The Cubs have finally offloaded Milton Bradley. Good riddance. We pick up an apparently awful pitcher in return, but save six million bucks in the trade. That allows us to get at least a journyman center fielder and move Fukadome to right field, where he should be.
Because many fans are morons, they are yelling because the Ricketts Family, the team’s new owners, aren’t making a ‘big splash.’ Well, guess what. The Cubs have like the third highest payroll in baseball, and the new owners just spent close to a billion dollars to buy the team (most of it financed, of course), and they have to refurbish Wrigley Field, at the very least. I would be surprised if they didn’t CUT payroll, much less add another huge player and salary to their financial liabilities.
Sadly, the Ricketts are hamstrung by the horrible long-term contracts their predicessors made, including FIVE MORE YEARS of Alfonso Soriano at over $20 million a year. Unlike many, I am philosophically opposed to spending other people’s money, so although I am unhappy with the situation, I won’t be expecting the Ricketts to make any major changes to the team before some of these contracts expire in a couple of years, and won’t really consider them fully accountable until Soriano leaves after 2014. Yes, 2014.
Because of this, I think after skipper Lou Pinella hangs it up after this coming season, the Cubs will hire manager-in-training and former Cubs All-Star Ryan Sandberg as manager. It will be a cheap way to buy some love from the fanbase as they wait for the toxic muck to be cleared out.
