Memo to the Cubs: You should have known better

3 years, $30 million. That's how much time and money the Chicago Cubs invested in outfielder Milton Bradley. They thought that Bradley was going to be the missing piece to the puzzle. Lou Piniella and the Cubs thought that all they needed was a left-handed run producer to stick in the middle of their lineup. With a lineup that had Derek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, and Milton Bradley in the heart of it, not to mention guys like Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome, the Cubs felt that they had an unbeatable lineup. This was going to be the Cubs year. They were going to be contenders, maybe even World Series contenders. Milton Bradley was the missing piece to the puzzle.

Or so they thought. Alfonso Soriano was downright horrible this season before finally getting shut down. Year two of the Kosuke Fukudome has proven that he is not a run producer or a difference maker in the Cubs lineup. Aramis Ramirez suffered a shoulder injury early in the season and missed a significant amount of time. Mike Fontenot, the guy who made it so easy for the Cubs to let go of Mark DeRosa, has had a sophomore slump season that would be noteworthy if not for Geovany Soto, who has one-upped him. And then there is Milton Bradley.

Milton Bradley's numbers this season: .257 BA 12 HR 40 RBI in 124 G. Not exactly the numbers that a middle of the order corner outfielder who is making $10 million a season should have, is it? And those are his final numbers this season after Cubs GM Jim Hendry suspended Bradley for the rest of the season for conduct detrimental to the team yesterday.

The Cubs should have seen this coming before they even signed Bradley. When the Cubs signed Bradley last spring, baseball experts greatly questioned the move. They pointed to the fact that Bradley had been on 8 teams in his 10 year career, a result of his negative clubhouse presence and many run-ins with management. How could Bradley and the fiery-tempered Lou Piniella possibly co-exist?

The answer: they couldn't. Bradley and Piniella had many issues throughout the season. Bradley often did not appear to be giving his best effort on the field. On more than one occasion he did not run out ground balls. He argued with umpires. He was not in the game mentally, as shown earlier in the season when he tossed a ball into the stands with only two outs in the inning.

There were signs that this was coming. In June Bradley was sent home for a day by Lou Piniella who said that he had had enough of his act. Bradley became more and more agitated with the Chicago media and the Cubs fans. Cubs fans booed Bradley constantly due to his poor play and even worse attitude. Then last week, after getting a basehit Bradley removed himself from the game. He did not call timeout and have the trainer and Piniella come out to see what was wrong with him. He just walked off the field without warning and went straight to the clubhouse without talking to anyone on the Cubs staff. After the game, the media wanted to know exactly what was going on with Bradley, not an unreasonable request for someone who left the game so mysteriously.

Bradley was extremely short tempered and refused to answer questions about his injury. He then removed himself from the lineup on Saturday and got into a confrontation with hitting coach Von Joshua. After one more rant against Cubs fans, the Cubs media, and the Cubs organization, Hendry made the only choice he felt he had and suspended Bradley for the rest of the season.

How the season ended for Bradley and the Cubs should not come as a shocker to the Cubs organization. Bradley has been a clubhouse cancer everywhere he has gone, the evidence of this is how many times he has bounced around. When a player with as much talent as Bradley has changes teams as many times as Bradley has, you have to start looking at the character of the individual in question.

Milton Bradley is baseball's version of Terrell Owens. His tremendous talent is overshadowed by his less than tremendous performance on the field and the fact that he leaves every clubhouse or locker room he has been in in shambles. And yet, because of their tremendous talent and the what they can theoretically do for the team on the field, these players continue to get chance after chance after chance. And when the team reaches its breaking point and dismisses these players because they are cancers, everyone is shocked that this could happen again.

Milton Bradley's suspension from the Cubs doesn't surprise me. When the Cubs let him go during the offseason and he signs with another team it won't surprise me either. Other GM's think that a similar situation can't possibly happen again and that the benefits of having a player like Bradley will outweigh the consequences. My prediction: Milton Bradley will be playing for yet another team in 2010. I will be extremely surprised if teams decide that Bradley has been given enough chances and do not go after him next year.

For the record: I hope I am surprised. Maybe then Bradley and other players like him will learn that tremendous talent does not let you do whatever you want and get away with it.

Move over Derek Jeter, this year belongs to Joe Mauer

So much has been said about the MVP race in the American League this year. Names have been thrown around left and right: Derek Jeter, Ichiro Suzuki, Joe Mauer, Mark Texeira, and so on. And while it looks like Albert Pujols and his 47 homeruns have pretty much locked up the National League MVP, the American League race seems much more wide open. There are so many players having outstanding years in the American League that it is hard to choose just one. However, that is what I am here to do.

Many people will tell you that the 2009 MVP award should go to the face of baseball's most prestigious franchise, the New York Yankees' Derek Jeter. Jeter would not be a bad choice either. His numbers this season warrant him to be in consideration: .332 BA, 17 HR 64 RBI .400 OBP 26 SB. He's done everything that the New York Yankees have needed him to do this year. He's a winner, the leader of the best team in baseball. And this should be his year because the 35 year old has never won the MVP before.

All of these things are very valid points. His numbers are very impressive. He always seems to come through when the Yankees need him. And it is true--he has never won the MVP award. The problem is, the MVP award is not a life time achievement award--that is what the Hall of Fame is for. There is no doubt that we will be seeing you in Cooperstown when you are done playing baseball Derek, but giving you the MVP award this year because you have never won one and are therefore somehow entitled to one is flat out wrong.

Remember Jeter's current 2009 numbers: .332 BA 17 HR 64 RBI .400 OBP 26 SB (warning: you will see these numbers again). They look very good, and the Yankees have the best record in the league. But are they MVP worthy? Compare those numbers with these numbers: .349 BA 24 HR 102 RBI .438 OBP 19 SB. That second set of numbers looks better than Jeter's of 2009, doesn' t it?

I can hear the arguments already: "Yeah but the 2009 season isn't over yet." And "yeah but Jeter is going to lead the Yankees to the World Series this year." And to that I tell you this: Derek Jeter will come nowhere close to that second set of numbers by the time the season ends this year, even if he has a monster last couple of weeks. And do you know who that second set of numbers belongs to? Derek Jeter, the 1999 version, in what was probably his best statistical year of his career, a year in which the Yankees swept the Atlanta Braves to win the World Series. Jeter did not win the MVP that year, Ivan Rodriguez did for the Texas Rangers. In fact, Jeter finished 6th in MVP voting that year. So if Jeter couldn't win the MVP in 1999 with better numbers and a World Series championship, exactly how is he going to win the award this year?

It can be argued that Jeter isn't even the MVP of his own team this year, much less the league. What about the addition of Mark Texeira to the middle of the lineup? What about the dominating performance we've seen from C.C. Sabathia virtually all season? What about the always consistent and never hittable Mariano Rivera at the end of games? Strong arguments can be made for any of those guys to be the MVP instead of Jeter.

The real of MVP of the American League this year has to Joe Mauer without question. His 2009 numbers as of today are: .374 BA 27 HR 87 RBI .441 OBP and a whopping 1.051 OPS (on base + slugging percentage). When you stack Jeter's .332 BA 17 HR 64 RBI .400 OBP up against Mauer's it is pretty much no contest. Mauer's numbers are better than Jeter's across the board. And let us not forget that he missed the entire month of April with an injury. Think about what kind of numbers he would have if he played all six months of the season and not just five. Mauer has always been a tremendous hitter but this year he has added power to his arsenal. Making Mauer's season even more remarkable is the fact that he plays the tolling position on the body: catcher.

I know that the Twins do not look like they will make the playoffs this year, while the Yankees appear to have their best shot at winning the World Series since their last title in 2000. I know that in the last 25 years there have only been 2 MVP winners from losing teams (Andre Dawson for the 1987 Cubs, Alex Rodriguez for the 2001 Rangers) but the red hot Twins do not look like they are out of the playoff race yet and Joe Mauer has just flat out outplayed everyone else, hands down.

MVP stands for Most Valuable Player and if you look at it from that standpoint, Mauer is the only choice here. If you take Derek Jeter out of the Yankees lineup they might lose a few more games, but with all the weapons in that lineup and in that pitching staff, the Yankees still make the playoffs without much trouble. If Joe Mauer is removed from the Twins lineup, the Twins are nowhere close to where they are today. I am sorry Derek Jeter, but 2009 has been Joe Mauer's year.

Welcome to Minnesota "Old" Brett Favre

After one week of the Brett Favre experiment in Minnesota, one thing is crystal clear: the Brett Favre of "old" is gone forever, only to be replaced by "Old" Brett Favre. The gunslinger who holds pretty much every major passing record in the game (including some not so great records like the one he has for most interceptions thrown) is a mere shell of his former self. Picture Robert Redford as the Sundance Kid in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Sundance was the ultimate gun fighter. No one could beat him on a draw. He could pick off people left and right. Now picture Sundance if he were alive today: old, maybe with one or two bullets left in the gun that he could use if he needed to, but with a greatly diminished skill set that makes it hard for him to ever use the bullets he has left. Welcome to old age Brett Favre.

The Vikings won their game on Sunday, beating the hapless Browns easily 34-20. And we saw the birth of Brett Favre: the roleplayer. Yes, Favre went 14-21 and threw one touchdown and no interceptions. His QB rating (a stat which no one on the face of the planet understands) was a solid 95.3. But a closer look at his statistics will reveal just 110 yards on those 14 completions. That's less than 8 yards a completion. In fact, his 110 yards were the fewest by any quarterback in week one that played the entire game (this excludes Donovan McNabb and Jake Delhomme).

Vikings fans and Brett Favre supporters will make this contention: the Vikings did not need Favre to do any more than he did on Sunday. They have this guy named Adrian Peterson, who is arguably the best running back in the game today. And Peterson ran through the Browns defense like it was swiss cheese to the tune of 25 carries for 180 yards and 3 touchdowns. And when you have Adrian Peterson in the backfield, you give him the ball and force opposing teams to stop him. And you laugh when you hand him the ball because you know that there probably is not a defense on the planet that can. I am of the personal opinion that the only person who can stop Adrian Peterson is Darrell Bevell, aka the Vikings offensive coordinator.

However, I cannot help but think that trouble is on the horizon for the Minnesota faithful. At some point during the season the Vikings are going to play a more talented defense than the one the Browns run out there. At some point during the season, a team is going to put 8 men in the box and find a way to contain the amazing Adrian Peterson. That team is going to hold up a sign that reads, "Alright Brett, go ahead and beat us."

Therein lies the problem in Minnesota. Can this Brett Favre, "Old" Brett Favre, put a team on his back and carry them to a victory? Can he make the throws at this point in his career to make teams think twice about putting 8 men in the box to stop the run? Can "Old" Brett Favre step up in that game where Peterson does not have his best stuff and lead his team to victory by throwing for over 300 yards and 3 touchdowns?

Prediction: The Vikings will win as many games as Adrian Peterson's legs can get them. And they will struggle in the games where Brett Favre has to be a difference maker. The games that he has to do more than just physically show up will be the hardest games of the year for the Vikings. "Old" Brett Favre, do you have enough bullets left to carry the Vikings to the Super Bowl, or will Vikings fans be disappointed once again?

Now unranked Notre Dame shows how to lose games that you should not lose

If any sports fan wonders how a team can lose a game that they have no business losing, look no further than South Bend, Indiana where the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were giving the rest of college football a crash course.

On paper, there should have been no thinkable way for the Irish to lose their game against Michigan. They came into the game ranked #18, while Michigan was unranked. The Irish are coming off a season where they won their first bowl game since 1993. Granted, it was only the Hawaii Bowl, but when you haven't won a bowl game in 15 years, a win is a win. In contrast, the Wolverines were coming off a miserable season in which they went just 3-9.

If we look at the two teams from a player standpoint, Notre Dame wins this game easily. Notre Dame has Jimmy Clausen at quarterback. Clausen, a junior in his third year starting for the Irish, is thought of as one of the best quarterbacks in the country, and there are rumors that he could enter the NFL Draft after this year if he performs up to expectations. On the other sideline, Michigan has unproven freshman quarterback Tate Forcier as their starter. Advantage: Notre Dame

The announcers for this game constantly mentioned how Notre Dame's offensive line was much bigger and stronger than Michigan's front seven. They mentioned how wide receivers Michael Floyd and Golden Tate could do anything they wanted to against Michigan's embattled secondary. They told us what we could see on the television. Every time Notre Dame wanted to move the ball down the field they could and did, and Michigan did not have an answer defensively.

Throughout the game Notre Dame proved to us these very points. Down 14-3 early, Notre Dame scored the next 17 points to take the lead 20-14. Then, down 31-20 in the 4th quarter, Notre Dame rallied one more time to take the lead 34-31 with just over 2 minutes left in the game. These facts should be comforting to the Irish faithful. They fought back twice from 11 down to take the lead, something that Irish teams from years gone by would never have done. And yet, they found a way to lose the game.

How they lost that game was the worst way to lose a game. I've been in my share of locker rooms and I can tell you for a fact that losing a game the way Notre Dame lost frustrates you so much more than losing to a better team by a ton of points. You don't want to lose those games either, but if you go out and get dominated in all facets of the game by a team who is bigger, stronger, faster, and all around better than you are, all you can do is tip your cap to them and realize that you got beaten by a better team.

The problem for Notre Dame is that they were the better team for all the reasons I mentioned above. Losing to Michigan on Saturday was nothing short of inexcusable. I do not want to take anything away from Michigan here. They played a great game. Tate Forcier stepped up in a big game, just his second game at the collegiate level, and opened a lot of people's eyes. He showed everyone that he is the future of Michigan football. And at the end of the game, with the clock running down, they came together as a team and won the football game. They were rewarded for winning this game by getting themselves into the top 25.

But I want to make one thing absolutely clear: Michigan did not beat Notre Dame as much as Notre Dame beat themselves. You can go back to the very opening drive of the game. Notre Dame marches down the field. Michigan's defense keeps them out of the end zone, which leaves the Irish with a 28 yard field goal attempt. High school kickers can make field goals from 28 yards out. Chris Mahoski, the kicker on our state championship winning high school team in 2004, would have made that kick. In big games against your rival it is important not to give points away. The Irish could have scored 7 on that opening drive, or at the very least 3, but instead walk off the field with no points.

Scoring first, having that momentum on your side is big in games like this one, and instead of Notre Dame scoring first, Michigan scored first. And then when Notre Dame got a field goal to make it 7-3, the best kickoff coverage team in the nation in 2008 gave up a touchdown on the following kickoff. Michigan 14 Notre Dame 3.

These were not the only incidents where Notre Dame blew opportunities to put more points on the board than they ultimately did. Armando Allen caught a screen pass in the 2nd quarter and took it all the way for a touchdown--except that he stepped out of bounds before getting there. Instead of 7 points, the Irish have to settle for a field goal.

In tennis there is a statistic called "unforced errors." Logic would tell you that the player with the least unforced errors typically wins the match. The same thing happened during this game. The lone touchdown of the third quarter was scored by Michigan and caused by an Irish fumble in the backfield, giving Michigan excellent field position. It is hard to win if you turn the ball over.

Perhaps the biggest error the Irish made was in all of the penalties they accumulated. Notre Dame was penalized 9 times for 75 yards. Charlie Weis said at halftime that all the penalties were really hurting the team but it did not stop them from committing costly ones in the second half. One of them was a 72 yard pass play that was called back because of holding. It is hard to win when you commit that many penalties.

Lastly, it looks like Charlie Weis himself did them in. His play calling on the final Irish possession was questionable at best. You have the ball and the lead late in the game---time to run the clock out. But that's not how Charlie was going to play it. After running the ball once, he called two pass plays, that both ended up incomplete, allowing Michigan to save its final 2 timeouts and stopping the clock at the same time. Looks like those timeouts came in handy when Michigan scored the game winning touchdown with 11 seconds remaining.

There is an old adage in sports that says that good teams find a way to win games that they shouldn't and bad teams find a way to lose games that they shouldn't. On Saturday, Notre Dame proved that while they might be better than they have been, they still have a long way to go to become a good team.