Trades In Haiku: Milton Bradley Is Gone!

Finally, Milton Bradley is flying away from Wrigley Field

A Chanukah gift?
Perhaps it's a miracle
Milton Bradley's gone

Last week I posted my request for some Chanukah miracles, and now one has actually happened! Sort of. It's not much of a miracle when we pick up a crappy pitcher with his own huge contract. But the good news is, Milton Bradley is gone.

Now we've got Silva
One of baseball's worst pitchers
Who's owed lots of dough

Carlos Silva stinks it up at the World Baseball Classic - this picture was taken after he gave up 5 runs in the first inning pitching for Venezuela against Korea.

Al Yellon at Bleed Cubbie Blue, while trying to be hopeful that the trade will work out for the Cubs, calls Silva "one of the worst pitchers in baseball the last two years ... the Cubs won't get any decent production out of him." Plus, Silva's contract is even richer than Bradley's. Bradley is owed about $23 million for the last two years of his contract. Silva is owed about $25 million for the last two years of his.

But wait - there's some cash
The Cubs will get nine million
To help ease the pain

It's reported that the Mariners will give the Cubs about $9 million to take Silva off their hands, so that means we're about $7 million ahead on the deal. Maybe Ricketts can use those funds to find an outfielder.

I was one of those
Who wanted Milt to leave town
But this could be worse

My initial reaction was that this had to be good - the alleged "cancer" gone from the clubhouse. But as Justin Bridgman at Talking Chicago Baseball suggests, "Every single game Silva pitches is more or less a loss, and if one more Cubs pitcher gets injured Silva, Tom Gorzelanny, and Jeff Samardzija will be the majority of our starting rotation. Bad, bad, bad."

So this much is clear
Even with Carlos Silva
We need more pitching

At this point, I'm going to remain optimistic. I'm going to hope that Jim Hendry makes some decent moves during the rest of the off-season. Of course, if we remember back to last winter there is no good reason for holding out such hope. But for Cubs fans, forgetting the past is necessary if we are to avoid going crazy.

A short memory
Is something all Cubs fans need
Just to remain sane

So let's stay patient
For no good reason at all
Except, we're Cubs fans

Posted By: Ed Nickow
Original Post : http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-sports-in-haiku/2009/12/trades-in-haiku-milton-bradley-is-gone.html