Your morning Phil: Bradley, Silva, 'Cubs tax'

Lots of people think Bradley will thrive playing for Wakamatsu, who was a coach on Ron Washington's staff in Texas, and in the relatively calm waters of Safeco Field. Griffey has taken him under his wing this spring, trying to help ease the transition. But the beauty of a discard-for-discard trade like Bradley-for-Carlos Silva is that it's easier for a second team to release a player than it is for the team that signed him to a huge deal.

2. Silva delivered a strong outing Thursday (three scoreless innings, four hits, one walk) at just the right time for the Cubs. He has impressed no one in camp, in part because of his historically poor conditioning but mostly because he has an arm that seems best suited to batting practice. The thin nature of Lou Piniella's staff could work in Silva's favor, however. He will get a long look, either adding experience to a suspect bullpen or as the fifth starter, which could allow Jeff Samardzija or Sean Marshall to play a significant role in that bullpen. Yes, the Cubs can release Silva if Piniella concludes he can't help, but don't count on that.

3. A lot of people with teams training in Arizona are upset with the so-called "Cubs tax" that has been proposed to fund the new Mesa complex on the drawing board. There's no guarantee the Arizona legislature gets past that opposition to complete its piece of the project, which would pave the way for a November referendum in Mesa. It will be interesting to see how hard the Cubs campaign to push these measures through as Naples, Fla., remains a completely viable -- and arguably more profitable -- option. Teams in Southwest Florida -- the Red Sox, Twins, Rays, Orioles and Pirates -- are hoping they get some company. They still may.