As we sit around waiting for Milton Bradley to be dealt (or not), it's obvious some of us are anguishing, some of us are seething, some of us are laughing, some of us are drinking... well, you get the idea. And whenever a name is bandied about as a possible return in a trade, invariably somebody here throws up a little in their mouth.

So in honor of Bob Barker's upcoming birthday (he'll be 86 on December 12), I thought a little "The Price Is Right" game could help put things in perspective.  Of course, this will be a little tough to do in a two-dimensional blog, so you'll have to use your imagination.  But here goes...

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"Take this thread to Cuba!"

Greetings all!  I figure rather than hijack the latest main thread (especially since it's already at 400+ comments) for some Big Ten smackdown on this fine Saturday, might as well just do a game thread of our own.

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Listed at the bottom of this fanpost are 15 events that may (or may not) occur this offseason.  Your challenge is to arrange them in order of likelihood of happening, most to least.  Similar to last year’s free-agency contest, your ranking will be weighted. In other words, your top choice (the one you think is most likely to happen)  will be worth 15 points – your bottom choice (the one you think is least likely to happen) will be worth 1 point.

Here's where it gets fun.  As you’ll see, there are quite a few events involving Milton Bradley. Obviously not all of them are going to happen, so you could hedge your bets by ranking them close together if you’re unsure on how the MB saga will end.  On the other hand, if you’re so sure you know how it will end, put that one at/near the top and the others at the bottom of your rankings.

Other Ground Rules:

• The contest begins after the last out of the 2009 World Series and ends with the first pitch of the 2010 major league season.
• Points are accumulated only if the event happens.
• If an event occurs before the last out, i.e. someone pulls a "Boras", then said event will be removed from the contest and no points awarded for that event.
• If there is some dispute as to whether or not an event "happened" or the definition of said event, I will certainly consider any and all viewpoints, but in the end – my contest, my call.

Please submit your entry by posting a comment below.  Right now, deadline for entries is the last out of the 2009 World Series.  But if the Yankees manage to win this thing in 5 games, I may extend the deadline by a day or so, provided of course, none of these events occur.  If they do, then - in the interests of fairness - any entries submitted after that point will not be accepted.

I will track all entries and provide occasional updates throughout the off-season, as well as announce the final results shortly after Opening Day 2010.  The person with the highest point total will receive an official MLB baseball hit out of Wrigley Field from my collection.  And just to keep things interesting, the person with the lowest point total will receive an official minor league baseball from my collection – sufficiently grass-stained and scuffed-up to appropriately reflect said achievement (or lack thereof).

Please post any questions in the comments and I'll be happy to respond.

THE FIFTEEN BIGGEST EVENTS THAT MAY (or may not) HAPPEN THIS OFF-SEASON:

__ - Milton Bradley is traded or released by start of Cubs Convention.
__ - Cubs sell naming rights for entire Wrigley Field, e.g. Walgreens Park at Wrigley Field.
__ - Randy Wells finishes higher than Colby Rasmus in the ROY voting.
__ - Cubs lower ticket prices on some seats.
__ - Milton Bradley is traded for player(s) only, i.e. Cubs will NOT eat any of his contract.
__ - Cubs make an official announcement  on a new Spring Training location  (Az or Fla).
__ - Ryan Theriot is starting shortstop for Cubs on Opening Day 2010.
__ - Cubs’ broadcasting team stays intact - Len & Bob on TV; Pat, Ron, & Judd on radio.
__ - Milton Bradley is traded and Cubs WILL eat some portion of his contract.
__ - Cubs install additional scoreboard facilities, e.g. ribbon board.
__ - Aaron Miles is on the Cubs 25-man roster on Opening Day.
__ - Cubs offer arbitration to Rich Harden.
__ - Milton Bradley is on the Cubs 40-man roster on Opening Day.
__ - Cubs hires top-level executive, e.g. a "baseball guy", to oversee Hendry.
__ - MLB expands instant replay capabilities.

Finally - we have baseball again.  Might even be good baseball.  But while the Cubs are on this road trip, there is a 3 concert homestand at Wrigley Field.  Sir Elton John and Billy Joel kick it off tonight (July 16), Rascal Flatts slips in on Saturday (July 18) and EJ/BJ come back for an encore on Tuesday (July 21).  After which, the Roger Baird Experience takes over with a little 'bluegrass' makeover, but that's a whole 'nother topic...

Anyway, I'm guessing there'll be a few BCBers in attendance at one or more of these shows - rather than a bunch of scattered posts and shots over the next week, I thought it'd be better if we try to keep everything in one place.  Makes it easier for those interested in such stuff to share their thoughts, and keeps the pure-bloods happy that all this non-baseball concert crap isn't messing up the rest of BCB...

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