Should the Cubs Cut Milton Bradley?

Should the Cubs cut Milton Bradley and eat the remaining $21 million owed on the three-year contract he signed before the 2009 season began?

Chicago Tribune columnist Phil Rogers thinks so.  The final straw for Rogers was Miltie’s recent statement that he hopes Cubs’ games only run nine innings so he can get home sooner.

The Cubs are now nine games back (seven back in the loss column) in the NL Central and 7.5 games back (six back in the loss column) for the wildcard behind four other teams.  It will take a miracle for the Cubs to make the post-season this year, so the Cubs don’t really need to make a decision either way until the end of the season.

My feeling is that the Cubs should hold their noses and hold onto Miltie until the end of the season.  Then, they should try to trade him, even if they have to assume almost all of his remaining contract and they get little more than a box of crackerjack in return.

2009 is pretty much a lost cause, so there is no reason not to hold onto Miltie long enough to see if they can get anything more for him than they’d get by releasing him and hoping another team signs him for the major league minimum.

I’ll say this much, however.  No matter what, the Cubs are making a huge mistake if Miltie is still with the Cubs come the opening of Spring Training next year.  If they can’t get anything for him by March 1, 2010, dump his sorry ass and move on.