Silva Leaves, Much the Same as Milton Bradley

Carlos Silva's brief tenure as a member of the Chicago Cubs ended today when the veteran pitcher was released after he failed to make the 25 man roster and refused an assignment to Triple-A Iowa, stating that he did not want to be kept around simply for insurance purposes.

On his way out of town, Milton Bradley Silva took some parting shots at the Cubs brass. Specifically, he did not like the way that new pitching coach Mark Riggins went about telling Silva there was not a spot for him on the pitching staff, stating that Riggins has to realize that he is in the major leagues now.

Cubs GM Jim Hendry retorted this morning with remarks that were similar to ones he directed at Milton Bradley after the beleaguered outfielder and the Cubs parted ways:

"Obviously, we're dealing with a man that at this particular point in his career is not willing to face the facts that what he's done the last years -- except for a two-month period -- is well below Major League standards.

"He seems to make a continual [habit] of blaming everybody but himself,".

What this means: Andrew Cashner will be the cubs 5th starter despite failing to make it past four innings in any of his starts this spring. Marcos Mateo will be the last man to make the bullpen. Mateo appeared in 21 games for the Cubs last season.

Most importantly, this roster move shows that the Cubs will play players based on their baseball abilities, not on their contracts. Carlos Silva's salary for this season was $11.5 million ($3.5 payed by Seattle) and they are completely walking away from him. This means that players like Darwin Barney and Tyler Colvin should get opportunities should higher paid players like Kosuke Fukudome falter.