Cubs Trade Bradley!
Sorry, wishful thinking. They haven't traded Milton Bradley yet. But they will.
In the meantime, let's take a look at the Cubs. The last time we saw them, they were crushed under the weight of their high expectations and missed the 2009 playoffs by 8.5 games. (That's it? They seemed a lot worse than that.)
So what went wrong?
1. Key players slumped. Alfonso Soriano and Geovany Soto were flat out horrible. No excuses for either one of them. They just plain sucked. To a lesser extent, Mike Fontenot and Carlos Zambrano were significantly worse than everybody expected them to be last season as well. Most thought Fontenot would give them at least 80% of what Mark DeRosa gave them, and from the left side to boot. Dud. Ryan Dempster had a bit of a dropoff from his career season as well, though overall he was still pretty solid (like Big Z, to be truthful).
2. Every acquisition failed. Every move Hendry made before the 2009 season failed. Let's see, he traded DeRosa, Signed Milton Bradley, let Kerry Wood go, signed Kevin Gregg, let Blanco walk, didn't sign an adequate backup third basemen, signed Aaron Miles, gave the starting 2nd base job to Fontenot, and turned over the entire bullpen (save Marmol). Fail, Fail, Fail, Fail, Fail. Bradley, in particular, was a bust. He had a solid June-July, and overall he got on base at a decent clip, but everything else about him was absolutely miserable. I really don't want to talk about him much, because I can't stand the guy. But suffice it to say, when your team gives the GM a standing ovation when you're suspended for the remainder of the season, it's not a good sign.
3. Aramis got hurt. The Cubs best hitter missed 80 games to injury last year. He raked when he played, but third base was a black hole for over two months.
4. Lou Piniella started losing it. I think he might have early Alzheimer's setting in. He's a good manager, in fact, probably the best Cubs manager of my lifetime. But he had many brainfarts last season, and I'm hoping the subtraction of Bradley will help Lou focus next year.
Anything go right?
Derrek Lee and Randy Wells. Derrek Lee got some MVP votes and had his second best season ever. Randy Wells came from nowhere to get some rookie of the year consideration. Fukudome proved to be adequate, and that was more than anyone had expected after his largely disastrous rookie year. That's about it.
So what should Hendry do for 2010?
I'm glad you asked. I don't think the team needs a complete overhaul, and honestly with the contract situation I don't even think its possible. The core of this team won 97 games in 2008. A few tweaks here and there, and a few guys return (at least partially) to form and they should be in contention again in the Central. To break it down:
1. Cut the dead weight. He already dumped Heilman and Miles, two major disappointments from last offseason. Bradley, of course, is next. Ideally, the Cubs would acquire some other team's problem that would unexpectedly blossom on the north side. (Think Eric Karros and Mark Grudzielanek in return for Todd Hundley. I did say I was being optimistic.) So let's say the Cubs pick up a Pat Burrell or Luis Castillo. Not unreasonable for either of those guys to be rejuvinated on the Cubs. I think Vernon Wells might be a good fit but his contract is positively Soriano-esque, so the Cubs should take a pass on him. Be creative, Jim.
2. Pray that Soriano and Soto have major rebounds. While not close to the 40-40 the Cubs thought they were getting, I don't think its unreasonable for Soriano to put up 2008 numbers. .280...29 HRs. It might not be worth $18 million, but it'd certainly be acceptable. Soto just needs to put down the doobies are start slugging again. I think he could very easily put up a .270/.350/.480 line or so. Big Z needs a bounce back season as well, while Lee can't fall too far back to earth.
3. Look at CF and 2B for positions to upgrade. Maybe SS. I think Theriot's fine, but they could definitely use an upgrade at Short. After CF and 2B are taken care of, of course. I don't like the rumors I'm hearing about Rick Ankiel, I'll just say that right now. I could live with Mike Cameron for a year, if you can get him cheap. I think in-house option Jeff Baker might actually be a decent stopgap at 2nd, though you know who's available. Yeah, DeRosa. Want to kiss and make up?
4. Arms. Everybody needs arms. Get as many as you can for the pen and may the best ones stick. (Grabow is already in the fold) Maybe pick up a more reliable 5th starter type, as I don't have a whole lot of confidence in Gorzelanny, Marshall, or Samardzija. Harden just signed a one-year deal for $7.5 mil with the Rangers. I'd have taken a flyer on him for that, though it seemed the Cubs were somewhat sick of his injury woes by the end of last season.
And really, that's about it. Just some tweaks, and this team could win another 93-95 games.
Good night!