The Cubs want to move Fukudome back to RF and get a CF.  There is a good CF available in Mike Cameron.  He wouldn't be a bad acquisition, but he's RH and strikes out a lot and is old enough that sudden decline could be a big problem.  Plus, with a tight budget, he could easily be cost prohibitive.  The Cubs would obviously prefer a LH CF, a younger CF, and a CF with better speed.  Curtis Granderson and Carlos Beltran would both be great, except their teams would have to be foolish to trade them for anything but an overwhelming offer.  Indeed, both players have had trade rumors debunked.

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From a comment at Bruce Miles' blog:

The Rangers would appear to be a good landing place for Bradley, and Millwood seemingly would be a serviceable arm. I'm told there haven't been any formal talks on this, but that Millwood is a guy the Cubs have liked. He was 13-10 with a WHIP of 1.34 and an ERA of 3.67. I'd say it's a situation that bears watching.

Interesting. Discuss. (This post edited to update content and post a new rumor.)

Now that the World Series is over (congratulations Yanks for the 27th time) and the MLB offseason officially begins exactly a month after the Cubs offseason began, I'm gonna go ahead and post my poll for the best Cubs games of 2009.  There were actually some pretty good games to remember this year... along with the pretty bad ones as well.  Sometimes it got to the point where to some of you, the best game (later in the year) was the game that didn't happen meaning the off-day in which we didn't have to see the Cubs load the bases with no outs and somehow not drive in a run.  I think it was the comments from the "Come here and vent" post in mid-August is a good example of my last sentence. 

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We (dtpollitt n SWL) have collaborated to discuss the fantastic Chicago Cubs 2009 season. Some might akin this to Simmons' mailbag, others, rubbish. Modeled (a bit) after Joe Posnanksi & Bill James'email-exchanges-turned-columns, we've attempted summarize all things Cubs, BCB, and...........................Harry Potter.

Grab a Jimmy Johns, a big slurpee from 7-11 and read more, below the fold (I've always wanted to say that).

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Food for thought:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/bay-vs-cameron

To sum up, if the Cubs could sign a player who is theoretically more valuable per season than Jason Bay and has been comparable in value over the last 7 seasons to David Ortiz or Aramis Ramirez AND plays center field, should they sign him?

I'm not sure I want the extra strikeouts in an already K heavy lineup. Honestly, I'm not sure I'd want Bay if we had a place to play him. But I'd probably take him for one or two years if Soriano weren't in his way in left. So would you take Cameron for a one year deal to fill the void in center? I know this idea has some support around here already. Does this reasoning change anyone elses' thinking?

Iowa's loss to Northwestern this past Saturday threw open the door to a lot of scenarios involving Big Ten football teams.

There are a LOT of Big Ten fans on BCB. Given that, where do you think your school/alma mater/walmart wolverine's favorite team will ultimately wind up when all is said and done?

Predict where in the Big Ten they will finish and what bowl game (if any, cough, u-m) they will go to.

There is also a poll for the top spot, so have at it ;) 

 
 From now on until he gets traded ( or until Spring Training), Milton Bradley will be yet again in the spotlights here in Chicago. Most Cubs Fans want to see him gone, myself included. That has to be one of the top priorities in Jim Hendry's to do list and if he doesn't find a way to trade him, Hendry better get on his knees and pray that Bradley does well.  Now this gets me asking; should we trade him, or should we not?

                                                                     Why we should trade him.
 For various reasons. From the moment he signed with the Cubs, he looked lost. He never fit in with the club and really looked bad with the bat. He got me convinced in Spring Training and I was drinking the MB kool-aid. Then, he started his career with the Cubs, going 0 for 18 until he got his first hit when he hit that 2-run shot in Milwaukee ( coincidantly,   it came in the same game in which Kevin Gregg blew his first save as a Cub after a masterful perfromance by Rich Harden).  He was mad at himself for the better half of the season, and while struggling, the media got on to him a bit and so did the Cubs fans. Why wouldn't we? He then called us racist, which made me say wow. Derek Lee was our best player this year, and after his last at bat, which was an out, every one at Wrigley gave him a standing ovation. Maybe he's color blind and think Derek is some kind of white. But to even say that is pathatic. And to backlash at us, saying we're the reason and where the place is located is the main cause why the Cubs haven't won in 101 years is mind boggling. SO HERE are the top 10 reasons why we should trade Milton Bradley.

 1. Most expensive bust for the Cubs.

 2. Supposed to balance the whole lineup, but how could he when he can't even balance himself?

 3. You will always have to worry with him about injuries. Even if he really didn't get injured last season, he's an injury bomb just waiting to explode this season.

 4. A cancer to the clubhouse, really never got along with anybody in the club house.

 5. Already made enemies with every Cubs fan, and I'm sure there will be plenty of protest if he comes back.

 6. 32 years old and injury prone. Are his best days behind him? Or did the ballpark in Arlington made his stats look sweeter then it actually is?

 7. Showed us that some times he just wasn't in the game. This occured throughout the season, but the most significant game was the Twins game.

 8. You should never have a guy on your team who is so self-centered, especially a guy who thinks it's him against the world.  Time to get a player who will only think about the team, and most of the team is like that. Bradley is not.

 9. He's already uncomfortable in Chicago. Why would you come here in the first place? I really think he never realized how much pressure he would get from a fanbase that supports a team that hasn't won in over a hundred  years. You must get that if you play for the Cubs, and he never did.

 10. He is better suited for the AL. To injury proned in the outfield, even when he runs the bases.  The only clutch hit that I can remember was that 2 out single against Lidge, but then again, everbody's been clutch on that guy. A year to forget for him, maybe a Cub to forget for us. I want to see him traded. For whom, that's the problem for us.

                                                                     Why we should keep him
 To his credit, he rarely got hurt. Maybe that was a bad thing. He played solid defense, he was not flashy but he got the job done. Took his share of walks, and especially love takin the free base with men on scoring position. Everytime he swung, he looked like he swung above the ball, including with men on 2nd and 3rd. But then again, Rudi Jaramillo was his hitting coach when he played for the Rangers, so there is this possobility that Rudi will fix him up again. If he stays, we'll just have to wait and see. However, there is one more note I have to make. If he is willing to forget about last season and put it behind him and start anew, I'll be willing to forget and expect this season. Only if he comes back. Play for another team, and I'd be willing to expect the Bradley of '09 to any other team he plays for. I'll list five reason why he should come back instead of 10.

1. Who would we get from him? I don't want to go from one bust to another. Vernon Wells, no, Aaron Rowand, no. Just who would we get for Bradley?

2. Rudi Jaramillo might just get him back on track.  He is considered the best hitting coach before the Cubs hired him. Lets just compare the Cubs offence to the Rangers offence next season.

3. You have to take chances. No questions should go unanswered. If he struggles next season, then we'll get our answer. If you do get something out of him next season, then you still trade him, since his value might increase. Maybe he helps us go all the way. You never know.

4. Maybe he actually has reflected upon himself this offseason. He might of looked in the mirror and said hey, maybe I'm the one who let everyone down. Maybe he'll get prepared and cohttp://www.sbnation.com/admin/entries/new?community_id=8&entry_type=FanPost#wysiwygme back stronger than ever. Do I beleive that, no. But that' s a chance.

5. You got to let this story play itself out. You don' t pay a guy 21 million dollars and get  nothing. Again, we'll just have to wait and see. Some time or another, he'll get hot and actually win us some games. He really played solid defense and hustled every ball out. You can't question his desire. Those are good qualities for Bradley and you just have to look for the positives instead of concetrating on the negative this season. Look for the little things. If he comes back, I'll expect a better MIlton Bradley, the mature one.

"Take this thread to Cuba!"

Greetings all!  I figure rather than hijack the latest main thread (especially since it's already at 400+ comments) for some Big Ten smackdown on this fine Saturday, might as well just do a game thread of our own.

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A reminder that MLB network is broadcasting the AFL "Rising Stars" game. The four Cubs are  Castro, Vitters.Parker and Cashner. So if you you are Cubs fan with no social life ( sound familiar) at 7PM CST time Saturday  you can watch   guys we hope to see at Wrigley someday ( not counting the  Road to Wrigley game) play.

Well, I went the first of at least a half dozen games I'll be watching here until next Monday.  Luckily, I got to see virtually the entire Cubs' contingent today.  Unluckily, the only Cub who didn't play was Josh Vitters, the guy I wanted to scout the most.  Maybe tomorrow, so here's what happened today :

Starlin Castro - hit a couple of sharp singles through the infield, drove in a run with a sac fly and made a great play on a bad hop ground ball in the ninth inning and showed a strong arm to throw out Truinfel.  On the bad side, he chased a couple pitches outside the zone preventing him from taking a walk in his third AB and striking out in his last.

Andrew Cashner - had another excellent outing today.  Pitched ahead in the count to almost every batter, no walks and 4 Ks in the same number of innings.  49 pitches of which 35 were strikes shows the dominance of a #1.  The scout I talked to had him at 93-96 for the game.  The majority of the hits were of the seeing eye grounder variety.  Only Brent Morel squared up a fastball and laced a line drive to left.

James Russell, Jon Gaub & Blake Parker all came in and pitched an inning each after Cashner left.  Only Parker gave up a run and that was due solely to the CF losing a ball in the sun and letting a fly ball drop 5 feet away at the warning track.  Nothing there to get really excited about really.

The player of the game had to be PJ Phillips of the Angels.  He crushed a homer and a double and made a diving catch in center field.  Tosoni had the hardest hit ball though.  He obliterated a fastball about 440 to straightaway center field that nailed that 50' tall batters eye for a double.  It hit at least 15' above the rest of the fence.

That's about it.  The Solar Sox play in Surprise tomorrow and I'll make the hour long drive to try to catch Vitters in action.  Fortunately, he made the All-Star game Saturday so there's a good chance I'll catch him then as well.  Though the player I'm dieing to see then is Strasburg.  I'll just keep replying to this post instead of making new ones every day.