Monday, September 21, 2009

The Market for Milton Bradley

Oh, Milton. Here we go again. More drama.

And this time, it's serious. Bradley has been suspended for the remainder of the season a la Jose Guillen a few years back (minus the playoffs). Not good.

"The last few days became too much for me to tolerate," Hendry said. "I'm certainly not going to let our great fans become an excuse. I'm not going to tolerate not being able to answer questions from the media respectfully. Whether you feel like talking or not, it's part of all of our jobs.

"There's a right way to do it and a wrong way. I'm not going to allow disrespect to other people in that locker room and uniformed personnel, and I'm certainly not going to let a player, as was mentioned in the article today, (talk about) negativity of the organization."

It's become obvious that Bradley simply cannot return to the Cubs in 2010. Bradley has burned too many bridges within the organization. Change in needed for both sides. So as we look forward towards 2010, what exactly does the future hold for Bradley? Let's start by answering a few key questions.

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1. Is there any team out there that would pick up the $21 million that the Cubs still owe Bradley?

Believe it or not, this is possible. All the Cubs would have to do is take on a contract that is more egregious than Bradley's, which is not an easy thing to do. Unless the Cubs want to take on one of the worst contracts in baseball (i.e Carlos Silva, Oliver Perez), then the Cubs' best chance to trade Bradley is to accept the fact that they will have to eat some of his salary.

2. What team would be willing to acquire Milton Bradley and all the nonsense that comes with him?

Even though Bradley is crazy, I'm sure that some team would be willing to take a chance on Bradley because when he's healthy and sane, Bradley is a very productive outfielder.

With that said, Bradley's terrible behavior and below average performance with the Cubs, I'm sure there aren't too many teams out there looking to pick up Bradley.

3. What team can give Bradley the "positive environment" he's looking for?

Obviously the Milton Bradley experiment in Chicago failed miserably. Chicago and Milton Bradley just did not mix.

So where does Milton Bradley think he needs to play in 2010?

"I need a stable, healthy, enjoyable environment. There's too many people everywhere in your face with a microphone asking the same questions repeatedly. Everyone is just bashing you. You go out there and play harder than anybody on the field and never get credit for it. It's just negativity."
So Bradley wants a healthy and enjoyable environment where there aren't too many people getting all up in his business. Wonderful. In my opinion, Bradley needs to go somewhere in a small market where the bright lights simply don't exist. As we saw in Chicago, the big city and Milton Bradley don't mix well.

Now let's get to the hard part, which "small market" team would actually take a chance on Milton Bradley?

-Padres? Nope. Been there and done that.

-Pirates? Nope. Do you think a young team looking to rebuild needs Milton Bradley around?

-Orioles: Doubtful. Even though Andy McPhail is looking for someone to hit behind Nick Markakis, I just don't think the O's have room for Bradley, unless they plan to have him DH. Any once again, do you think a young team looking to rebuild needs Milton Bradley around?

-Royals? Nope. Even though I wouldn't run it past Dayton Moore to make Bradley to KC possible, he's just not a fit here at all. I must say though, a locker room consisting of Milton Bradley, Kyle Farnsworth, and Jose Guillen would be highly entertaining and probably give Trey Hillman ulcers by the end of the season.

-Diamondbacks? Hmmmm, interesting. The Diamondbacks could use another big bat in their lineup and Eric Byrnes isn't exactly the world's most productive left fielder. I'd prefer to see the Diamondbacks still with their youth movement instead of investing energy into acquiring Bradley, but the thought isn't that horrible.

-Mariners? I know, Seattle is not exactly a small market. But it's hard to ignore the face that Milton Bradley would be a decent fit with the Mariners. I'm very fearful to see how Bradley would react in Seattle, but this could be a spot for him to succeed. The Mariners could use Bradley in left field and when his various injuries act up, the Mariners could slot him in as the designated hitter. This team has struggled all year to find potent hitters in the middle of the lineup and maybe, just maybe, Bradley could give the Mariners what their looking for.


Thoughts?

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16 comments:

Kevan said...

On MLBTR: "Perez for Bradley, who says no?"

I'm assuming Jorge does, am I right?

Jorge Says No! said...

I don't just say no, I say hell no.

Zach Sanders said...

If the Mariners replaced Griffey with Milton, there would be riots in the streets. No chance in hell they mess up the good vibes they got going.

Ron Rollins said...

Oakland or San Francisco. It's the only place for him really. A veteran bat on an up and coming team.

No one will pay attention to his ranting there. And I'm still not convinced he wasn't right, and is just being made a scapegoat because of his past.

And that says a lot coming from me.

Chris said...

Toronto. Vernon Wells for Milton Bradley. Either put Bradley back in CF or make him DH. Boom.

Jorge Says No! said...

Ron: Didn't Bradley already burn some bridges in Oakland? SF could be a possible fit....

Chris: Vernon Wells is still owed something like 90+ million over the next five years. No way the Cubs trade Bradley for him.

Ron Rollins said...

Who's the manager in Oakland? I have to keep up with these things. Said some good things about Bradley, and seems like they would welcome him back. SF mostly, but Oakland would be a fit.

Chris said...

I was hoping if I said it confidently enough, the Cubs would fall for it :(.

But come onnnnnn, they've got tonnes of cash, right? Edmonds bounced back in a big way as a Cub.

Unknown said...

This is the most ridiculous blog entry I've seen from any reputable baseball blog.

Not only would the Cubs have to eat all of his salary, they might actually have to throw in a prospect to get ANYONE to take on Kanye Bradley. the guy is in serious decline, has injury issues, and is a walking/talking cancer.

As to mentioning Seattle as a destination....seriously? First, Bill Bavidiot is no longer the GM....there will be no more Carlos Silva, Jose Vidro, or Richie Sexson type deals...ever. Second, the Mariners have an overabundance of young OF, including #2 pick Dustin Ackley, who could possibly stick with the club out of ST. If not, they have Saunders. If they feel the need to sign someone for a year until Ackley is ready, I'm sure it will be someone much more benign/cheaper/more productive than Kanye Bradley.

Megan said...

Capper is right. We don't need the headache over here.

Jorge Says No! said...

I'm not gonna lie, seeing kanye bradley was one of the funniest things I've read all year...

But anyway why would bradley have to play the of? The mariners did astonishingly well this season despite having griffey and sweeeney at dh (they actually did alright power wise). I understand not liking bradley because its a easy thing to do but the fact remains that a healthy (and sane) milton bradley is a very productive player. Someone will take a chance on him at a low price.

Unknown said...

the major hurdle that you need to take into consideration is that the Mariners are going to be extremely reluctant to take on a guy like Bradley after their experiences with guys like Vidro, Sexson, Silva, etc....not only is he a defensive liability, but I think the M's do not want to deal with any issues that might affect team chemistry, something they strongly believe in (regardless of whether its a silly thing or not). There is just a zero chance they bring in a guy like Bradley...ZERO.

Think about it, why did the M's keep the corpse of Mike Sweeney the entire season? Because of his leadership and clubhouse presence. Why did they keep Griffey around? Because he sold tickets.

The Mariners are going to make some bold moves, letting Beltre and Bedard walk (along with Sweeney and Jr), trading Jose Lopez....I think we'll see the M's continue to get younger and cheaper, something that makes Bradley a silly choice.

As to the DH spot....why, there are so many better options...cheaper options. Plus, the M's are going to look to fill the DH spot with a LH bat.

Jorge Says No! said...

Capper,

Firstly bradley is a switch hitter so yes, he bats left handed.

Next, wherever bradley goes he's going to need a solid foundation and a stable environment. Seattle with sweeney and griffey is exactly that. You can make the case that all bradley will do is ruin that, but if there was ever a place for bradley to be mellwoed out and productive, its a place like seattle

Mark said...

I don't think he could go to San Fran...Didn't they put up with enough when Bonds was there?

Jorge Says No! said...

You could say that, but there's no doubt that Bradley would be a great fit in the Giants lineup (as long as he's healthy and sane).

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