Tampering Towers? Cubs won't mind
It's never too early to start talking about trading Milton Bradley. Enter San Diego Padres GM Kevin Towers, a.k.a., "Tampering Towers," for his willingness to push the envelope when it comes to violating MLB's regulations about tampering with other teams' players. It was thanks to Towers that the Jake Peavy trade talks got so much play last fall, leading up to the winter meetings. Now, we apparently have Tampering Towers talking about possibly being interested in Milton:
http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=4504355
Veteran baseball writer Jerry Crasnick of espn.com has the story, in which he quotes Towers as saying: "I haven't had any calls from Jim (Cubs GM Hendry) about him. But I think people kind of know what players we target. We have to take chances sometimes. We took a chance on Milton the first time we had him, and he actually played pretty well...."
The Pads had Milton for part of 2007, when his season ended with a torn knee ligament, the result of an argument with an umpire, for which the ump bore most of the blame. (See, it's not always Milton's fault.) Milton battied .313 in 42 games with San Diego. He hit 11 homers in drove in 30.
Usually, baseball execs don't like it when another GM talks about specific players, but Trader Jim no doubt feels Tampering Towers is doing him a favor. Maybe somebody else will jump in, and maybe, just maybe, the Cubs won't have to take such a big hit on the two years and $21 million they still owe Milton from the ill-advised three-year, $30 million deal Trade Jim handed him last winter.
San Diego would seem to be the "supportive" environment Milton says he needs.
"San Diego is different than Chicago," Towers told espn.com.
I never noticed.
Anyway, the Cubs are in San Francisco tonight with a beauty of a pitching matchup featuring Big Z against Tim Lincecum. Cubs go this way:
Fukudome, RF
Theriot, SS
Ramirez, 3B
Hoffpauir, 1B
Baker, 2B
Scales, LF
Hill, C
Fuld, CF
Zambrano, P
D-Lee is out of the lineup, the result of the neck injury he suffered last night in a double-whammy. He apparently hurt his troublesome neck stealing second base in the ninth inning. After Jeff Baker hit the go-ahead homer, Lee got a little celebratory head slap from Angel Guzman in the dugout.
Koyie Hill makes his second straight start behind the plate. Geovany Soto is 2-for-21 on the trip. Hoffpauir is 5-for-17 on the trip. Baker is 9-for-24 with 4 RBI, including the big 2 last night. Fukudome has a three-game hitting streak, during which he's 6-for-13.
according to the guys doing the game today, news reports Tampa is interested in Bradley, and trying to lower their payroll. Crawford for Bradley would be the best deal. Tampa would get B for almost nothing, Crawford has 1 year left on his $11 Mil contract.
No way the Rays offer up Crawford for Milton regardless of how much the Cubs pay. Maybe a more realistic deal would be them picking up Iwamura's option and then trading him for Bradley since the Cubs could use a lefty at 2B that can actually hit.
you can still try. check this out.......
Fri Sep 18, 2009 8:11 am EDT
Tampa Bay Rays trading Crawford or Upton?
By Mark Miller
The Tampa Bay Rays currently have a lineup that would make $70 million collectively next season, thanks to the trade of Scott Kazmir(notes). But owner Stuart Sternberg has said that he wants to start next year with a payroll of around $63 million, which means another big-name player will likely be traded. Word is that it could either be Carl Crawford(notes) or B.J. Upton(notes), according to MLB Trade Rumors. Replacing whoever gets traded will likely be Desmond Jennings, who spent time in double-A and triple-A this year, hitting .318 and stealing 52 bases.
Crawford, who will turn 28 next season, has one more year left on his contract worth between $10 million and $11 million. He's hit .303 so far this year and stolen 57 bases.
Upton is arbitration-eligible this off-season, is hitting .233 with 10 homers, and has 37 steals. He'll be 25 next season.
they want to get rid of payroll, some one to take him off their hands. just a thought.
This seems like irresponsible reporting to me. How can a journalist quote MLB Trade Rumors as a source? That's no different than me starting a blog and saying "Cubs could trade D.Lee" and then having some reporter run off and quote it.
Here's the link to MLB TR:
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/09/discussion-crawford-or-upton.html
and this is what it says:
When the Rays traded Scott Kazmir, their projected '10 payroll dropped to about $70MM. Prior to the season, owner Stuart Sternberg indicated that next season's payroll would be similar to this year's opening day payroll of $63MM. Declining Akinori Iwamura's $4.25MM option would get the payroll in that neighborhood. However, there is still a chance the Rays could try to move Carl Crawford, who will be entering the final year of his deal, or B.J. Upton, who will be arbitration-eligible this offseason for the first time. Moving one the outfielders could open up a spot for Desmond Jennings, who hit a combined .318/.401/.487 with 52 stolen bases between double-A and triple-A.
So, if you were the Rays, which outfielder would you move and if you were the GM of another club, which player would you rather have?
-----------
No legitimate source whatsoever. Just discussion created by a writer. "Still a chance" "could try to move Crawford"......this is how bad rumors get started.
And if they do decide to trade him it's going to be for a top prospect in addition to salary relief....not Milton Bradley.
No way the Rays offer up Crawford for Milton regardless of how much the Cubs pay. Maybe a more realistic deal would be them picking up Iwamura's option and then trading him for Bradley since the Cubs could use a lefty at 2B that can actually hit.
San Diego would be a fine place to send Bradley if all the Cubs want to do is send him away, pay the majority of his salary, and get nothing (or next to nothing) in return. There are better options.
in return for him. Its a dump and nothing more. Might get another bad contract in return.
I would disagree that you won't get anything in return. Bradley has a track record of perfomance. If the Cubs are willing to pay 15 million of the 21 million, that means someone gets a player like Bradley for 3 million a year. That is a great deal, if he is in a place where he can perform like Texas, Tampa, or San Diego or similar. I don't expect to get top prospects, but I also don't figure to have to eat bad contracts or get nothing at all in return.
Both Boozer and Cubmadness are right. If the Cubs eat most of Bradley's contract they can probably ask for more in a trade. If the Cubs don't want to eat his contract, they will probably have to take a bad contract in return (NBA-type trade). Some rumored players in return, take your pick....
Burrell - Tampa Bay
Young - San Diego
Silva - Seattle
Kawakami - Braves
Roan - Giants
Ordonez - Tigers
Can you play Adrian Gonzalez and Lee at first at the same time?
...it should work out fine.
Send the San Diego Chicken........just the suit is fine.....you can have Mental Midget Milt
Per cubs.com, Aramis Ramirez has been scratched because of a sore left shoulder (the one he dislocated in May).
http://muskat.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/09/925_lineup_lee_ramirez.html
Fukudome, RF
Theriot, SS
Hoffpauir, 1B
Baker, 3B
Fontenot, 2B
Scales, LF
Hill, C
Fuld, CF
Zambrano, P
Reliever Kevin Gregg also is battling a sore left side, according to cubs. com.
Seems fair. :-)
Kevin Towers!!!!