Talk About Desperation!

The Cubs finally moved Milton Bradley.  All they had to do was take Carlos Silva, and possibly the worst contract in baseball, off the Mariners’ hands.

Since signing his 4-year $48 million dollar contract (and a lot of us thought it was an awful deal the moment it was announced), Carlos has had two seasons stupendous in their ineptitude.

In 2008, Silva went 4-15 with 6.46 ERA.  In 2009, Carlos missed the better part of the season with a shoulder injury, but still managed to hang on long enough to post an 8.60 ERA in eight appearances, including six starts.  By comparison, the Giants have gotten Cy Young performances from Barry Zito for their $18 million per.

Depending on who you listen to, Silva has either $24 million or $25 million coming to him in 2010 and 2011.  Miltie has $21 million coming to him.  The Mariners threw $6 million into the deal, which was obviously just enough sugar to enable the Cubbies to swallow a bitter, bitter pill.

After all the invective above, Silva could be an effective pitcher for the Cubs in 2010 and 2011.  At least it’s within the realm of possibility, so long as his arm is right again.

Silva is an extreme control pitcher, and Wrigley isn’t a terrible park for control pitchers.  If Silva is healthy and can keep his ERA right around 5.00, he could be a useful fourth or fifth starter for the Cubs the next two seasons.  Granted, that’s a big if.

Meanwhile, the Mariners get Miltie and all that he brings to the table.  I can see what the Mariners are thinking.  They realize they don’t play in a market big enough to compete with the Angels in terms of spending to acquire talent.  They have made big lay-outs to sign Chone Figgins and to acquire Cliff Lee (for one year only), so they are thinking about going balls-out to win in 2010.

Miltie gives them a potentially big bat for a small price (at least if you consider the $25 million going to Silva the next two seasons as money already pissed down a rat-hole).  They will attempt to live with the head-aches Miltie inevitably causes in the hopes that he’ll have one more big year.

The Mariners decided to bring Junior Griffey back for one more year in large part because they appreciated what he did for their clubhouse in 2009.  This will be the real test for the Ken Griffey, Jr. legend.  If he can keep Miltie in line (and Miltie’s healthy enough to help the M’s with his bat — again, always a big if), the Mariners could make a real run in 2010.

All that being said, I still wouldn’t want Miltie on my team.  He’s a cancer, pure and simple, and thinking he will behave (or is even capable of behaving) himself for two years in a row is a fool’s bet.

The Mariners are taking what they see as a calculated risk, and it’s a risk, no doubt about it.