Having unloaded their biggest headache from last season by trading Milton Bradley to Seattle for Carlos Silva, you may think that Jim Hendry and the Cubs would get some love from their fans. Well, at SB Nation’s Bleed Cubbie Blue, Al Yellon is looking at things positively:
Cubs Fans Happy To See Bradley Go, Still Unhappy With Trade
Let’s wait and see. For me, I’m happy that Jim Hendry managed to fix his mistake from a year ago, albeit at a high (for now) dollar cost. Maybe Carlos Silva will reclaim what he had in Minnesota and be worth the contract.
The comments at BCB, on the other hand, have not been as friendly:
chilango2: He wasn’t good in Minnesota though…Flip him, flip him, flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him,flip him. Please Jimbo.
DC Cubbie: agree, disgraceful work by Jim Hendry
Qixotl: Hendry picked up a player more difficult to trade than Bradley. Flipping will be really really improbable. I’d just plan on the Cubs being stuck with him for two years.
Meanwhile, at Hire Jim Essian the mood is much more pointedly angry:
How amazingly terrible (is Silva)? Well, he followed a 2008 season in which he posted a 6.46 ERA with 8 games last year and an 8.60 ERA. Why only 8 games? Well, he was hurt for pretty much the whole year. Nice choice, Jim.
But wait. It gets better.
The amount of money remaining on Silva’s contract is actually MORE than that remaining on Bradley’s. According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, Silva is owed $11.5M in 2010, $11.5M in 2011, and has a $12M mutual option (or, the no-brainer $2M buyout) in 2012. Bradley was owed $9M and $12M over the next two years.
Jim Hendry, you are a colossal (and I mean that in the most literal sense of the word) dumbass.
I have to say, I completely agree with the sentiment at HJE. The Cubs got completely worked in this deal. On the other hand, how incredible has the Mariners’ front office been this offseason? Chone Figgins, Cliff Lee and now adding Bradley and dropping Silva. Wow.
UPDATE: Apparently, the Mariners sent $9 Million to the Cubs along with Silva:
Silva has two years remaining on a four-year, $48 million contract that he signed prior to the ‘08 season from former Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi, and Bradley is owed $21 million over two years -- $9 million in ‘10 and $12 million in ‘11. Silva has $25 million remaining -- $11.5 million in both ‘10 and ‘11 and a $2 million buyout on a ‘12 option. The Mariners will send the Cubs $9 million to complete the deal.
This certainly changes things as in addition to getting rid of a player that totally killed the Cubs’ clubhouse and was an all-around bad fit and pain in the ass, the Cubs picked up salary relief as well. So even if Silva continues to be, you know, Carlos Silva (a likely scenario), the Cubs will be paying less in salary than they would for an unhappy (and as likely by-products, disruptive and unproductive) Milton Bradley. You get the feeling both GMs are absolutely thrilled with this deal. Not for what they got, but what they unloaded.
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