Carlos Silva was also a troubled guy in Seattle, and he was also a massive underachiever - dramatically worse in that latter regard than was Bradley in Chicago. So you’d think that, when the Seattle media discusses Silva, they’d mention something about his two years in Seattle.

Um, nope.

Carlos Silva is telling everyone - including his mother - that he is back to being an effective major-league pitcher.

“I talk to my mother before and after (every) game, and the message I sent to her said: ‘The way that I feel today, I don’t feel for a long, long time. Today, I feel like it was me,’ ” said Silva, whose four shutout innings Tuesday led the Chicago Cubs to a 4-1 victory over the Texas Rangers.

When the Cubs wanted to send Milton Bradley to Seattle, Silva was the high-priced underachiever the Mariners insisted Chicago take in the deal.

The Cubs hoped he’d pitch as he did during his four seasons in Minnesota and not his two years in Seattle - where at 5-18 with a 7.01 ERA, Silva was one of the worst starters in baseball.

After getting pounded in his first spring outing, he has pitched seven straight scoreless innings. Silva, who has two years and $25 million left on his contract, was especially strong Tuesday, limiting Texas to two hits and striking out three.

“You can’t throw the ball better than he did today,” manager Lou Piniella said. “Boy, he made it look relatively easy.”

Now Silva is closing in on a spot in the Cubs’ rotation.

“I’m very competitive. I want to make the rotation. But the only thing I want to do is help this team,” Silva said. “Deep inside, I want to say I feel good about the way I pitch.” Seattle Times.

That’s actually just a nice article. Sure, they mention that he was an “high-priced underachiever,” but the overall tone is not one of oh-God-these-Chicag0-people-think-Silva-might-not-suck-just-watch-out, which you might expect based on how the Chicago media speaks of Bradley.

And that includes Bleacher Nation.

So, is Seattle just a better place? Are they just nicer there? Shrug. I’m inclined to think the Chicago experience with Bradley was worse than the Seattle experience with Silva, but maybe that’s just self-absorption (an ironic, self-loathing kind of self-absorption). One thing is for sure: if Bradley finds success in Seattle, the stream of articles inserting pokes about his reign of terror in Chicago will be unending.

If Silva finds success in Chicago? I guess those articles will be harder to find.

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If all goes well on Thursday, Lilly will next throw a simulated game — or “assimilated game,” as Piniella calls it — then start in a Cactus League game. Lilly will stay back in Arizona when the big league team breaks camp to get more work in.

“Larry [Rothschild, pitching coach] seems to think three starts will be enough,” Piniella said. “That’s why we’re optimistic.”

If the lefty does that, he could be in the Cubs’ rotation by mid to late April. cubs.com.

The three starts to which Lou was referring, if you’re doing the math, is one Cactus League start, and then two rehab starts - which would be the two starts he would miss with the big league club.

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• Carlos Silva. Man… the guy had a great outing. There’s no getting around it, much like there is no getting around him in the hot dog line. He three four scoreless innings, walking none, striking out three, and giving up just two hits. And from reports, he looked good. We all already knew that, for non-baseball reasons, the Cubs were going to be inclined to give Carlos Silva the fifth starter spot, and if he has another outing like this one, he’ll get it. It’s worth noting that the Rangers lineup was missing some regulars. But whateves. At present, Sean Marshall would be the favorite to be the two-week fill-in starter for Ted Lilly, and Carlos Silva would be the favorite to stay in the rotation when Lilly returns.
• Speaking of Marshall, no he didn’t throw in this one, but James Russell did. And he was dominant - again. The kid has not given up a run yet this Spring, and he has struck out seven in 5.2 innings. Thing is, like Marshall, Russell is a lefty. So is Tom Gorzelanny, and so is John Grabow. Those are all heavily-favored bullpen candidates at this point. Would the Cubs really consider having four of their seven relievers (and Lou has even hinted at carrying just six relievers) as lefties? I highly doubt it, but Russell might force the Cubs’ hand. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see a trade come down the pipeline.
• Chad Tracy (playing third), Mike Fontenot (playing second and short), and Micah Hoffpauir (playing first) all went hitless in this one. Most of the offense came from DH Xavier Nady, but he’s not in a battle, so we don’t care.

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Theriot batted .283 in 42 games in the leadoff spot last season when he took over for Alfonso Soriano, who was dropped to sixth. The Cubs, who used six leadoff men last season, began camp wanting to look at both Theriot and Fukudome there.

“I’m just glad he has the confidence in me to stick me up there,” Theriot said after Monday’s 5-2 loss to the Rockies. “I feel comfortable at the top of the order — one, two. One’s good, two’s good. Honestly, just as long as I’m in the lineup. I cannot get [Piniella] to let me hit fourth or fifth. I’m working on that, so we’ll see.” cubs.com.

Even though Kosuke Fukudome hits much better against righties than Theriot, and even though the case for a leadoff platoon has never been stronger, I can’t say I’m terribly angry about this decision. Having Theriot in the one-hole allows him to be the best kind of hitter he can be - i.e., a guy that works counts and tries to get on base. Theriot struggled when Piniella told him to start swinging hard. Presumably, as the permanent lead0ff hitter, Theriot will understand his role.

Further, the only real difference between the number one and number two hitters is a tiny amount of extra at bats over the course of the season. Fukudome’s goal will still generally be to get on base and see pitches.

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Finally, though, he’ll soon be ready to face live hitting. Whether that is in batting practice or in a Spring Training game, however, is unclear.

Relief pitcher Jeff Gray should face live hitting some time by the end of this week, according to Piniella. The former Oakland Athletics pitcher strained a groin two weeks before spring training began on Feb. 17. ESPN Chicago.

Gray, 28, was fairly good in 26 innings last year for the A’s, but that was his first meaningful taste of big league action. Thus, the presumption that he’d automatically be a member of the pen may not be appropriate. Even with Angel Guzman out, Gray is going to have to demonstrate effectiveness before he’ll be handed a spot in the pen.

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“We want to keep him under the radar gun and not talk much about it,” Piniella said of Lilly’s progress. “He’s coming along really well. He’s had no setbacks whatsoever. He’s actually ahead of schedule.

“We feel pretty good about the possibility of him pitching some Spring Training [games].”

Lilly did not face hitters on Saturday. He had said he was going to throw a live batting-practice session this weekend. The lefty, who was projected to be ready in mid-April or May 1, has made up for the time he missed because of a virus.

“He’s ahead of schedule, that I can tell you,” Piniella said. “I haven’t talked much about him because I don’t want him to push him too fast.”

The Cubs have two vacancies in the rotation and are still sorting out the candidates. Piniella has hinted they would have a decision made around March 22.

“Let’s just see everybody around one more time,” Piniella said. “Let’s not rush.” cubs.com.

Taking it easy with Lilly is obviously the right approach - it’s a long season. But that said, the difference between a rotation with a healthy Lilly and without is tremendous. If he’s able to get back having missed only a couple starts instead of four or five, the Cubs will be much better off for it.

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• Rule Five pick Mike Parisi had his first really bad outing of the Spring, giving up three runs, two earned, in one and two thirds innings. Other bullpen competitors John Gaub and Justin Berg had relatively nondescript turns - Gaub went 1.1, giving up one run and striking out two, while Berg threw one scoreless, hitless, walkless, strikeoutless inning.
• Jeff Baker, who is seeing increasingly few innings at second base, played third and didn’t notch a hit. Lou Piniella was already leading toward using Mike Fontenot as his primary second baseman, and Baker has done nothing to change Piniella’s mind.
• Micah Hoffpauir went hitless splitting time between right field and first base, and his chances of making the team are approximately nil at this point.
• Tyler Colvin, on the other hand, just continues to rake, with two more hits, this time playing left field. The question is now becoming whether having Colvin on the Cubs bench could hinder any future development - a question that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago.

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But maybe the Cubs can pick up a guy who’s got an outrageous contract, making the deal slightly more palatable. Maybe it could be someone who is loved by Cubs fans.

Kerry Wood, RHP, Indians — He would make a lot of sense for the Twins, as closer Joe Nathan will likely undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery. Wood makes $10.5 million, and with Minnesota’s budget stretched to $96 million and change — highest in team history — the Indians would have to pick up a good slab of it. The Twins are considering in-house candidates, but don’t be surprised if they look around. Wood also is drawing interest from his former team, the Cubs. The Boston Globe.

It is, of course, unclear why the Boston Globe would have unique visibility to the Chicago Cubs’ reliever desires, and this report also ignores recent statements by both Jim Hendry and Tom Ricketts that the Cubs’ payroll is maxed out.

But if they could swing a deal where they only pick up a few million of Wood’s deal? Maybe they’d consider it. Wood, as you know, spent his entire career in Chicago before leaving via free agency last year to Cleveland. Last year was arguably the worst of his career, and assuredly the worst since he became a reliever - he had a 4.25 ERA, a 1.382 WHIP, and converted just 20 of 26 save opportunities.

Still, he’d look pretty great back in a Cub uniform.

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So Guzman is going for a second opinion from the guy who apparently knows everything about sports-related surgery.

Angel Guzman [left yesterday] for Alabama, where he’s scheduled to meet with noted sports surgeon James Andrews on Monday to discuss his shoulder injury and treatment options.

Guzman still is leaning toward having career-threatening surgery but is trying to keep an open mind.

”I just want to see him Monday and talk to him and think about it,” Guzman said.

Guzman, the Cubs’ top reliever last season, was sidelined the last two weeks because of related problems with the shoulder. He entered camp coming off minor knee surgery but otherwise seemed healthy until two setbacks with the shoulder and an MRI exam that revealed a significant tear. CHICAGO SUN-TIMES.

If Guzman opts for surgery, you’ve got to believe he’ll miss the rest of the season and will be non-tendered by the Cubs. Perhaps he will come back to rehab, but another team may be more willing to pony up on such a risky property. The surgery decision could very well be the moment we look back on, and realize that’s when Angel Guzman left the Cubs.

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The Post has learned Adeinis Hechavarria is going to get more money than the $8 million Jose Iglesias Iglesias got from the Red Sox.

However, it won’t be from the Yankees. And it has nothing to do with the Yankees not wanting to spend the money on the Cuban refugee shortstop.

According to an industry source Hechavarria is close to signing a $10 million deal with the Blue Jays because he didn’t envision himself playing short for the Yankees.

Hechavarria, 21, was leery of Derek Jeter’s impending extension that will keep him at short for the foreseeable future.

Having seen Hechavarria work out often in the Dominican Republic, the Yankees were high on the 6-foot-1, 170-pounder with a body that resembled a young Alfonso Soriano. NYPOST.com.

Alfonso Soriano? Oh, well, in that case, we don’t want him. Kidding, of course.

The Cubs’ interest was always a bit perplexing given the expect cost, and the fact that Hechevarria and Starlin Castro sound like they are both equally good at short and equally ready to play in the bigs.

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