Manager Lou Piniella reiterated yesterday that the injury wasn’t serious, calling it “just a bone bruise.” Piniella said that Lee will not be taking Monday’s trip to Tucson to play the Rockies - though many players try to figure out ways to avoid the two-plus hour bus trip, so the fact that Lee is not going is not any additional reason for concern.

The Cubs expect Lee to get back into game action by mid-week.

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We did not report this, because we knew it was bunk. The “Cubs Tax” was never up to the Cubs - it was a decision by local and state legislators in Arizona. It’s up to them to determine how they want to finance the facilities for the Cubs. It was never up to the Cubs.

“The Cubs support the efforts of the legislators to find a solution that will be satisfactory to everyone,” Kenney said in the statement. ”As far as the Cubs are concerned, all financing options are still on the table.”

Earlier in the day, Kenney told reporters the surcharge was not needed by the Cubs to help fund the new complex.

“The plan for our facility can be managed through the Mesa property tax referendum, that will happen in November, and the (1 percent extra) car rental tax,” Kenney said. “The ticket tax is not needed for what we’re building.”

All of the other 14 Cactus League teams and commissioner Bud Selig have opposed to ticket surcharge, feeling their fans are subsidizing the Cubs in their new venture. Chicago Breaking Sports.

All Kenney was saying - why he was saying, I don’t know - was that the Cubs do not necessarily need the ticket surcharge in order to stay in Arizona. The facilities could be financed any number of ways, and the Cubs presumably don’t give a poop where that financing comes from.

End of non-story.

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• For the second straight day, Mike Fontenot played second base and Jeff Baker played third base. Telling? Not necessarily, but interesting nevertheless. Fontenot went 0-2 while Baker had a double in two at bats, driving in two.
• Just as I said that Bryan LaHair was doing nothing to make the team, he has a homer and a double, driving in three against the Reds.
• Chad Tracy split time between first and third against the Reds, and had a single.
• Sean Marshall had another good outing in his quest to make the rotation. He threw three innings against the Reds, giving up two hits, one of which was a solo home run, and struck out two.
• A long list of would-be relievers threw a scoreless inning against the Reds and Sox: John Gaub, Justin Berg (well, one un-earned run), Jeff Stevens and Esmailin Caridad. Lou Piniella has said that Caridad is pretty much set with a spot in the pen, but I’d like to voice a concern - he keeps pitching at the end of Spring Training games. It seems like he’s literally always pitching the 9th inning, and in Spring Training, that means you’re almost always facing scrubs. Just a concern.
• Speaking of relievers, Rule Five pick Mike Parisi is clearly being given a shot as a reliever, not a starter. And he’s making the most of it. He threw two scoreless innings against the Reds without giving up a base-runner. His Spring ERA now stands at 1.80.

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Ramirez left after the top half of the third inning. He missed two months of the 2009 season after dislocating his left shoulder diving for a ball.

“There’s nothing wrong there,” manager Lou Piniella said. “He’ll be ready to go in a couple days, probably after (Monday’s game in) Tucson. He wasn’t going to Tucson anyways.” Chicago Breaking Sports.

We’ll keep an eye on things, but as long as the words “shoulder” and “death” aren’t used, I’ll sleep.

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• Jeff Samardzija, hoping to claim one of the two open rotation spots, started against the Brewers and was blasted for four earned runs on five hits and a walk in two innings.
• James Russell continued his scoreless pitching streak, throwing one and two thirds without giving up a run - though he did allow a couple of hits and a walk. If he keeps performing, he’s really going to make things tough on Lou Piniella, given that there are already three lefties presumed to making the bullpen/back-end of the rotation (Grabow, Marshall, Gorzelanny).
• Speaking of Tom Gorzelanny, he started against the White Sox, and gave up one earned run in three innings, while striking out four. He didn’t give up a hit, but walked three.
• Thomas Diamond, who has an outside shot to make the club, threw a couple of scoreless innings with a walk and a strikeout.
• On the offensive side, Bryan LaHair’s chances of making the bench are diminishing after another 0-fer performance. He’s hitting under .200 on the Spring.
• Tyler Colvin, on the other hands, continues to hit. He played center field against the Brewers, and had a couple of hits, including an RBI triple. Sam Fuld, Colvin’s presumptive competition, went 0-5 while playing left field against the Sox.
• Kevin Millar played first base against the Sox, and went hitless with a couple of walks. Micah Hoffpauir got a little action late at the same spot, and didn’t knotch a hit. He’s hitting under .100 on the Spring.
• Both Mike Fontenot and Jeff Baker played against the Sox, Fontenot at second and Baker at third, and Fontenot went off for three hits and an RBI. Baker had one hit and an RBI.

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The Cubs do need five starters when they open the season. Sometimes with off days, a team can get by with four. The way it’s projected, the Cubs’ fifth starter would make four starts in April.

“I asked [Larry Rothchild] if we could get by with 11 pitchers in the month of April,” Piniella said. “I haven’t heard a positive response on that one yet.” Muskat Ramblings.

We’ve all been assuming - and that includes General Manager Jim Hendry, who stated as much last week - that the Cubs could go with four starting pitchers for the first few weeks of the season, thus mitigating the loss of Ted Lilly somewhat. But if the Cubs actually have to go with five starters from day one, let’s hope two of the competing guys really step up. Upon review of the schedule, I see one spot where the Cubs could skip the fifth starter, but that’s it. Usually the early-season schedule is more kind.

To the latter point, Lou is clearly concerned about the Cubs’ bench. If the Cubs - like most teams - can go with just 11 pitchers, they will be able to carry an extra player on the bench, which would likely be a defensive-minded infielder (Andres Blanco?) or an extra outfielder since Xavier Nady can’t yet play out there (Tyler Colvin?).

It would be nice to have the extra player on the bench. Thing is, with the back-end of the rotation in shambles in April, I have hard time believing the Cubs aren’t going to want to carry as many relievers as possible.

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The left-hander, coming off arthroscopic surgery in November, will have another throwing session Saturday and was expected to throw 40 pitches. He’s still hopeful to get into a Cactus League game.

“I think he’ll surprise people with how well he does,” Ryan Dempster said of Lilly. “If he had his way, he’d probably pitch tomorrow.” Muskat Ramblings.

Obviously it would be a great sign if he made it into a Spring Training game, but temper those expectations even if he does - he’s still going to start the year in recovery mode.

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• Sound the freaking alarm because we’re all screwed. Carlos Silva threw three scoreless innings, and we’re already being told about how much better he feels, how he’s got a new delivery, and so on. Never mind the fact that he gave up four hits and a walk in those three innings - five base runners in three innings is bad, for those who aren’t hip on WHIP - he’s getting paid like whoa, and he’s going to make this team.
• The other pitchers competing for spots struggled as well, but didn’t give up many earned runs thanks to a cavalcade of errors from the infielders. Esmailin Caridad, trying to nail down the 8th inning role vacated by Angel Guzman, gave up 3 runs in just over an inning, but none were earned. Jeff Stevens gave up three runs, none earned, in just two thirds of an inning.
• Tyler Colvin continues to rake, this time playing right field, but Sam Fuld reminded everyone why he’s the presumptive favorite to land the other outfield bench spot (beside Xavier Nady) with a spectacular leaping catch in center field. At the plate, though, he went 1-4 with three strike outs.
• You haven’t heard much about Kevin Millar in this space because, well, he hasn’t done much. He played some first base and went hitless with a walk. Huzzah chemistry!
• OMG OMG OMG! Starlin Castro hit a home run! He’s the next A-Rod!
• Chad Tracy, playing third base again, went 1-3.

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Chicago sucks.

Cubs fans are racist.

I’m going to rise above it all and dominate this year.

We’d heard it all before, and with growing antipathy for the whole Milton Bradley saga, most of us who write about the Cubs were content to let it go. It was actually great to watch - the interview was released late on Monday, and for more than 24 hours, there was not so much as a peep about it in the Chicago main stream media. Finally, we’d been released from the curse of Bradley.

But it turns out, they were all just waiting to get the Cubs’ reaction - and when it came yesterday from general manager Jim Hendry, they all blew their collective wad penning stories about “looking in the mirror,” and “Bradley stinking.”

And they completely missed the story.

When Hendry was prompted to respond to the allegations by Bradley - allegations we’ve all heard before - Hendry took the opportunity to do something he should have done long ago: he laid the wood to Bradley.

“That’s absolutely ridiculous,” Hendry said of the claims. “That couldn’t be farther from the truth. I think it’s time maybe Milton looks himself in the mirror.”

Boom. Yes. Well done, Jim. But… he didn’t stop there.

“It is what it is,” Hendry continued. “He just didn’t swing the bat and didn’t get the job done. His production, or lack of, was the only negative.”

Um, what? Milton Bradley’s lack of production was the only negative? Is Hendry suggesting - or is he just forgetful - that Bradley’s once-in-a-league bad attitude, and terrible relationship with teammates and manager and fans had nothing to do with the Cubs trading him?

That would, of course, be ridiculous. As we all know, and heard for weeks, the reason the Cubs had to dump Bradley was because he had burned the bridge. In September, Bradley made abominable comments about the fans, about his teammates, and about the reason the Cubs haven’t won for so long, and he was suspended for the rest of the season.

But again, Hendry explained that the reason for the move was Bradley’s performance:

“It’s really unfortunate you get to that situation where you deflect the lack of production in the year you’re here and try to use other things as excuses,” Hendry said.

There are no two ways about it: Jim Hendry is now saying that Milton Bradley was traded because of his lack of production in 2009.

So what is this all about? Dumping Bradley because he is a terrible teammate, a distraction, and a headcase are all fine reasons to have to move Bradley. Why didn’t Hendry just say that? Sure, he has to be diplomatic, but there are ways to say all of that without, you know, actually saying it. There is no need for Hendry to concoct performance as a reason for moving Bradley - he can just say, as he did a few months ago, that Bradley was a distraction who’d made it impossible to keep him on the team.

Why is Hendry now exclusively saying that Bradley was traded because of his “lack of production”?

Simple. It’s all about Jim Hendry’s legacy.

You see, when Hendry chose to sign Milton Bradley over Raul Ibanez, Adam Dunn and Bobby Abreu - all of whom had successful 2009 seasons - he did so knowing full well that Bradley had been with five teams in six seasons, had a reputation of being a distraction and terrible teammate, and had an inherent risk of self-destruction. If Jim Hendry admits that the reason he had to dump Bradley for Carlos Silva is because Bradley was a distraction and a headcase, well then Jim Hendry is admitting that he made a mistake that anyone and everyone could have foreseen.

Instead, if Hendry claims that Bradley had to be moved because he didn’t perform, then Hendry is off the hook. After all, if there’s one thing Bradley has always done, it was perform. “How could I have foreseen that he would be so bad on the field?” Hendry can safely say. He can admit, as he has, that signing Bradley was a mistake - but it wasn’t such an obvious mistake that Hendry’s neck should be on the line. Hendry is revising history to save himself.

Even setting aside the fact that we all know the real reason Bradley was dumped, the performance-based excuse doesn’t hold water. Is Jim Hendry truly expecting us to believe that, when he signs a guy for 3 years and big money, if that guy misses his career OPS by just 46 points (and actually bests his career OBP), he absolutely has to be dumped, cost be damned? I have to tell you, Jim, that position doesn’t reflect too well on you either.

Not only is it unbelievable on its face, it runs counter to Hendry’s prior history with the Cubs. In 2002, the Cubs were looking for a big bat to take a spot in the outfield with Sammy Sosa, and provide Sosa with protection in the lineup. The free agent to have that year was Moises Alou, and the Cubs signed him for three years and big money. Jim Hendry took over as the Cubs’ general manager that year, and watched as Alou struggled through the worst season of his career. He was a tremendous disappointment, and didn’t even come within 100 points of his career OPS.

But Jim’s hands were tied, no? The Cubs had brought Alou in to produce, and even though he was on a three-year, big money contract, Alou had failed to produce. He would have to be dumped at all costs. Right?

Wrong. Alou, of course, stayed, and put up very solid seasons for the Cubs the next two years.

So why the difference between Hendry’s treatment of Alou and of Bradley, two guys who were brought in under identical circumstances? Do I really have to ask? Alou wasn’t an insufferable douche! We all know this. And Jim Hendry is trying to convince you otherwise.

And it makes me very angry. Jim Hendry is trying to preserve his legacy and his job at the expense of our intelligence. It feels very … political. If there is a second mirror to be looked in, it’s Jim Hendry’s. You, Jim, decided to take the risk on Milton Bradley despite all the evidence in the world that what ultimately happened would happen. You, Jim, need to not play us for fools, and try to convince us after the fact that you dumped Bradley for a worthless pitcher because Bradley didn’t hit. As a matter of fact, I think you, Jim, said it best:

“I think we’re all brought up in life to accept responsibilities when we fail and also to judge people by how they act and how they carry themselves when things don’t go well. We’re seeing a direct example of that in this case.”

Agreed.

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“It’s a work in progress,” Nady said. “Even I couldn’t tell you if I’ll be ready April 10 or when I’ll feel comfortable to let it fly. The June 1 [date] is more to play and a guy tags from third, try to throw him out at home. That gives me almost 11 months [since the surgery].”

He said he’ll be able to play the outfield before that date and the Cubs will simply have to make some defensive adjustments, moving the cutoff men back to compensate.

“I heard ‘June,’” Nady said, “but I could play some games here and there. I really don’t know. I think time will tell.” Muskat Ramblings.

Lou Piniella confirmed that he believes Nady will be able to play long before June, he simply won’t be able to make big time throws. That, of course, is an issue, but it isn’t the end of the world.

Don’t be surprised if the Cubs start Nady off on the disabled list. It will allow them to sort out their bench situation, and will give Nady another two weeks to keep building arm strength and taking batting practice without straining the Cubs’ bench.

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