Blagojevich weighs in on Cubs

Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella has received a lot of unsolicited advice from fans over the years, including former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Early in Piniella's first season with the Cubs in 2007, Blagojevich, who was indicted last month on corruption charges, sent the manager a letter suggesting he move Alfonso Soriano out of the leadoff spot.

The Chicago Tribune obtained a copy of the letter and published it Thursday on its Web site.

"I've talked to him, baseball-wise," Piniella said in the Tribune. "He's a big Cubs fan. Obviously, we didn't heed his advice."

The manager said he had no problem with the letter's being publicized, nor did he mind the unsolicited advice.

"We always welcome suggestions," he said.

While we're on Chicago's North Side, we note that the Cubs are waiting to see whether outfielder Milton Bradley will incur a fine and/or suspension after being ejected from Thursday's game by home-plate umpire Larry Vanover for arguing a called third strike.

The Tribune reported that second-base umpire Dan Iassogna said a report would be filed because it was a "contact" incident. He refused to comment further.

Bradley, who was making his Wrigley Field debut after missing time with a groin injury, declined to comment yesterday. Piniella backed up his player, saying, "It didn't look like a good pitch to me."

The view by St. Louis manager Tony La Russa, however, was a bit different. "I don't know how the Cubs get away with making the comments they make about umpires," he said.

Remember how the New York Mets trumpeted their off-season bullpen acquisitions - setup man J.J. Putz and closer Francisco Rodriguez?

Well, the other pitchers apparently didn't get the memo.

Through their first nine games of the new season, the Mets already have blown two leads of three or more runs, including Thursday night's 6-5 loss to San Diego.

After being outscored by 42-14 on their recent 0-6 road trip, the San Francisco Giants are concerned about the health of ace Tim Lincecum, the 2008 Cy Young Award winner.

The Giants sent Lincecum home from Los Angeles a day early Thursday for an examination after the pitcher said he had an upset stomach.

Lincecum suffered through a bout with bronchitis in spring training, so his velocity was down in his first two regular-season starts. He went 0-2 with a 7.56 ERA.

The St. Louis Cardinals expect Chris Carpenter to miss four to eight weeks after an MRI exam Thursday confirmed the righthander has a tear of a left abdominal muscle. . . . Mets catcher Brian Schneider was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of a muscle strain in his back. . . . The Washington Nationals put shortstop Cristian Guzman on the 15-day DL with a left hamstring strain.