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40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

28 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, and twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 

Last updated 3-26-2024
 
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# bats both

PITCHERS: 15
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, P 
Alexander Canario, OF 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

 



 

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Cubs Win and Bradley is Suddenly Very Chatty

The Cubs and Nationals battled to a 2-2 tie through 6 innings, before Milton Bradley drove in his third run of the night on a fielder's choice to score Koyie Hill in the bottom of the 7th. Bradley had homered earlier in the game for the Cubs first two runs. The Cubs piled on in the 8th with five runs and ended up winning easily 9-4. 38 games left to bear unless we luck out with some rainouts.

Following up yesterday's comments, Bradley claims he has no regrets signing with the Cubs, but says he dreads extra inning home games:

"...so I can be out there the least amount of time as possible and go home."

Not quite as poetic as "I'd play this game for free", now is it?

He goes on to talk about facing hatred on a a daily basis including at restaurants, but sarcastically doesn't believe it has anything to do with race.

"America doesn't believe in racism."

That one made me chuckle.

Then he pulls a little Stuart Smalley on us.

``I feel love for me, because I love me,'' he said. ``I look in the mirror and go out there and play and feel love for my teammates and love for the coaching staff and for myself.''

That one made me laugh out loud.

The original link from the Daily Herald above has the more measured and objective article on Bradley's recent comments. The Sun-Times seems to have made it a mission to drive Bradley out of town if they can, with articles from Wittenmyer and one from Chris DeLuca saying that Milton Bradley will be the symbol of failure of the 2009 Cubs. Yes, Milton Bradley is what went wrong with the Cubs this year, not Alfonso Soriano's laughable 85 OPS+, not a disabled list longer than the Dead Sea Scrolls, not Lou's slow descent into Alzheimer's, it's Milton Bradley struggling in the first half and having the audacity to speak his mind on occasion. He's got to be the first free agent in the history of baseball to start slow, right? But I understand, after all he is the highest, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th highest paid player on the team, he certainly deserves the brunt of the criticism.

Bradley has not had a good season, certainly not what the Cubs expected and some of his "act" even grates on my generally patient nerves, but he is far from the Cubs most glaring problem in 2009 . He's not even in the top 5 (Soriano, the DL, the Bullpen, Hendry/Lou, Soto and Fontenot would be a good start). Bradley definitely makes himself the story sometimes and that's the part that grates on my nerves, but it's hardly enough to warrant the smear campaign that the Sun-Times is hellbent on pursuing, but I guess you have to try something when you're in a dying industry.

Comments

Can I just preempt the predictable screeching about that first comment? ahem. okay, here goes. "See, he wants to be out there for the minimum time possible! He's not even trying, he's got no work ethic, he doesn't respect the fans or anybody! He admits it! He's history's greatest monster!!!" Which is my way of saying that I agree with RobG's take on the situation. If I could banish one thing from the sports world, it'd be...okay, it'd be Brett Favre. But if I could banish two things, the other thing would be the pervasive sense of moral superiority that sportswriters, and now beat reporters, always possess and feel they must enforce. Just cover the games, all right? Is that too much to ask?

[ ]

In reply to by Pell Mell

I agree completely. Beat writers used to cover the games, but so few of them do now. Sullivan's column about the game today had 4 paragraphs about the actual game. It's easier to write a column about what Bradley says, so guys like Sullivan do everything they can to stir something up. Why not ask him about the homer and why he's able to sometimes generate power from the left side now? I couldn't care less what Bradley thinks about the drunks yelling at him from the bleachers. Most of those guys don't know what the score is anyway.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-27-cubs-bits-chi… Cubs player representative Ted (Roosevelt) Lilly called a federal appeals court ruling that federal agents had no right to seize anonymous drugs test results from 2003 a "great thing for the players." --- ...and walk softly and carry a bum knee: Alfonso Soriano was in the starting lineup Wednesday night after sitting the last three games. Soriano said he won't get an MRI until the next Cubs off day on Sept. 10, unless he continues feeling pain in the coming days. Soriano was frustrated by sitting and said he would like to play as much as possible the rest of the season, even if it means taking a cortisone shot. "It goes to show you he wants to play," Piniella said.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

What the hell was he doing with his time off if not getting a test to figure out exactly what's wrong? The season is toast. The top priority is making sure the player is going to be 100 percent by February. If the knee requires a procedure of some sort, Soriano is wasting everyone's time right now, and I dont' think Pinella should reward that behavior by putting him into the lineup. But hey, at least he's a "gamer." If Steve Olin had Alfonso Soriano's tenacity, he would've been MLB's first headless player.

Just wanted to say that part of the reason members of the media might be going after Bradley perhaps more than they should is because of how he treats them. Bruce Miles has been reporting stuff like this all season: "Not that the media matters, but I've seen him snap at reporters who've wanted nothing more than to ask him a positive question, maybe even to promote a charitable initiative of his." Granted the media should remain unbiased, but the reality is that they are humans. If he makes part of their job miserable, what is likely to happen when they write a Bradley story? It's probably going to be slanted a bit against him. So in part, he reaps what he sows.

We can all celebrate Milton's 50 RBI season when the season is over. Nevermind he sat in the middle of the lineup, and nevermind it will be one of the worst performances by a teams starting RFer in baseball. We should be happy about Miltons season. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/stats/byposition?pos=RF&conference=MLB&year… Look at him compared to his peers, and he isn't a problem with this team? When your middle of the order threat is at 35 RBI on August 27th, That isn't a major fucking problem? Geez Sammy Sosa put up 80 RBI in his final year and that was deemed not good enough. A guy barely creepin to 50 RBI is suddenly a ok. My have standards fallen.

[ ]

In reply to by MikeC

Nevermind he sat in the middle of the lineup, and nevermind it will be one of the worst performances by a teams starting RFer in baseball. We should be happy about Miltons season. Look. We all know that Bradley has had a disappointing season. No one here has denied that. No one here has said that it is "a ok." No one has said that we should be "happy" about his performance. But go ahead and continue to make shit up. You and Dusty Baylor do it so well, but I guess that is what happens when you can't argue against legitimate points, so instead you make arguments up that you can shoot down. And FWIW, context is an interesting thing. Bradley is 26th among MLB RFers in RBI. Bradley is 24th among MLB RFers in ABs with RISP, and 22nd in PAs with RISP. So while Bradley has struggled, his team has also struggled to provide him opportunities to drive in runs. So you can trot out the tired "middle of the lineup" argument. But it is a meaningless argument when you look at the actual numbers.

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

Bradley's been really bad at driving in runs. He's only driven in 10% of the runners on base when he's come to the plate. Part of the problem is he hasn't been hitting as well as anyone would like, and the other part is that he is alright with taking a walk and letting the guy behind him hit with 1 more runner on base. Last night when he came up with 2 outs and a guy on first, he knew what to do - swing for extra bases, and it worked out well. In general I like his approach, but there have been a few times when he was obviously looking for a walk with guys on base. I am not sure if that was because he didn't feel confident, or had a bloated impression of his intimidation factor. If he keeps hitting as well as he has in the 2nd half, hopefully he'll have a clean slate from the fans by the start of next year, and he can have the big season that he and many of us expected, .289 .414 .456 with 25 HR's and 70 RBI's - I'll take that from our #2 hitter. Edit - Holy run-on sentence, Batman.

Hey Rob, It's 'grates on my nerves', unless there's a pun in there I am missing. I really hate that 'love' talk. I don't even know what it means, but in Bradley's case a little self loathing may be in order to initiate some corrective behavior.

Regardless of the inane sports press in this town, why does MB have to keep giving them fuel to the fire? So what if he doesn't talk to anyone, and then they write how surly he seems. Just put a sock in that blowhole and play. And BTW, that cry of "wacists!" canard is already used up - like the boy who cried wolf, you can only go so many times to that particular well. Why would Lou stay on for another migraine - inducing season like this one? Get another manager to baby - sit his poor widdle players.

Bradley has not had a good season, certainly not what the Cubs expected and some of his "act" even grades on my generally patient nerves, but he is far from the Cubs most glaring problem in 2009 . He's not even in the top 5 .... Bradley definitely makes himself the story sometimes and that's the part that grades on my nerves, but it's hardly enough to warrant the smear campaign that the Sun-Times is hellbent on pursuing Couldn't have said it better myself. I think the CST are just trying to stay relevant, like with Telander's Ther-roid article.

Told that some in the media and public were construing his comments to mean he has been the victim of racial abuse, Bradley said, ironically: "America doesn't believe in racism." Bradley, a black man, was asked if he was talking about "hatred" in terms of baseball performance or "hatred" of a personal kind. "I'm talking about hatred, period," he said. "I'm talking about when I go to eat at a restaurant, I've got to listen to the waiters badmouthing me at another table, sitting in a restaurant, that's what I'm talking about. Everything.
Can somebody explain this to me? First off, what does it mean that Bradley said "America doesn't believe in racism." ironically? How did the reporter know it was ironic? And ironic in what way? Ironic as in "[You reporters don't believe that I am facing racism because you, like the rest of America, like to pretend that racism has been abolished]"? Or does it mean "[Racism no longer exists in America because Americans believe that they should not act racistly and thus, don't. Hah]" I'm just not clear. Seems to me that the reporters are trying to ask if Bradley is talking about racism, and Bradley doesn't want to have to come out and call it racism, so he's finding ways to avoid the issue that also happen to make his complaint rather ambiguous. Is it just insensitive behavior, or is it motivated by race? (In Bradley's opinion, that is.)

Bradley has mentioned that as a child he was picked on because of his name(according to WSCR) and the left a chip on his shoulder to prove people wrong. I just see April 2010, Bradley hitting .400 6 hrs awesome obp and then....rip. Out for the season with an injury. This the Cubs after all.

"He's not even in the top 5 (Soriano, the DL, the Bullpen, Hendry/Lou, Soto and Fontenot would be a good start)." Not to start another war, but if Soriano is number one shouldn't Soto be higher on the list. Soriano 240/302/421 Soto 218/323/381 As for Bradley, if he is number 5 does Fukudome rank 6th? Sure he plays center not right, but isn't Bradley a better defensive right fielder than Fukudome is a defensive center fielder. Also, Fukudome makes $5.5 million a year more than Bradley. Bradley 259/391/407 35 RBI 51 Runs Fukudome 278/391/468 47 RBI 60 Runs In the end I just don't understand all of the hate.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob Richardson

Soto and Fontenot, while complete wastes of space in the lineup this year, also get paid little and could in theory be more easily replaced...and also play positions that are not normally expected to do as much with the bat.

Soriano, on the other hand, is the Cubs highest paid position player and when you get paid $18M a year,  there's an expectation that you'll be one of the team's best hitters, not a guy with an OPS+ of 85 and a negative WAR value (meaning in theory the Cubs could have basically picked up a scrub off the waiver wire for the leage minimum that would have outproduced him and in this case I think Jake Fox or Micah Hoffpauir would have).

As for Fukudome, being in a strict platoon is gonna bring his counting stats down as will Bradley being sat for no good reason quite a few times this year (while Soriano plays through a bum knee wasting 4-5 PA's a game). I've got  Fukudome leading the team in WAR, so I'd hardly call that a disappointment. I'm guessing he leads in WARP-1 as well, although BP numbers are pretty down on his defense (UZR likes him though).

 

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 08/27/2009 - 8:51am.
I think he was called up for 2 days before they DFA'd him...odd move.

===========================================

ROB G: A player on Optional Assignment to the minors must be recalled before he can be Designated for Assignment, traded, or placed on waivers.  

If the Rockies wanted to just place him on Outrright Assignment Waivers, they could have recalled him ("Recalled - Not to Report") while he continued to play at AAA, but apparently the Rockies believe Murt will get claimed if he is placed on Outright Waivers, and they want a week to find out if they can get something back for him in a trade before placing him on irrevocable waivers.

Also, by placing Murton on the Designated List (DFA) instead of leaving him at AAA while he's on waivers, Colorado opens up a spot on their 40-man roster immediately (the roster was full until Murton got DFA'd), instead of having to leave Murton on the 40-man roster for two days (until 1 PM EDT on Friday) while waiting for Murton to clear waivers.

Bradley is a douche. He makes it impossible to root for him or even stand him. No surprise why this is his 7th organization he has played for in 10 seasons. He has had a bad year on the field and a not surprisingly bad year off the field. And while he is not the sole reason, or even the top reason this team has disappointed again this year, I think some people are underestimating his effect on the team. Everything from his early and prolonged offensive struggles to his beefs with the fans, coaches and media to his endless stupid comments has to have taken its toll I am sure. He is a cancer on this team, as I am sure he has been on others and his act grows very tired. It is amazing that the Cubs felt we needed a LH bat this bad. Again, on the face of it, Bradley is not the top reason this team has disappointed again, but don't underestimate how the cancer he is could have spread through this team. There are no stats to prove it and it is extremely unlikely that any players will speak about it, but it would not surprise me if he has been weighing this team down more than even it appears. Hopefully Bradley will go the route of JJ, whom I compared him to very early on and got blasted, and be packing his bags before the end of next season.

[ ]

In reply to by mannytrillo

"Everything from his early and prolonged offensive struggles to his beefs with the fans, coaches and media to his endless stupid comments has to have taken its toll I am sure." - Could you please show me the link between Bradley and Soto and Soriano's struggles? - Did Greg not blow saves before he teamed up with Bradley? - Please explain to me how Bradely caused ARam to injure his shoulder? - How did Bradley cause Lilly to strain his knee/shoulder? - Did Bradley break Dempster's toe? - Did Bradley cause Zambrano to hurt his back? - Did Bradley cause Marmol to forget how to throw strikes?

Player A .278/.391/.468, 11 HR 47 RBI, 29 doubles, 5 triples, 60 runs Player B .259/.391/.407, 11 HR, 35 RBI, 13 doubles, 1 triple, 51 runs Salaries aside, who is having a better season? Hopefully, Bradley will continue to thrive hitting second in the lineup where his OBP will be more valuable.

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

yes, is anyone arguing that Fukudome hasn't had a better year than Bradley? He's probably the team offensive/defensive MVP...

Fukudome  has nicely been shielded being in a strict platoon though.

He's probably a good case study on why I'm not too worried about Bradley. Despite all his struggles last year Fukudome was able to stay patient at the plate and that's usually a good sign of things to come. This year he's shown a little more gap power and hit well with runners on and I really have litte doubts (besides probably an injury) that we'll get a much better full season from Bradley in 2010.

Is it a coincidence that Bradley goes 4 for 4 with a home run and 3 RBIs after shooting off his mouth and getting bad press? Maybe he needs this stuff. Maybe a little hostility gets him revved up. Go ahead MB, tell us what you really think!

If the press is pissed at the way MB treats them they should just stay away from him instead of picking fights with the dude. In 2 more years it won't matter anyway because their jobs will be gone with the death of print media and MB will still be hanging around doing his schtick.

Could I just take another moment to lament what I felt was a MAJOR blunder when Hendry failed to gobble up Orlando Hudson? Dude was signed for 3.4 Million... 2-time gold glover, .290 switch-hitter... WTF were the Cubs thinking???? Okay, I'm good for another few days...

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

I would guess there's a pretty good chance of that, the problem is that we're probably not going to have the $5 to $7 million that an established 2nd basemen may fetch in free agency. It looks like Wells is going to be the 4th starter next year, so we will probably shed Harden's salary and go with some AAA scrub, Marshall, or some cheap retread as the #5 guy, but all the other big contracts are still around in 2010, and the Theriots and Fountainouts and Marmols are all getting raises. We may well be looking at some combination of Fontainout, Barney, Miles and Castro to play 2nd base and backup short and third next year.

OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!! OMFG MILTON BRADLEY!!

Continues to grow: "News: Cedeno (broken right pinky) was scratched shortly before Wednesday's 4-1, 10-inning loss to the Phillies, but he had a pinch-hit double in the seventh." from Stats.

Bradley has missed one of the essential distinctions that comes with being an adult; the difference between taking something seriously and taking something personally. He insists on taking things personally that should only be taken seriously. 99.9% of the time, when fans boo or criticize a player, it's becausse of the player's on-field performance and not a personal attack on the player himself. Thus, fans intend for their criticism to be taken seriously by the player (in hopes of improving that performance), but not personally. Players like Bradley seem to assume that any criticism is meant to injure them personally, and thus they react in kind.

Theriot, Bradley, Lee, Ramirez, Fukudome, Soriano, Fontentot, Hill, Wells

Another beatdown at the hands of the worst team in baseball. I live in DC, and Tom Boswell wrote a column in the Post this morning ripping the Cubs - among other things, claimed that Hendry was ordered by the Tribune to agree to long term contracts to get the team ready for sale (which makes no sense). At the end, he said "bile is running in the aisles at Wrigley." This has been a long season.

Hi parallel universe MV. I thought they were going to limit Randy Wells's pitching the rest of the year because he's a rook and prone to tiring out, which is what I think is happening here. Then there's our "great" bullpen. Who or what thought Heilman was going to be of any use? Boswell's claim that the Trib ordered Hendry to do a shitty job and dismantle a 97-win team is interesting. I hope Lou stays. The notion of having Steve Stone as GM and Ryno manager is BCB fantasy crap. This year hasn't been much fun to watch.

In a season full of defining moments of suckiness, losing 2 of 3 at home to the Nationals in late August ranks right up there. Will Hendry show his face at this year's Cubs Convention?

So Gale Sayers in his interview after singing in 7th the new Soldier Field has to be one of the two best football stadiums in the NFL. HUH I could think of a few better just in the nfc. Arizona,Dallas,Detroit,Tampa.

Recent comments

  • Eric S (view)

    With two home runs (so far) and 5 rbi today … clearly Nick Martini is the straw that stirs the Reds drink 😳

  • crunch (view)

    madrigal at 3rd...morel at DH.

    making room for madrigal or/and masterboney to get a significant amount of ABs is a misuse of the roster.  if it needed to get taken care of this offseason, they had tons of time to figure that out.

    morel played almost exclusively at 3rd in winter ball and they had him almost exclusively there all spring when he wasn't DH'ing.

    madrigal doing a good job with the glove for a bit over 2 chances per game...is that worth more than what he brings with the bat 4-5 PA a game?  it's 2024 and we got glenn beckert 2.0 manning 3rd base.

    this is a tauchman or cooper DH situation based on bat, alone.  cooper is 3/7 with a double off eovaldi if you want to play the most successful matchup.

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  • Arizona Phil (view)

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  • Arizona Phil (view)

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  • Arizona Phil (view)

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  • Arizona Phil (view)

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  • crunch (view)

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  • Childersb3 (view)

    Seconded!!!