Milton Bradley anyone?

[SidneySlicker]

Let me start by saying I'm not sure his attitude would be good for a young team like the Reds. Having said that from the on the field side of things I would love to see him in a Reds uni. He'd be relatively inexpensive he'd be adequate in left field defensively and he's a good right handed bat.

Here is a link to see his stats
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/player...?playerId=4245

[E. Davis 44]

i'm sorry but I don't have time for board games.

[freestyle55]

I think he would crush here in GABP, but like you mentioned, the attitude could cause issues, and with a young team, we don't need that.

The other team in Cincinnati can adequately cover players with "issues", hopefully it won't infest the one that has a chance to do something...

[Hondo]

At the right price... I would be in... He under Dusty would probably be good... Man he was Leading the AL in Hitting for awile last year...

I am in on a 2 year Deal... Better than Trading for Dye...

[mole44]

Originally Posted by Hondo

At the right price... I would be in... He under Dusty would probably be good... Man he was Leading the AL in Hitting for awile last year...

I am in on a 2 year Deal... Better than Trading for Dye...

Agreed. I'd much prefer to sing MB to a 1-2 year deal than trade for Dye.

[Ghosts of 1990]

Cubs are going hard after MB

http://www.boston.com/sports/basebal...things_he.html

[redsfandan]

no thanks. he has the talent but just the fact that he is so injury prone makes me think that he's someone that should be avoided. add in the questionable attitude and how much he'll likely cost and that's way too much risk for me.

[NarrowStairs]

The last thing this city needs is more thuggery.

[SidneySlicker]

From MLBTradeRumors:

Milton Bradley is weighing his options with the Cubs and Rays. Joe Maddon and the Rays may be a better fit than Lou Piniella and the Cubs. And spending time at DH would allow him to "protect his oft-injured body." But will the Rays meet Bradley's asking price when they can turn to Bobby Abreu, Jason Giambi, Garret Anderson, or Pat Burrell instead?

Rosenthal adds that the Reds, Angels, and Nationals are also interested in Bradley.


Again at the right price, I'd love to see the Reds roll the dice on Bradley. I think he'd be a very good offensive player at the GAB.

[akron3344]

at least he would produce, his attitude would be not more discernibly anti team as dunn or griffey

[BLEEDS]

Perfect acquisition for us, IMO.

By all accounts, his attitude is fine - he has Anger Issues, which he's working on both on and off the field - his teammates love him.

He's absolutely RAKE in GABP, and that is worth any risk in injury/attitude that comes along with him, IMO.

Better than risking that on a Rivera or other guys who have never shown anything close to the numbers he's put up consistently, and hoping they can fill the huge void in LF.

PEACE

-BLEEDS

[757690]

Originally Posted by BLEEDS

Perfect acquisition for us, IMO.

By all accounts, his attitude is fine - he has Anger Issues, which he's working on both on and off the field - his teammates love him.

He's absolutely RAKE in GABP, and that is worth any risk in injury/attitude that comes along with him, IMO.

Better than risking that on a Rivera or other guys who have never shown anything close to the numbers he's put up consistently, and hoping they can fill the huge void in LF.

PEACE

-BLEEDS

Please read this: I stole it off the ORG

Is it game over for Milton Bradley?
Comments Jul 20, 2006 5:00 AM (879 days ago) by Mychael Urban, The Examiner
SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - A’s general manager Billy Beane has made a mint in public-speaking engagements since the best-seller “Moneyball” chronicled his ability to take advantage of the undervalued area in the baseball talent market and turned him into a star in the business world.

When the book was being written, what was being undervalued was on-base percentage, and Beane exploited the market weakness by loading up. Now that Beane’s success has increased the value of OBP, he’s looking for weaknesses elsewhere, and what he’s apparently discovered is that so-called “problem players” are undervalued.

So he’s stocked up on them, and today the A’s are in first place in the American League West. Tough to quibble with ongoing success, right?

Wrong. One of Beane’s problem players is Milton Bradley, and he’s becoming a bigger problem by the day. And if the problem isn’t nipped in the bud, the A’s won’t be in first place much longer.

Bradley, as everyone knows, came to Oakland with more baggage that a trans-Atlantic luxury liner. He’d fought with teammates, managers and his wife and he’d had run-ins with the law and fans.

No big deal, Beane told everyone. The cohesive A’s clubhouse was strong enough to absorb Bradley, warts and all.

Bradley himself told us he was simply misunderstood. That he’s not as much of a bad boy as his reputation suggests. That he was more approachable than he seems.

Both men were wrong. Dead wrong.

Bradley has five-tool talent, which is what enticed Beane into trading away his top outfield prospect, Andre Ethier, to get him. But he also has about seven screws loose.

Until Saturday, Bradley had been on his best behavior. Of course, it’s easy to behave when you’re on the disabled list, which is where Bradley has been for most of the year.

And then came Saturday in Boston. On Friday, he came off the disabled list and put on the kind of show Beane bargained for, going 4-for-5 and making a sensational catch. On Saturday, he snapped. After screaming at Red Sox blowhard Curt Schilling for drilling Nick Swisher, Bradley turned his attention toward the fans behind the visitor’s dugout. There was much shouting and finger-pointing, and the next time Bradley came off the field, he subtly saluted said fans by grabbing his crotch.

A’s manager Ken Macha didn’t play him the next day, offering the lame reasoning that Bradley had been on the bases so much Friday that he needed to give his legs a rest. The truth is that Macha didn’t want Bradley to have to deal with the Boston fans again.

So on the A’s moved to Baltimore, where the Orioles fans aren’t exactly known for being harsh. But they certainly got under Bradley’s skin, and Bradley gave them plenty of material with one of the weakest acts seen since the World Cup ended.

After stumbling while rounding first base on Wednesday, Bradley appeared to be injured, and badly. So pronounced was his limp that he that he didn’t even try to get back to the base, so the throw from the outfield to shortstop to first base got there in plenty of time for Bradley to be tagged out.

As he was being carried off the field, it looked like Bradley was headed for another stint on the DL. But no. There must have been some kind of medical magician in the dugout, because Bradley was back out on defense the next inning, even diving for a ball.

So the fans let him have it, and rightly so.

It put a huge damper on a nice win for the A’s, and while none of his teammates would go on the record (nor would Bradley, who didn’t talk after the Boston game, either), it was clear that they are tired of Bradley’s act.

They’re also tired of Macha playing the role of enabler.

Beane is a very good GM, but he swung and missed big with Bradley — Ethier is batting .340 for the Dodgers, while Bradley is batting .249 and causing headaches. So it’s on Beane to do what Macha should have done and sit Bradley down.

For a guy who’s so big on track records, it’s puzzling why Beane would ignore Bradley’s. It was never a matter of “if” regarding blowup. It was “when?”

And when is now.


Mychael Urban is the author of “Aces: The Last Season On The Mound With The Oakland A’s Big Three — Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito” and a writer for MLB.com.

http://www.examiner.com/a-184312~Is_..._Bradley_.html

These same things happened in Cleveland, so despite Bradley putting up a 922 OPS, the Indians felt the need to get rid of him and traded him to the Dodgers. The Dodgers took him because he swore that he just had "anger isssues and was dealing with them." Then he wore out his welcome in LA, where he was hated by fans, the media, the coaches and his teammates, so they traded him to Oakland. As this article says, Beane was convinced that Bradley just misunderstood, and was proven wrong, so he traded Bradley to the Padres. They let go as a free agent, and the Rangers signed him. They claimed that his anger issues were behind him. They were wrong, as he tried to attack an announcer who had said some pretty bad things about him on the air. Time and time again, Milton, who is a very intelligent, well spoken man, claims that he is just misunderstood, and time and time again, teams take a chance on him and are proven wrong. I fully believe in giving guys a second chance, but not in a fourth or fifth chance.

Add in the fact that last year he was mostly a DH last year due to chronic hamstring problems, and the fact that he has played in over 102 games exactly twice in his career, and that his season average for game played is 90, I'd say pass.

[BLEEDS]

I read that over there.

Still, I'd rather take a chance that a guys DOESN'T throw chairs at announcers, and doesn't go on the DL 8 times, with the knowledge that when he IS healthy - even if it's 125 games, he'd OPS .900+

versus:

Hoping a guy who's NEVER proven anything in baseball, but is a heck of a nice guy, is handed our starting LF job, and is going to put it all together, despite any evidence to the contrary.

Josh Hamilton turned out okay. This is sort of in that same arena.

He's 30 now, which is an age when folks seemingly start to beat their demons, and GROW UP. I'd rather risk that, and take the PROVEN OFFENSIVE COMMODITY, given all other things.

If he didn't have that risk, we wouldn't be able to even consider bringing him in here, he'd be priced out of our market and picking offers between NY/NY/Chicago and LA. Oh wait, Chicago is already considering him, hmmm.... I guess we're just smarter than Chicago.

PEACE

-BLEEDS

[757690]

Originally Posted by BLEEDS

I read that over there.

Still, I'd rather take a chance that a guys DOESN'T throw chairs at announcers, and doesn't go on the DL 8 times, with the knowledge that when he IS healthy - even if it's 125 games, he'd OPS .900+

versus:

Hoping a guy who's NEVER proven anything in baseball, but is a heck of a nice guy, is handed our starting LF job, and is going to put it all together, despite any evidence to the contrary.

Josh Hamilton turned out okay. This is sort of in that same arena.

He's 30 now, which is an age when folks seemingly start to beat their demons, and GROW UP. I'd rather risk that, and take the PROVEN OFFENSIVE COMMODITY, given all other things.

If he didn't have that risk, we wouldn't be able to even consider bringing him in here, he'd be priced out of our market and picking offers between NY/NY/Chicago and LA. Oh wait, Chicago is already considering him, hmmm.... I guess we're just smarter than Chicago.

PEACE

-BLEEDS

Who is this guy? I am not sure who that describes who the Reds are looking at.

Burrell, has almost identical stats as Bradley, and wouldn't cost that much more ($2M a year more). Rivera has proven that when he does get a chance to start he can put up good numbers and will be cheaper than Bradley. Dye has just as good of numbers and would cost the same in $$$, but more in players.

Yes, if the option is between Bradley and Hopper or Taveras or Patterson, then the answer is clear, but there are just as good of options out there that don't have the extreme baggage that Bradley has.

[BEETTLEBUG]

I think he would be OK til youngsters are ready.