Amidst the recent Bradley-bashing that's been going on here and in the media, I keep seeing something that just didn't sit right with me: the notion being bandied about that Bradley's played a large part of the Cubs coming up short of expectations this year.

So I decided to do a little digging: using a reasonable set of expectations for the roster - something I'm sure Hendry was working with this off-season - who has underperformed the most?  Especially given that even the most pessimistic of projections had the Cubs winning 90 games.

For my base set of expectations, I used ACB's excellent projections from the pre-season for the 2009 Cubs. Then I simply subtracted each player's actual WAR from their projected WAR.  One caveat: remember that these projections are for a full season of baseball, while the actual WAR is based on a partial season.  However, enough baseball's been played at this point that it's still a useful thing to look at.

Goodbye Casey, you'll... be missed?

The Brewers added a potentially intriguing piece to their third-base puzzle on Wednesday, claiming Casey McGehee off waivers from the Cubs.

McGehee, who turned 26 on Oct. 12 and is a right-handed hitter, batted .296 with 12 home runs and 92 RBIs for the Triple-A Iowa Cubs in 2008 but could not continue that success after a September callup. He hit .167 (4-for-24) in nine games with the Cubs, going 0-for-6 during the season-ending series against the Brewers in Milwaukee.

Story on MLB.com (courtesy of MLBTR).

Thought this was an interesting note in the Sun Times today:

The team was not ruling out surgery for right-hander Rich Harden as they awaited results of exams by their medical staff before tonight's midnight deadline for exercising his $7 million club option for 2009.

Harden's health has been an issue since the Cubs acquired him in July, and his velocity waned significantly at the end of the season.

Also interesting is that hte deadline extension is midnight tonight.

Update: As stated in the thread, the option has now been excercised and surgery is off the table.

John Walsh at The Hardball Times has a fascinating article up about the change-up, how it's used, and how one - and only one - pitcher in the big leagues uses it differently from anyone else: our very own Ted Lilly.

It seems Ted Lilly not only challenges but flaunts conventional wisdom by throwing his change-up inside more often than he does outside.

Highly recommended reading.

This is the part where I add an unrelated sentence to the end of my diary because of the arbitrary word limit.

As mentioned on MLB Trade Rumors, Ken Rosenthal's latest has a couple of nice Cubs nuggets in it.

The Cubs not only will pursue the best available starting pitcher — C.C. Sabathia? — but they also have shown interest in Rockies closer Brian Fuentes, a left-hander who would help reduce the late-inning load on righties Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood. Fuentes, a free agent at the end of the season, could fill a variety of roles — matchup specialist, setup man, closer — making him appealing to virtually every contender . . .

Food for thought.  Fuentes would be an incredible addition to an already excellent bullpen.  Sabathia is the only starter who could be available that I would sell the farm for without any reservations whatsoever.

Update: Per Northsider below, Rosenthal has backpedaled and now says the Cubs are not interested in Fuentes.

Per MLB Trade Rumors, Jones has been released by the Tigers.  He'll be replaced on the active roster by minor leaguer Matt Joyce.

I can't help but feel bad for Jones.  He was in the dog house with Cubs fans before he'd ever even picked up a bat.  While it was a pretty bad signing at the time by Hendry, he seems like a good guy who didn't deserve the treatment he received.

I'm sure he'll get a job somewhere though - San Diego is the obvious choice; maybe a Dusty Baker reunion to replace the struggling Patterson.

One of my favorite baseball bloggers, JC Bradbury, has an interesting article up today.  He proposes that the best way to send a clear message about HGH is to remove it from the list of banned substances, since it's considered an ineffective PED by sports physiologists.  By keeping it on the banned list, he reasons, you're sending a mixed message about its efficacy.

Pretty interesting read.