Cubs Release Carlos Silva After Tirade

Apparently Carlos Silva can not even handle his departure from an organization the right way. As we all know by now, Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry told reporters on Saturday that the Cubs would try to trade Silva before Opening Day, and if they could not, Hendry offered Silva to go to Triple A as an insurance policy or he would be granted his release. Needless to say Silva accelerated the process and made the decision much easier than anyone thought.

After being made aware that he would not be on the opening 25 man roster and that his time with the Cubs was essentially over, Silva had some parting shots for the organization.

"Although he was happy for Cashner, Silva wasn’t too pleased with Cubs pitching coach Mark Riggins, who gave him the news.“I’m surprised because I’ve been working very hard and feeling a lot better,” Silva said. “[On Friday], I wanted to throw my pen and I felt really good. Riggs came to me and said, ‘What a day, and now go out there and do your workout and continue pitching the way you’re doing.’ A half hour later, he called me into the hall and started talking to me.“I’m like, if you have to say something, be straight,” Silva said. “He has to learn he’s in the big leagues now, know what I mean? There’s no kids around here anymore. The way he laid it out, I don’t know what he was trying to do. He said, ‘Man you’ve been throwing good, you can pitch, blah, blah, blah.’ He said, ‘What if you go to Triple-A and throw some games to continue building and continue getting better?’ I told him I don’t need to go there, I’m ready to go, I feel good, I’m ready to pitch.“Then he told me, there’s no spot in the rotation or the bullpen. He should’ve started with that first and then say you’re throwing the ball good.” Muskat Ramblings"

Those comments ended up being the final nail in the coffin for Silva’s time with the Cubs. Despite the fact that the Cubs wanted to pitch Silva on Monday to showcase him for a potential trade, they felt he would be a greater risk to the team and the their youth movement. It is hard to imagine a guy as big as Silva being emotional, but that is the feeling I got from hearing those comments. If Silva was not so arrogant, he would have realized that he may have needed that trip to the minors.

The Cubs will now be on the hook for the complete $11.5 million owed to Silva this season, but that is money that Jim Hendry already accounted for in the 2011 payroll. The Cubs made a good decision today to cut ties with Silva, and now they can focus on the team that they currently have. For the first time since the 2008 season, it appears that the Cubs no longer have any disruptive forces in their clubhouse.