When Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry set out to trade suspended outfield pariah Milton Bradley this off-season, he must have known he had relatively little chance of obtaining much in return. Bradley was ready to depart his seventh team in ten big-league seasons, and all but one of the divorces had been messy affairs.
Considering his predicament, then, Hendry could have done worse than he did. Chicago acquired pitcher Carlos Silva, a contractual pariah with the Seattle Mariners, and saved money in doing so.
But what to expect of Silva in 2010? Not much, by most estimates. The hefty right-handed hurler will turn 31 in April and is coming off two consecutive miserable seasons in Seattle.
Silva relies on control and ground balls to succeed, a good formula for many pitchers. Unlike those who succeed tremendously on that program, however, Silva has never shown the ability to get a strikeout at key moments. For his career, he has struck out only 3.78 men per nine innings. Therefore, he needs solid defense and razor-sharp command to have consistent success.
It also might not hurt for Silva, who has relied heavily on a change-up over the past few years, to mix the effective curveball he used to throw back into his pitch selection. He essentially eliminated it after 2006, according to FanGraphs, but hasn't found much success with the replacement change-of-pace.
Even if Silva finds the elixir that will fix whatever is broken, he has only a marginal chance of winning a meaningful job with the Cubs. Chicago's pitching staff is talented from top to bottom, and Silva will likely man the bullpen as a long reliever and mop-up man for most of the year. Here are the numbers I project for him in 2010:
- 8 starts, 26 appearances in relief
- 83 2/3 innings
- 44 strikeouts
- 16 walks
- 1.41 WHIP
- 4.04 ERA
- 4.33 FIP
Silva will not be a key cog, but he can contribute if Larry Rothschild and the Cubs' coaching staff are able to find and eliminate the source of his recent struggles. For the sake of their long-suffering fans, however, the Cubs must hope that they will not find themselves counting on such a rebound.
Watch for the rest of my 2010 Cubs profiles, which I'll continue to do throughout the rest of the offseason.
Here is a selection of those already done, and a few on the way soon.
Andres Blanco
Koyie Hill
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