say 65? I don’t think so. If you’re from a major conference you have a bye into the field of 64, right? I’m reverting to the old lingo until they expand to include all 300+ teams in the future.  Anyway, Wisconsin outlasts the Illini in a close one.
• South Side Sheik (12-12) Wisconsin over Illinois – I’ve been a homer throughout these picks and it’s gotten me nowhere. For the last two to three weeks Illinois has faced “must wins” to get off the bubble and into the tourney. This is another one of those “must wins” and I don’t think the result will be much different. I see Bo Ryan having his guys ready to play and not content with their current seed in the bracket whatever that may be.
• Stormin Norman (11-13) Illinois over Wisconsin – I have been a homer my whole life and it’s gotten me nowhere.  Unfortunately I don’t have the common sense of the Sheik.  I think McCamey will show why he was named to the All-Big Ten First Team.  Also, its tough to win 2 in a row, and I don’t know if the Badgers have what it takes.
• His Jesusness Shuttlesworth (1-3) Wisconsin over Illinois: The Illini have lost 5 of 6. Wisconsin is overrated, but the Illini need McCamey at his best AND Davis/Tisdale shooting flawlessly to beat any legitimate opponent. The odds just aren’t in their favor.
• Javier Sandooski (10-8) Wisconsin over Illinois: As Corey Bradford said of the Illinois team, this team is painful to watch.  This game will be no exception.  They will go down quietly without a fight and it will be another March where I have no rooting interests except for gambling purposes.

Sunday 3/14 at 2:30pm — Celtics @ Cavs (NBA)

• StevieY19 (15-9) Cavs over Celtics – This is a big game for the Celtics too, I feel. I really have no idea if there are big games before the playoffs, but the Celtics could use a win over a non-terrible team for the first time since the middle of last month.  Too bad, Cavs win.
• South Side Sheik (12-12) Cavs over Celtics – Lebron will be back and the Cavs guards will abuse Rondo and Allen throughout to make up for the possible absence of Antawn Jamison. If Jamison is back, which is probable, then it’s just another weapon for the likely Eastern Conference Champs.
• Stormin Norman (11-13) Cavs over Celtics – LeBron’s return will be the difference.  All the other arguments about Antawn’s injury and how KG and Pierce get up for big games will be irrelevant.  The only team I could see myself picking to beat the Cavs at home right now is the Lakers, and the Celtics ain’t the Lakers.
• His Jesusness Shuttlesworth (1-3) Lakers over Magic- Celtics over Cavs: This clearly isn’t the smart pick- its instead a gut feeling. I don’t think Paul Pierce will return to form either. I’d say 3 days in Boston and a home win against a lowly Indiana team may allow the Celtics to regroup. Ray always plays well against Cleveland and the Sheed/KG tandem could dominate either an irrelevant Antawn or a young JJ Hicks.
• Javier Sandooski (10-8) Cavs over Celtics: LeBron is back.  Isn’t that enough?  If not, just know that it’s now March and he will kick it into overdrive as he prepares for the playoffs.  He’s been amazing all season, but watch – the show starts now.

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In this popular, semi-anal segment, we examine questions in regards to the Cubs that are literally burning in people's brains. Have no fear...we're here to provide the bucket of water to douse that fire, although I fear your burns may prove to be fatal anyway.

This week's question comes from Eric in Gary, Ind.:

What is Mike Fontenot's favorite Chicago restaurant?

Mike would be delighted that you inquired, Eric. Unbeknownst to Mr. Fontenot, one of our staffers followed him during the course of two consecutive homestands in June of last year. The first thing you should know is that Mike is very frugal with his salary (or 'allowance' as he likes to call it), and views leasing or purchasing a home to be a poor investment. He therefore takes advantage of the amenities offered in the clubhouse, and sleeps at the foot of his locker in a race car bed that he purchased with his very first signing bonus.

Obviously meals are not served around the clock inside Wrigley Field, so much of his nourishment does come from the local dining scene. He frequents Harry Caray's, as players receive a very generous discount on their meals from Dutchie. However, it has been confirmed that Mike's favorite restaurant is Rainforest Cafe. He visits Rainforest at least once per week when in town, often spontaneously joining in the blowing out of candles on an unsuspecting child's birthday cake.

Thanks for reading, and remember, you can e-mail your Burning Cubs Questions to:
exileonclark@gmail.com

On the shores of the Saylorville Lake sits Polk City, Iowa (pop. 2,872), home to Jared, this week’s Spring Training with Strat-O-Matic contest winner. Jared is the owner of a brand new old-school table-top style Strat-O-Matic

baseball game.

How’d he get so lucky? Well, he entered our contest. That’s about it.

In case you missed it,  we’re giving away a Strat-O-Matic a week until they’re gone. Don’t worry – we still have five more. One of ‘em can be yours, but only if you sign up.

Next week, we’ll give away the computer edition of Strat-O-Matic, which is every bit as cool as you think it might be.

Get in on it. It’s free and it’s only from Bugs&Cranks.

More photos » Mark Avery - AP

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C'mon, Carlos. Make this trade worth something.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

2009: 88-74 (3rd)

So Long: 1B Rich Aurilia, 1B Ryan Garko, P Bob Howry, P Randy Johnson (retired), P Noah Lowry, P Brad Penny, P Merkin Valdez, OF Randy Winn

Welcome: OF Mark DeRosa, 1B Aubrey Huff, P Guillermo Mota, P Horacio Ramirez, P Todd Wellemeyer

Projected Starting Lineup (pulled from rototimes.com)
1. Aaron Rowand, CF
2. Freddy Sanchez, 2B
3. Pablo Sandoval, 3B
4. Bengie Molina, C
5. Aubrey Huff, 1B
6. Mark DeRosa, LF
7. Nate Schierholtz, RF
8. Edgar Renteria, SS

Rotation - Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Barry Zito, Jonathan Sanchez, Madison Bumgarner
Setup - Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo
Closer - Brian Wilson

Well, after a solid year of therapy, I am once again reminded of the existance of the NL West, and the hated Giants. I've been working on some deep breathing exercises and taking medication, so hopefully, I will not accidentally make this entire post about my hatred of Will Clark this time.

Okay: time to man up and admit I sorta lost track of the Giants mere moments after hitting the "Publish Post" button last year (though to be fair it only took about 4 months for me to stop watching the Cubs, a team I actually give a damn about). So I will check the internet and see what it has to say. Back in a moment.























Okay, I'm back. Sorry about the delay; I totally got caught up in some youtube video of Christoph Waltz doing the TROLOLOLOLOL guy.

Apparently, according to the internet their publicity stunt of hiring a panda to play third base has worked out surprisingly well, they somehow managed to put a stake in Randy Johnson's heart, and Brian Wilson is following up his critically acclaimed Smile album with some decent closing work. I'm stunned, but apparently they had a winning record last year. But then again, I'm stunned the west coast actually has baseball and that almost every other EOC writer actually cares about soccer, so my "stunned threshold" might be low.

Of course, once again Brian Sabean's strategy of "surrounding the best player in baseball with a team of basically solid-to-below-average players" is probably going to tank slightly, as Barry Bonds used up all the available steroids already. And once again, no one in the organization seems to have a problem with putting out a cleanup hitter with only a bit of power, almost no ability to discern the strike zone, and who would be hard pressed to outrun Jabba the Hutt to first.

As far as pitching goes, Tim Lincecum can get as stoned as he wants with the stuff he has. And Cain is solid. But, to paraphrase the old line, it's "Lincecum and Cain, and pray for rain." Zito, Sanchez, and Bumgarner all project to be fair to middling starters this year. The bullpen looks decent enough, but my research on this consisted of 28 seconds on Fangraphs, so don't hold me to it.

Oh, and they rolled the dice with Aaron Rowand leading off again this year. Let's see what happens. My guess: he'll be average-to-disappointing. He's 48 years old (okay, 33 - what do I have to do math now?) and his OBP was only .319 last year. Eh. Not as bad as putting Molina in cleanup, I guess.

PRESEASON AWARDS

If this team were a disease/ailment it would be: Lingering Bursitis. This team just sits there: crawling along painfully, never dying, but never really going anywhere (Okay, I totally shoehorned that in to make a lame, semi-esoteric TMS reference, but at least I didn't just use Erectile Dysfunction again. Yet).

The "Do They Have Trixies In San Fran?" Award: Mark DeRosa. Oh, he'll put up solid, journeyman numbers this year, but will the aging supersub win the hearts and minds of the people who don't really come to the ballpark to watch the games? Only time will tell.

The "Kenny Lofton Memorial Team Loyalty"Award: Edgar Renteria. Starting a SECOND CONSECUTIVE SEASON with the same team? Kudos, Edgar. Not sure why people still allow you to play shortstop, or (for that matter) professional baseball. But kudos, nonetheless.

Oh, and Will Clark: why haven't you died in a fire yet?

Morry Gash - AP

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Today's Cubs and baseball notes:

• Interesting note from Carlos Zambrano regarding the grand slam Pablo Sandoval hit off him yesterday:

  "It's spring training. You know how many home runs Barry Bonds hit off me? One -- in spring training."

  The Cubs won't play the Giants in the regular season until August. Let's hope the number of HR Sandoval hits off Z remains at "one -- in spring training".

• Here's a column on Nomar Garciaparra's retirement that brings out the old SI cover photo as "evidence" that Nomar may have juiced, leading to all his injuries. But the article also reveals something I had not heard before that might have been the real cause: Last season Garciaparra told the San Francisco Chronicle that his connective tissue isn’t flexible enough to accommodate repeated muscular contractions, a condition that can be genetic. Garciaparra said his father and sister have the same ailment.

  Could that have helped to cause the horrific groin injury that ruined Nomar's 2005 season with the Cubs?

• The Giants' Barry Zito is sponsoring a spring training tour for wounded Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Nice gesture.
• And the Dodgers are off to Taiwan to play an exhibition series with an All-Star team from that country.

Finally, before you go past the jump for today's game info, write your own caption for the photo at the top of this post.

Carlos Silva will try it again today for the Cubs. Jon Garland, who started his career in the Cubs organization, will pitch for the Padres.

Today's game is on XEPE, a Padres radio station, so we may hear former WGN announcer Andy Masur. Here's the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

SB Nation game preview

First pitch thread will post at 2 pm CST. An overflow thread will post at 3:15 CST.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

(Ed. Note: This post was all set to go up on Wednesday. And then Milton, in one of the most appropriately-timed tantrums of all time, decided to throw the good people of Chicago under the bus AGAIN. Thanks, Milton, for being the rule that proves that there is absolutely nothing exceptional about you.)

The three-year anniversary of HJE on Tuesday got me to reminiscing about the reason that I went from a Wordpress blog to an actual, by-God, blog with my own address. That reason was the B126. It’s been a while since I wrapped up the B126 with the introduction of Todd Hundley as the Bottom Cub of My Time. I never thought another Cub could possibly come close to the loathsome, worthless piece of crap that was Hundley. I certainly didn’t think a Cub could do it in a single season. Especially not when he posted a .378 on-base percentage in that one season. But Milton Bradley made the most of his 124 games as a Cub, skyrocketing himself to the very top of the list of the Bottom 126 Cubs of My Time. Bradley is exactly the type of player I envisioned when I first began the B126. A despicable, hateful, terrible human being with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Say goodbye to the Top Ten, Juan Pierre. If I decide to stick with 126, then congratulations, Sandy Martinez. You’re off the hook. Milton Bradley has passed all 126 of you clowns, circled the track again to lap you all, blown out his ACL, spat in a spectator’s face, and captured THE top spot on the B126.

What’s one of your least-favorite days of the year? I’ll give you a hint. It’s coming up soon, it often costs you money, and it’s fucking Tax Day, okay? On one of the most stressful, miserable days for every American not named Dusty Baker, Milton Bradley was born to the world with a chip on his shoulder, malice in his heart, and little to no cartilage in his knees, apparently. Why did his mother choose such a stupid name? Because Milton’s lowlife father had that same stupid name, and he decided that he would pass it on to his son without the permission of Bradley’s mother. He also passed along, apparently, his hateful opinion of the world, people, kindergarten teachers, and–oh, yeah–white people. Instead of changing his name to something more practical like Jenga or Battleship, Bradley kept the name as either a “badge of honor” or an “excuse to act like a total asshole for the rest of his life,” depending on whom you ask.

Bradley was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the second round of the 1996 amateur draft. The Expos were looking for someone who would get along with a bunch of French-Canadians, and Bradley clearly fit the bill. He made his Major League debut on July 19, 2000, at Olympic Stadium against the Mets. Bradley had an impressive debut, going 3-5 with an RBI out of the leadoff spot. And he only made three kids cry! So, they were orphans. Big whoop. What were their parents going to do about it?

Bradley spent about a season with the Expos before he was traded to the Cleveland Indians at the 2001 trade deadline for Zach Day. Eric Wedge realized how much he hated Bradley after a mere two and a half seasons. During one particular Spring Training game, Wedge and Bradley got into it because Wedge had the audacity to expect Milton to jog 90 feet. So, the Indians traded Bradley to the Dodgers for Franklin Gutierrez. It took only two seasons in Los Angeles and one tantrum which involved Bradley flinging a bag of baseballs onto the playing field for the Dodgers to realize that Bradley was the biggest sociopath in the city since Gary Busey.





Did I say one tantrum? My fault. Bradley actually threw two Dodger tantrums. During the second one, he threw a bottle into the stands, earning himself a five-game suspension right in the midst of a pennant race.

The Dodgers sent Bradley to the Oakland A’s, after which Billy Bean promptly fired himself. If you haven’t seen a trend emerging yet, you’re rather stupid. Bradley lasted only a season and a half with the A’s. I suspect that Bradley killed a couple of teammates, burned down several churches, and declared Moneyball “overrated,” but no one heard about any of that because he was in Oakland.

For whatever reason, the A’s shipped Milton to the Padres. Bradley spent fourteen seasons with the Padres, becoming the face of the franchise and one of the most beloved players in Padres hist- Nah, I’m just messing with you. The Padres couldn’t stand him after only 42 games, so they let him go at the end of the season. Perhaps they were upset that Bradley tore his ACL while arguing with an ump about an incident that had occurred IN A PREVIOUS AT-BAT. When Bud Black wakes up for long enough to hit you with a flying tackle, it’s time to reassess some of your life choices. Oh, by the way, after Bradley went down, the Padres went on to lose their lead (and the division) in that one-game playoff against the eventual NL Champion Colorado Rockies.

Bradley signed with the Rangers during the offseason and put together arguably his most complete year in Texas in 2008 when he hit .321/.436/.563 with 22 home runs and 77 RBIs in only 126 games. The Texas Rangers are, to this date, the only team that has ever said anything good about Bradley. Perhaps because they fear him. Perhaps because they wanted to keep his value high in case he was tradeable. At any rate, even they had issues with Bradley. Bradley apparently got pissed and sad that Ryan Lefebvre, THE KANSAS CITY ROYALS’ TELEVISION BROADCASTER, compared him unfavorably to teammate Josh Hamilton. Never mind that Lefebvre’s words couldn’t have reached more than the eighteen Royals fans who were watching the game. HOW DARE HE COMPARE A CLEARLY BLACK MAN TO A CLEARLY WHITE MAN!?

After Bradley’s solid 2008 Jim Hendry naturally extrapolated his numbers to determine that in 2009, Bradley would hit eleventy hundred home runs and drive in a quintillion RBIs. Though no other GM in Major League Baseball really wanted to make a serious offer to Bradley, Jim Hendry leaped to his feet (very slowly) and offered him an absurd three-year, $30M-dollar contract.

I’d write a few sentences about each atrocity Bradley committed against the Cubs and their fans, but that would take too long, and no one reads the articles here, anyhow. To sum up, the crap that Bradley did in his brief stay in Chicago is as follows:

• Refused to take part in Ryan Dempster’s Spring Training picnic, or whatever the hell it was. To be fair, I can hardly blame Milton for not wanting to have his tuna fish sandwich sprayed with seltzer water.
• Injured his knee in his very first at-bat of the 2009 season.
• Only played 124 games.
• Slugged .397, his worst percentage in a “full” season ever.
• Ruined my mom’s day as we sat in the stands on the Friday afternoon when Milton caught a fly ball for the SECOND out of the inning, posed, and tossed the ball into the stands. As I was watching Milton set up to make the catch, I turned to my mom and said, “He has no idea how many outs there are.” “You’re adopted,” she replied. It was a weird day.
• Accused a bunch of PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN (and their parents and teacher) of hurling racial slurs at his three-year old son.
• Was such an asshole in the clubhouse that Lou Piniella called him a “piece of shit.” He then REFUSED TO ADMIT that Lou apologized to him for the incident.
• Accused Cubs fans of being racist to the point where he said he was receiving racially-charged hate mail. Worse, he suggested one of the letters might have come from within the organization. And they’re all addressed to Kris Kringle! Did anyone in Chicago give enough of a fuck about Bradley to take the time to write him a note, find an envelope and a stamp, figure out his home address, and MAIL HIM A LETTER? When is the last time you mailed ANYONE a letter?
• Accused all of the waiters in Chicago of rubbing his food on their taints before they served it to him. Well done, by the way, fellas.
• Was such a disruptive presence, that Jim Hendry finally suspended him for the end of the 2009 season.
• Got traded for Carlos Fucking Silva.
• Sent Jim Hendry on a “chemistry” kick that culminated in him signing Kevin Fucking Millar.

To put some perspective on this, all top B126er Todd Hundley did while he was in Chicago was sweat pure gin, strike out a shitload, and flip off the fans. Sure, when he left, he got hammered and endangered the lives of his daughters by driving them around, but Bradley has the whole rest of his life to do something like that. Moreover, Hundley had an additional season to truly earn your hatred and to learn to hate you back, but even he thinks Milton should probably buy a stress ball.

Now, it’s Milton Bradley translation time!

If you don’t know me and I don’t know you, don’t approach me, and I won’t approach you.

TRANSLATION: I only know one person. And that person is RAGE. (closes eyes; reopens them, and they’re fucking GREEN)

Don’t insult me, and I won’t insult you, because you don’t know what I will or won’t do.

TRANSLATION: Don’t look at me, or I will fucking kill you. (sharpens bat; don’t ask how)

I don’t play this game to make friends.

TRANSLATION: I have no friends, and I’m actually lonely on the inside. (gives stink eye to a happy-looking couple)

I didn’t always follow the rules. I didn’t always do it the way it’s supposed to be done. But I did it.

TRANSLATION: Wait, you’re NOT allowed to slap umps in the face and spit gum at them? Huh. I did not know that. THEN WHY DO THEY GIVE US GUM??? (flips over table full of Big League Chew)

Ed. Note: When searching for the story of how Milton spat gum on an ump, I Googled “milton bradley sp” when, lo and behold, Google auto-completed it to read, “milton bradley spite and malice.” Outstanding.

I’m a different type of person, which makes me interesting.

TRANSLATION: Assholes are different and interesting. That’s how Tom Green got popular for that one week. (humps dead moose)

I’m not like everybody else. That’s boring. That’s just me. It’s not right, but that’s me.

TRANSLATION: Who would you rather hang out with? Some boring-ass accountant or A MURDEROUS SOCIOPATH WITH NO REGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE!? (swings infant around over his head)

Of course, you know Milton just couldn’t keep his mouth shut, even after leaving the Cubs. His hate mail comments on Wednesday included, it’s actually been twice in the past week that he’s come out and blasted Chicago.

Two years ago, I played, and I was good. I go to Chicago, not good.

TRANSLATION: I know in Chicago they love to cheer for terrible players who make a shitload of money, so they were clearly booing me because of the color of my skin. (looks longingly at picture of Shawn Estes)

I’ve been good my whole career.

TRANSLATION: My career started and ended in 2008. (catches fly ball for second out; crosses arms defiantly; three runs score)

So, obviously, it was something with Chicago, not me.

TRANSLATION: My three-year-old son will be an absolute monster. (steps on toy truck; burns house to the ground)

Just no communication.

TRANSLATION: Why won’t anyone come talk to me? I’m sitting right here at my locker, carving “HATE” and “HATE” into my knuckles with a Bic pen. (spells “HATE” wrong)

I never hit more than 22 homers in my career, and all of a sudden I get to Chicago and they expect me to hit 30.

TRANSLATION: It’s easy to hit home runs in Texas. (drives away in pickup truck with Confederate flag in the rear window)

I’m going on record as stating that there is no worse human being than Milton Bradley. If the B126 ever needs to elect a president, the vote should be unanimously for Milton Bradley. Anyone who ever defended this lowlife (myself included) should be ashamed. If you’re like me, you go to a job every day which you might not particularly care for. You have to tolerate people who might not be QUITE as annoying as Ryan Dempster, but they’re not your favorite people. You make a living, but you’re almost definitely not making $10M a year to go to work 124 times. Yet you manage to find happiness. You find it in an unseasonably warm day during a long Chicago winter. You find it in the smile of a beautiful girl (or boy; no judgments). You find it in the drumming of the rain, the irresistible wagging of your dog’s tail, the beauty of a new snow, a baby’s laugh, or the smell of cut grass. You find happiness in your friends, your family, your God. Now, imagine if every time you thought of those things, Milton Bradley was fucking them in the ass. That’s how he chooses to feel EVERY DAY. And he plays baseball for a living. Fuck him.

Low Point: There are so many to choose from. The baseball-related one is clearly the aforementioned game on June 12, 2009, at Wrigley Field against the Twins. With the Twins leading 5-3 with runners at the corners and one- that’s right- ONE out in the inning, Aaron Heilman got Joe Mauer to fly out to Bradley. Bradley caught the ball nonchalantly, posed as Nick Punto scored from third and Brendan Harris raced toward second base, looked around at all the fans booing him, and thought, “Oh, they must just want the ball.” He tossed it into the stands, allowing Harris to make it all the way from first to third on a fly-out to right field.

But a far greater low point was Bradley’s accusation that the faculty of his child’s preschool were calling him racial slurs. People know where Bradley’s kid went to school. People know that teacher. As a former teacher myself, I know educators have to be ever-vigilant of protecting their reputations. The slightest sniff of controversy can ruin a teacher’s career for life. Milton Bradley is a despicable person for accusing that poor teacher of racism. It’s unacceptable, it’s inexcusable, and it makes me wish that DCFS would come and save his poor child from what figures to be a horrible upbringing.

Did You Know? Bradley went to the same high school as Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn? I’m not certain, but I doubt Gwynn got kicked off the baseball team his sophomore year, jumped by gang members for playing on the “predominantly white” baseball team, and ended up shunned by everyone at Polytechnic High. That stuff ONLY HAPPENS TO MILTON. Maybe it’s because Tony sounds like a white guy.

My job offer from the San Francisco Giants is still pending a background check, so when the Toronto Blue Jays called, I listened.

“Chalk we’d like to talk to you a-boot pitching in Toronto, eh?”

“God, why?”

“All our pitchers are hosers, eh?  Have been for years, eh?”

“I know.  You guys realize I haven’t pitched a meaningful game since I was 11?”

“Oh ya, we know a-boot that, eh.  But we haven’t played a meaningful game since you were 11 either, eh? And we hear you went to the same college as that hoser Shawn Camp, eh?”

“True.”

“And we heard you have twice as many hands as Jim Abbott, eh? And double the balls of John Kruk, eh?”...

Shit yes, ladies and gents. After working crazy hours in the WAIW Mad Science/Design Lab (meaning: contracting it out to a generous friend with design skill), we've got an official shirt design to show you. And this is it:


Your awesome blue shirt (spill whatever you like on it!) will also serve as a starting lineup for the fine taverns of our humble pub crawl. Sorry, Wolfie and other assorted drunks, we didn't print it upside down this time. Maybe next time.

Like all good things, this shirt comes with a price. But rest assured it's far less than the $138 that you would undoubtedly pay for such a garment. A mere $10 for you to secure your own piece of history through our handy PayPal account. If you wait until the day of, it's going to cost you $12, because your insolence has angered the gods.

It's haberdashery worthy of a Sandberg. Or at least a Kingman.

More photos » ED ZURGA - AP

Jermaine Dye. Still unsigned. Still not coming to the Cubs.

Browse more photos »

Since the MLB.com Free Agent Frenzy contest on which we based ours ended on March 1, I have decided to declare our contest, posted last November 16, over, even though one free agent from the list has not yet signed. Here are the 15 free agents in the contest and the teams they signed with:

Jason Bay, Mets Erik Bedard, Mariners Russell Branyan, Indians Aroldis Chapman, Reds Johnny Damon, Tigers Mark DeRosa, Giants Jermaine Dye, unsigned Chone Figgins, Mariners Vladimir Guerrero, Rangers Rich Harden, Rangers Matt Holliday, Cardinals John Lackey, Red Sox Hideki Matsui, Angels Miguel Tejada, Orioles Jose Valverde, Tigers

After the jump, the winner.

Scoring in the contest went this way: everyone put a "confidence" level for each free agent. For example, if you were 100% sure DeRosa was going to sign with the Giants, you'd give that pick 15 points and you would have gotten 15 for it, and so on down to your least confident pick, which got one point.

This year, unlike previous years, many entrants (myself included) got scores of... zero. Last year's winners (a tie) got 80 points. This year... well, here are the top three.

lswaidz 37 ScottT 22 DeRoMyHero 17

lswaidz, email me and I'll arrange to send you your prize, a copy of "The Cubs", a comprehensive history of the Cubs by Glenn Stout. Thanks to everyone who entered. Many thanks also to BCB reader StampMe, who compiled the results.

The following is the Hard Rock Hotel San Diego’s demo video for some sort of “Rock Star Opening Day” contest being run by the San Diego Padres.

What moved me to present their video to you here on Bugs & Cranks?

Well…

1. The contest is very likely the only thing Padres fans will have to get excited about all season.

2. I really liked the bikini clad girl at the :33 mark. (You can see her in the little teaser shot down below.)

3. As you know, I’m a sucker for awful, awkward, downright strange “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” performances. I’m just drawn to them like Ben Roethlisberger is drawn to hotel rooms...

Mark Townsend’s hilarious piece the other day about Pete Rose at Wrestlemania suddenly reminded me: I was at that event. I watched Pete Rose get power-bombed from the FleetCenter press box, even went to the press conference afterward. Pete Rose was at the event, but he wasn’t taking questions afterward. Instead, the featured player there was another disgraced athlete, future Hangover star Mike Tyson. He had just finished refereeing the main event, a title fight between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels, but I guess the Heartbreak Kid wasn’t invited for losing. (Actually, he had a herniated disk, still fought, and retired not long after the match.) The press conference instead featured Vince McMahon, Stone Cold, and Iron...

Milton The Terrible is at it again, this time jabbing the Cubs in his interview with ESPN’s Colleen Dominguez.

Jim Hendry, however, is taking a stand against Bradley, sticking up for himself and the Cubs organization. I say good for him.

“We’re all brought up in life to accept responsibility when we fail, and to judge people by how they act and how they carry themselves when things don’t go well.” “Bradley needs to look in the mirror,” Hendry said.

Who better than Hendry to joust Milton back. It was Hendry, after all, who risked his own neck to sign Bradley, and who stood along side Bradley despite his struggles.

And when the whole fiasco turned into a dumpster fire he did the only thing he could, which was the only option Bradley left him–trading the disgruntled outfielder.

It’s not that Hendry wasn’t deserving of the heat. I called for his head at the time. But this wasn’t the first time or the last time Hendry will hear the backlash of Cubs fans.

But criticism comes with the territory–especially in a baseball-savvy market like Chicago.

What’s important, however, is Hendry’s calm demeanor in handling such pressure with poise, most notably admitting on the record that signing Bradley was his ‘mistake.’

I, for one, gained much respect for his honesty, and will assume so did many of the Cubs players.

Standing by while Milton rips the organization would be another mistake on Hendry’s part. But this time the GM got it right. And I’ll credit him for that, too.

Defending his club from the very situation he created an offseason ago may have just saved Hendry’s career. How funny this game can be!

For a while this spring, it seemed nothing could stop Braves’ prospect phenom Jason Heyward. Or even slow him down.

Heyward, picked by Baseball America as MLB’s shiniest budding star of all, could have let the pressure get to him as the Grapefruit League geared up. Maybe his scant fifty games of experience above High-A ball would leave him shaking against established major leaguers. Or he might have shrunk from the wave of praise showered on him from observers including Jim Leyland (“Pujols was the other guy I saw who was like that.“), Brad Mills (“In five years he’s Dave Parker.”), Darryl Strawberry (“It looks like he has a chance to really be something special in the game of...

In order to help the struggling economy the Cubs have decided to hire 25-30 people to waste their pointless lives answering ridiculous questions. These "Wrigley Field Ambassadors" are going to be paid an undetermined wage to essentially run around the ballpark on game days and answer questions from fans who were not intelligent enough to figure out how "the google" works. Although some days they may be tasked with leaving the Friendly Confines and venturing out into the real world to answer the hard-hitting questions that Cubs fans have.
You may have a task outside of the ballpark. Blake said some ambassadors may spend the day at the "L" stop to interview fans attending games and make sure they have no problems navigating their way to Wrigley.
Right, because it's so damn complicated to get from that pesky Addison stop to the ballpark, which you can see from the platform.

So I go out the door and take a right? Where every other person here is going? Are you sure about that?

And you don't even need to be a fan of the team! Are you a bitter White Sox fan who just wishes that wealthy white people would love your team? You're hired! Have fun telling those damn college yuppies where to find their next $6.50 beer. The most difficult requirement they have listed for the job is "knowledge and competence with modern office practices, such as computers and telephone systems". So if you can read this, and you know how to answer a phone, you've got the job. They also suggest that it would be helpful if you were bilingual in both Spanish and Japanese, because there are so many out of work linguists who want a part time job where they only need to know the words "baño" and "cerveza".

The best part about this program is that first time callers will be asked their seat location so that an ambassador can personally visit them and make sure that their experience is going well. There are so many great opportunities here to abuse the system. Has the incredibly loud hot dog vendor been annoying you for the past 3 innings? Make a phone call and tell them to bring you a hot dog on their way over. Are you still upset that Carlos Silva was even given a chance at the rotation? Just pick up a phone and you can scream at a random person face to face and ask that they pass along your concerns to Jim Hendry. Did you go to the game by yourself and you're just so damn lonely? You're surrounded by 40,000 alcoholics. If you can't find a friend there you've got a long, lonely life ahead of yourself. Sounds like you'd be perfect for the job.

Pablo Sandoval cranked a grand slam HR into the visitor's (upper) bullpen beyond the RF fence to cap a five-run third, and Jonathan Sanchez threw three shutout innings, as the San Francisco Giants defeated the Chicago Cubs 5-1 in Cactus League action under partly cloudy skies at cool & breezy Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in Mesa this afternoon.

box score

Carlos Zambrano got the start for the Cubs today, and after breezing through the first two innings on just a combined 14 pitches (Ks, 4-3, and 6-3 in the top of the 1st, and then 2B, 4-3, P-3, and 5-3 in the top of the 2nd), the roof really caved-in on "Z" in the 3rd.

John Bowker, Kevin Frandsen, and Aaron Rowand singled to load the bases, and then Eugenio Velez was hit by a pitch to force-in a run (or at least his uniform was hit by the pitch...). Then with the bases loaded and still nobody out, Pablo Sandoval unloaded his grand salami, giving the Giants what turned out to be an insurmountable a 5-0 lead.

And Zambrano continued to struggle after the grand slam had cleared the bases, too, getting Aubrey Huff on a fly out to the warning track in RF, before walking Benjie Molina and surrendering a single to Nate Schierholtz. Then finally (on the inning's 36th pitch), Carlos induced Juan Uribe to ground into a most merciful 6-4-3 DP.

For the day Zambrano allowed five runs on six hits, a walk, and a HBP, one HR, and one strikeout (Aaron Rowand leading-off the game) in 3.0 IP. He threw 50 pitches (32 strikes), with a 6/2 GO/FO.

#1 LHRP John Grabow pitched the 4th inning and had a much better day than last Saturday, when he gave up three runs in just an inning of work. Today Grabow pitched a shutout inning (4-3, L-8, E-5, 5-3), although one batter did reach base when Aramis Ramirez fielded a one hopper and (with all the time the world) promptly threw the ball over Derrek Lee's head (no easy task). But Grabow looked good (11 pitches - 9 strikes, 2/1 GO/FO).

Rule 5 RHP Mike Parisi followed Grabow to the mound and had a solid outing (4-3, Ks, 1B, and F-9). He struck out Aubrey Huff, and he didn't mess around with any of the hitters (14 pitches - 10 strikes). By virtue of Parisi working just one inning (he threw two innings his first time out last Thursday), it would appear that he is not being considered for a spot in the Cubs starting rotation (although he had been mostly a starter throughout his career). But he has done nothing to hurt his chances of making the Cubs Opening Day 25-man roster so far (two outings). And being a "Rule 5 guy" (where the Cubs would probably lose him if he isn't kept on the 25-man roster) helps his chances, too.

As I've mentioned before, Parisi is in a somewhat different situation than 2009 Rule 5 pick David Patton was last year. Patton was more of a "long-term investment," not really ready for MLB in 2009 (he hadn't piched above "A" ball prior to last season), so the Cubs had to finesse him through the season by putting him on the DL for two months and then getting work for him by sending him out on a 30-day minor league rehab assignment. He only threw 27.2 IP (MLB) last year, but he was on the 25-man roster just (barely) enough days to satisfy the Rule 5 requirements regarding time spent on an MLB Active List. So he can be optioned to the minors this year (and in fact he has three minor league option years available).

Parisi, on the other hand, has two years of AAA experience (2007-08), and was available for selection in the Rule 5 Draft this past December only because the Cardinals outrighted him to the minors post-2008 after he underwent Tommy John elbow surgery. If Parisi doesn't pitch well enough to make the Cubs Opening Day roster--if he doesn't win a job by out-pitching others in Spring Training--he will probably get cut (and get reclaimed by STL) and the Cubs won't think twice about losing him. But so far, so good.

Cubs 2008 #1 draft pick RHP Andrew Cashner pitched the 6th inning for the Cubs, and (once again) struggled with his command. Though he threw only ten pitches, only four were strikes. But that was good enough to get a fly out to left and a 5-4-3 ining-ending GIDP to erase the baserunner who reached on a lead-off walk. Cashner must show better control if he is to be considered for an Opening Day bullpen job with the Cubs.

RHP Thomas Diamond made his 2010 Cactus League debut (he got rained out of his first scheduled appearance last Sunday), and looked very good. He threw a ten-pitch 1-2-3 7th inning (F-4, Ks, P-5). Based on what I saw of Diamond at the end of the AZ Instructional League last October, and then after he threw "lights out" in three starts for Mexicali (Mexican Pacific League) after that, I would say Diamond has a definite chance to win a bullpen job with the Cubs out of Spring Training. He was dominating today.

Diamond is a former Texas Rangers #1 draft pick out of the University of New Orleans (current Cubs Assistant GM Randy Bush was Diamond's coach at UNO) who was claimed off waivers by the Cubs last September. He underwent Tommy John elbow surgery in 2007 and then struggled mightily with his control after returning to action in 2008-09, and the Rangers basically just gave up on him. But he is pitching with much better control (and renewed confidence) now, and he certainly looked VERY good today.

LHP John Gaub pitched the 8th and struggled with his command (23 pitches - 12 strikes). He did walk one LH hitter (Nate Schierholtz), but he also struck out another lefty swinger (Brandon Crawford) to end the inning.

RHP Justin Berg worked a five-pitch 9th (4-3, F-8, 5-3), throwing just one ball. He just gets the ball and throws a hard sinker, doesn't really fool anybody, and then waits for his fielders to make routine plays. He's got to be Uncle Lou's kinda pitcher.

Some of you may remember my post from a week ago, where I described Byrd hitting 30 balls in a row to RF during the Cubs first work-out at HoHoKam Park, and that Manager Lou Piniella was watching intently. Well, he must have been impressed, because with LHP Jonathan Sanchez getting the start for the Giants today, Kosuke Fukudome got the day off, and Marlon Byrd hit in the #2 slot behind Ryan Theriot.

Unfortunately, the Cubs offense really sputtered today (but not because Byrd hit second!), with at least one base-runner in every inning (14 total), but they scored only one run.

Here's how...

1st inning: Facing Jonathan Sanchez, Theriot leads off with a line-drive single over the second-baseman's head into right-center, then is immediately picked-off 1st by Sanchez (OUTSTANDING move by Sanchez, BTW).

2nd inning: Xavier Nady (the Cubs DH today, in what was his first Cactus League action of 2010) shoots a line single to RF with one out, then Alfonso Soriano strikes out swinging and Jeff Baker is retired 1-3 on a one-hop comebacker to the mound.

3rd inning: Theriot lines a single to RF with two outs and then steals second, but Byrd is called out on strikes for out number three.

4th inning: Facing RHRP Brandon Medders, Derrek Lee draws a walk on a 3-2 pitch after fouling a ball off his foot earlier in the count, then gingerly limps off the field as Micah Hoffpauir pinch-runs for him at 1st base. Then after a WP moves Hoffpauir up to 2nd base, Ramirez lines a double over CF Eugenio Velez's head to the CF Batter's Eye, scoring Hoffpauir from 2nd. But Nady pops out to the catcher behind home plate, Soriano flies out to CF, and after Jeff Baker walks, Koyie Hill is called out on strikes. Only one run scores.

5th inning: Facing AAA RHP Kevin Pucetas, Theriot lines a single to CF and Byrd lines a single to LF with one out, but then Hoffpauir bounces into a 5-4-3 DP to end the inning.

6th inning: Facing NRI RHP Eric Hacker, Ramirez ropes a lead-off single to LF (his 2nd solid hit of the day after fanning in his first AB) and Nady draws a walk, but then Soriano bounces into a 5-4 FC, Baker lines out to short, and K. Hill grounds out 4-3 to end the inning and leave two runners stranded. (Soriano, Baker, and Hill went hitless today, and left a number of runners stranded).

7th inning: Facing NRI RHP Eric Whitaker, Starlin Castro reaches base on an infield single to deep short with one out, but then Sam Fuld grounds into a 6-4-3 DP to end the inning.

8th inning: Facing NRI RHP Steve Edlefsen, Brad Snyder and PH Chad Tracy draw one out walks, but then Darwin Barney and Jeff Baker strike out (Barney swinging, and Baker looking), leaving both runners stranded.

9th inning: Facing RHRP Waldis Joaquin, Castro lines a two-out single to CF (his second hit of the day -- the Cubs lead-off slot went 5-5!), but then Fuld grounds out 3-1 to end the game.

Manager Piniella ordered a special post-game Batting Practice for those in need (mostly the guys who aren't getting much playing time), and so Jeff Baker (getting fairly regular playing time, but in a deep slump since he reported to Fitch Park last month), Darwin Barney, Starlin Castro, Bryan Lahair, Kevin Millar, Bobby Scales, Chad Tracy, and Josh Vitters were able to take about 50 swings a piece.

The Cubs play the San Diego Padres at the Peoria Sports Complex tomorrow, before the team splits in two for a couple of days as one squad travels up to Las Vegas to play two games versus the White Sox (one Friday night, and the other on Saturday afternoon), while the other squad stays in Phoenix for a game against the Brewers in Phoenix (Maryvale) on Friday and at HoHoKam Park in Mesa versus the 2010 Cactus League newcomers (Dusty Baker's Cincinnati Reds) on Saturday.

- Xavier Nady won't be ready to play regularly until...June!

The exclamation point is for a little joke going around the TCR comments, but Piniella said they'll be cautious with Nady through the cold weather.  Considering he was suppose to be a 4th outfielder/pinch-hitter/short side platoon for Fukudome, it probably won't matter as much as I'm sure the Internet is about to make it out to be, but it could affect the roster construction. Sam Fuld who can play all three outfield positions moreso than Tyler Colvin could get a little edge if spring training numbers are close. Or the Cubs could finally go through with an 11-man pitching staff, considering two of them will be the losers of the 4th/5th starting rotation race.

- Milton Bradley spoke again, this time to ESPN. I'd rather watch back-to-back replays of the 2005 and 2006 World Series than revisit another Bradley story, but everyone else seems to think it's worth commenting on. He doesn't seem to say anything new except some odd reporting baiting about whether hate mail may have come from within the Cubs organization. Bradley doesn't outright deny the accusation, leaving it open with a "Who cares" and "I don't care to know". Scandalous!

Look, Bradley is (as reader "jumbo" wrote), the "ultimate narcissist crossed with a conspiracy theorist".  He'll never accept responsibility for himself and nothing will ever be his fault. Hendry knocked out the response with his:

 I think it's time maybe Milton looked at himself in the mirror. It is what it is. He didn't swing the bat; he didn't get the job done. His production was the only negative, or lack of."

But the Cubs are equally at fault, they signed him without knowing what they were getting themselves into and without putting anything into place to deal with his personality. Nothing that happened last year was a suprise to anyone but the Cubs, yet they handed out the three-year deal and they're the ones that thought Milton didn't need any special treatment. The Cubs are the people that buy rottweilers and then are shocked when it eats their kids. "But it looked so cute and playful at the pet store!"

- Remember this comment from Aramis Ramirez earlier in the spring?

Third baseman Aramis Ramirez refused to take batting practice against teammates during live BP on Saturday. When asked about it, Ramirez said he never takes batting practice against teammates. That’s just something he doesn’t like to do.

We all seemed a bit suprised by the statement, but it seemed reasonable enough. Problem is, our pal Arizona Phil who has been watching spring training for as least as long as I've been here at TCR (2005) and probably much longer, recalls things differently.

I thought it was odd when Ramirez didn't take "live" BP against Cubs pitchers at Fitch Park a couple of weeks ago, when it was said in the media that it's not that uncommon for the "big leaguers" to do that... except it IS unusual.


Ramirez took "live" BP in all other previous seasons, and he was the ONLY Cub hitter to not take "live" BP this year. And then in the 50-swing BP work-out at HoHoKam the day before the first Cactus League game, Ramirez did not get good swings until the last ten or so, when he was able to drive a couple of HR.

Hopefully it's just some oddness, but I wouldn't be too surprised if he's hiding an injury either.

- Jason Frasor is the hot topic for the Cubs and Twins to bring in as a reliever. Frasor had a great 2009 with a 2.50 ERA and 11 saves, to go along with 17 saves in 2004. Phil Rogers reports that the Blue Jays are looking for an outfielder in return and speculates on Tyler Colvin or Sam Fuld. Fuld wouldn't bother me, although the Cubs would certainly need to add an arm or two in there to complete the deal. But Colvin's been putting on a show in spring training and bulked up and looks like he's the first round pick he was meant to be. I'd be more than hesitant to trade him. Even though he doesn't have a job now with the Cubs, he has 3 minor league options left and there's no reason to rush him out of the system for an unspectacular arm, considering the run of bad luck and health the Cubs seem destined to run into.

While Frasor did have a good 2009, his career FIP is 3.80 that nearly matches his career 3.78 ERA. He keeps the ball in the park(0.79) and has good strikeout rates(8.29) and would be leaving the AL East. And he did pick up a change-up after 2008, which could be the reason behind his improved season. On the other hand, the Cubs would presumably be paying the whole bill and I don't think trading a potential 25-30 HR threat that could play center field on a "regular' basis (Jim Hendry's words on WGN on Saturday) for a reliever is a good use of resources. You'll find nothing in Colvin's past minor league records to support the assertion that he could be a starter or bring mad power, but you wouldn't have found them in Geovany Soto's either before 2007. Prospects mature at odd rates and Colvin is becoming an interesting option.