Milton Bradley Appreciation Thread

[jersey cubs fan]

I don't think there's going to be a new GM, not this offseason. I felt the new owner was going to come in and give the current regime a year, give or take a few months depending on when he actually bought the team. Of course I thought that was going to be a long time ago, but that's another story.

 

I think Hendry is here to stay for at least another year.

 

If I had to bet I'd say he's here through at least April 2010. I could see them making a change midseason, but I would be somewhat surprised if they did it before then.

[Sammy Sofa]

I guess I just have a feeling a new GM would rather make a splash with a big signing than by just running a guy out of town. While that story might get you good press today, what about mid season '10 when the replacement is OPS'ing a hundred and fifty points less?

 

There's also the fact that the hatred of Milton by the bleacher bums might chill out if certain hack writers didn't get a kick out of inciting them.

 

He could do both. Run Milton out of town and make a big splash by signing Matt Holliday.

 

That would be a terrible splash.

[SouthSideRyan]

I guess I just have a feeling a new GM would rather make a splash with a big signing than by just running a guy out of town. While that story might get you good press today, what about mid season '10 when the replacement is OPS'ing a hundred and fifty points less?

 

There's also the fact that the hatred of Milton by the bleacher bums might chill out if certain hack writers didn't get a kick out of inciting them.

 

He could do both. Run Milton out of town and make a big splash by signing Matt Holliday.

 

That would be a terrible splash.

 

Agreed, but you know the general idiots would eat it up. Getting rid of the clubhouse cancer and bringing in the Cardinals stud who knows how to play the game.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I guess I just have a feeling a new GM would rather make a splash with a big signing than by just running a guy out of town. While that story might get you good press today, what about mid season '10 when the replacement is OPS'ing a hundred and fifty points less?

 

There's also the fact that the hatred of Milton by the bleacher bums might chill out if certain hack writers didn't get a kick out of inciting them.

 

He could do both. Run Milton out of town and make a big splash by signing Matt Holliday.

 

That would be a terrible splash.

 

Agreed, but you know the general idiots would eat it up. Getting rid of the clubhouse cancer and bringing in the Cardinals stud who knows how to play the game.

 

Problem with that move is even if we did find a taker for Bradley, we still wouldnt get them to take enough of his salary to afford Bradley. I know Holliday wants to stay with St. Lou, but when those big offers start rolling in, and the Cards cant match them, Boras isnt going to care how much the fans love him in St. Louis. Remember, Sabbathia wanted to play in LA and Beltran wanted to play in a small market. Boras gets what he wants.

 

Bradley is too good of a player to just get rid of for nothing because he pissed off some fans and vice versa.

[inari]

If they traded Bradley and brought in Holliday and DeRosa, cubs.com would crash for a week.

[champaignchris]

Of RF with at least 300 plate appearances, Bradley is 14th out of 28 in VORP. Neither elite, nor horrible. Last year Fukudome was 27th of 30. Cubs RFs posted an aggregate .731 OPS last year, which was 14th of the 16 NL teams. Cubs RFs this year have posted a .792 OPS, good for 7th.

 

OF CF with at least 300 plate appearances, Fukudome is 9th out of 27 in VORP. Top third in the majors. Last year, Johnson was 23rd of 30. If you look at CFs with at least 250 plate appearances in 2008, Edmunds was 15th of 35 and Johnson was 24th of 35. As an aggregate, Cubs CFs posted a .858 OPS last year, which was 2nd in the NL. This year, Cubs CFs have posted a .817, which is 5th of 16. Quite good both years.

 

Acquiring Bradley and shifting Fukudome over to CF worked out this year. (Whether it will continue to work out over the course of Fuku's and MB's contracts, I will make no claim to.) Our production at RF has risen from pathetic to average. Our production at CF has remained solid. Those looking to blame Bradley for this year's problems are looking in the wrong place. The Cubs' horrible offense has a lot more to do with Soriano, Fontenot, and Soto all having awful years, and Aramis being hurt for a huge section of the season.

[Wheelimus]

Also Ryan Dempsters regression, Hardens 1st half struggles, Gregg, etc. The pitching staff bears a lot of blame for this season.

 

I mean, lets be honest, if someone had of told you before the season started that Randy Wells would get to double digit wins...you would have thought we were pushing 100 wins.

[jersey cubs fan]

Also Ryan Dempsters regression, Hardens 1st half struggles, Gregg, etc. The pitching staff bears a lot of blame for this season.

 

No it doesn't. Maybe a little, but definitely not a lot. And really, I would say none. They are a top 5 run prevention team. Lou is absolutely right, the problem is the lack of runs scored. It's all on the offense.

[Sammy Sofa]

The pitching staff bears a lot of blame for this season.

 

This statement is so very not true.

[Flames24Rulz]

Also Ryan Dempsters regression, Hardens 1st half struggles, Gregg, etc. The pitching staff bears a lot of blame for this season.

 

No it doesn't. Maybe a little, but definitely not a lot. And really, I would say none. They are a top 5 run prevention team. Lou is absolutely right, the problem is the lack of runs scored. It's all on the offense.

 

Yeah, blaming the pitchers is pretty ridiculous. If our offense was just average for the first few months this year, we wouldn't be in the position we are in now.

[Little Slide Rooter]

The pitching staff bears a lot of blame for this season.

 

This statement is so very not true.

 

The May-June garbage was all the fault of the offense, but as far as the August slide goes, the pitching is just as responsible.

[Sammy Sofa]

The pitching staff bears a lot of blame for this season.

 

This statement is so very not true.

 

The May-June garbage was all the fault of the offense, but as far as the August slide goes, the pitching is just as responsible.

 

Oh, gee, the pitching dropped near the end of the year when 3 of the starters ended up on the DL. I'm stunned that the pitching that month wasn't up to par with the previous months.

 

The number of easily winnable games that the Cubs' pitching provided that the offense simply could not do anything to win over most of the season caused far more damage than the pitching in August.

[Little Slide Rooter]

The pitching staff bears a lot of blame for this season.

 

This statement is so very not true.

 

The May-June garbage was all the fault of the offense, but as far as the August slide goes, the pitching is just as responsible.

 

Oh, gee, the pitching dropped near the end of the year when 3 of the starters ended up on the DL. I'm stunned that the pitching that month wasn't up to par with the previous months.

 

The number of easily winnable games that the Cubs' pitching provided that the offense simply could not do anything to win over most of the season caused far more damage than the pitching in August.

 

Some was offense, some wat pitching. Remember, we allowed the opponent to score double digets 3 out of 4 games during that stretch, and then let the damn Nationals score 15 runs in another game. There were games that it was the offense like that extra innings game vs. the Phillies and the Nelson Figueroa debackle, but I think that as far as August goes, the blame is spread around pretty evenly.

[jersey cubs fan]

Some was offense, some wat pitching.

 

No, it's pretty much all offense. You are going to have games where you allow a few too many runs to score. But if you are 5th in the league in ERA (and R allowed), and 10th in runs scored with a 90 team OPS+, and you are a couple games over .500, that's the offense's fault, plain and simple, no argument.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Some was offense, some wat pitching.

 

No, it's pretty much all offense. You are going to have games where you allow a few too many runs to score. But if you are 5th in the league in ERA (and R allowed), and 10th in runs scored with a 90 team OPS+, and you are a couple games over .500, that's the offense's fault, plain and simple, no argument.

 

wow, I guess your right. In 11 of the 17 August losses, the Cubs scored 3 runs or fewer, including 6 of which when they scores 1 run or less. Thats pretty sad, and certainly not what this team was built to do.

[Sammy Sofa]

Some was offense, some wat pitching.

 

No, it's pretty much all offense. You are going to have games where you allow a few too many runs to score. But if you are 5th in the league in ERA (and R allowed), and 10th in runs scored with a 90 team OPS+, and you are a couple games over .500, that's the offense's fault, plain and simple, no argument.

 

Exactly.

[SouthSideRyan]

 

Bradley is too good of a player to just get rid of for nothing because he pissed off some fans and vice versa.

 

No, I think it'd be a great idea to get rid of idiot fans because they pissed off Bradley.

[jyoung55]

 

Those looking to blame Bradley for this year's problems are looking in the wrong place. The Cubs' horrible offense has a lot more to do with Soriano, Fontenot, and Soto all having awful years, and Aramis being hurt for a huge section of the season.

 

QFT

[Gingerballs Lives]

I guess I just have a feeling a new GM would rather make a splash with a big signing than by just running a guy out of town. While that story might get you good press today, what about mid season '10 when the replacement is OPS'ing a hundred and fifty points less?

 

There's also the fact that the hatred of Milton by the bleacher bums might chill out if certain hack writers didn't get a kick out of inciting them.

 

He could do both. Run Milton out of town and make a big splash by signing Matt Holliday.

 

That would be a terrible splash.

 

I'd love that move.

 

Matt Holliday's career:

 

.318/.387/.547

 

Milton Bradley's career:

 

.279/.373/.453

 

Holliday is also two years younger, stays healthier and considerably less volatile.

[jersey cubs fan]

 

Those looking to blame Bradley for this year's problems are looking in the wrong place. The Cubs' horrible offense has a lot more to do with Soriano, Fontenot, and Soto all having awful years, and Aramis being hurt for a huge section of the season.

 

QFT

 

I would guess it's Soriano far and away number 1. With the combo platter at 2B plus Ramirez's injury necessitating those guys playing more, Soto. Bradley contributed to early struggles but overall has made up for it, and probably then some. And you probably have to throw in Theriot a bit there. He hasn't been as bad as 2007, but he's taken a step back from 2008, and he's been brutal in the second half.

[jersey cubs fan]

I guess I just have a feeling a new GM would rather make a splash with a big signing than by just running a guy out of town. While that story might get you good press today, what about mid season '10 when the replacement is OPS'ing a hundred and fifty points less?

 

There's also the fact that the hatred of Milton by the bleacher bums might chill out if certain hack writers didn't get a kick out of inciting them.

 

He could do both. Run Milton out of town and make a big splash by signing Matt Holliday.

 

That would be a terrible splash.

 

I'd love that move.

 

Matt Holliday's career:

 

.318/.387/.547

 

Milton Bradley's career:

 

.279/.373/.453

 

Holliday is also two years younger, stays healthier and considerably less volatile.

 

While Bradley has a tolerable contract the next two years and Holliday will get something much more ridiculous.

[Sammy Sofa]

I guess I just have a feeling a new GM would rather make a splash with a big signing than by just running a guy out of town. While that story might get you good press today, what about mid season '10 when the replacement is OPS'ing a hundred and fifty points less?

 

There's also the fact that the hatred of Milton by the bleacher bums might chill out if certain hack writers didn't get a kick out of inciting them.

 

He could do both. Run Milton out of town and make a big splash by signing Matt Holliday.

 

That would be a terrible splash.

 

I'd love that move.

 

Matt Holliday's career:

 

.318/.387/.547

 

Milton Bradley's career:

 

.279/.373/.453

 

Holliday is also two years younger, stays healthier and considerably less volatile.

 

In a perfect world I'd love to have Holliday over Bradley, but Holliday is going to cost an obscene amount of money. As good as a hitter as he is I'll be stunned if whatever team gets him doesn't have to vastly overpay for him. That's not the kind of "splash" I want to see the new owners making. If they're going to overpay for someone, overpay for someone who "deserves" it as opposed to a guy with Coors-inflated numbers (though he is obviously still a good hitter away from there).

[Gingerballs Lives]

I guess I just have a feeling a new GM would rather make a splash with a big signing than by just running a guy out of town. While that story might get you good press today, what about mid season '10 when the replacement is OPS'ing a hundred and fifty points less?

 

There's also the fact that the hatred of Milton by the bleacher bums might chill out if certain hack writers didn't get a kick out of inciting them.

 

He could do both. Run Milton out of town and make a big splash by signing Matt Holliday.

 

That would be a terrible splash.

 

I'd love that move.

 

Matt Holliday's career:

 

.318/.387/.547

 

Milton Bradley's career:

 

.279/.373/.453

 

Holliday is also two years younger, stays healthier and considerably less volatile.

 

In a perfect world I'd love to have Holliday over Bradley, but Holliday is going to cost an obscene amount of money. As good as a hitter as he is I'll be stunned if whatever team gets him doesn't have to vastly overpay for him. That's not the kind of "splash" I want to see the new owners making. If they're going to overpay for someone, overpay for someone who "deserves" it as opposed to a guy with Coors-inflated numbers (though he is obviously still a good hitter away from there).

 

Fair enough. It'll be interesting to see what kind of deal Holliday gets.

 

5/80? 5/100?

[Sammy Sofa]

Fair enough. It'll be interesting to see what kind of deal Holliday gets.

 

5/80? 5/100?

 

Given how he's played since being traded and depending on how far the Cardinals go plus having Boras as his agent I'm going to guess...something disgusting.

[Gingerballs Lives]

Fair enough. It'll be interesting to see what kind of deal Holliday gets.

 

5/80? 5/100?

 

Given how he's played since being traded and depending on how far the Cardinals go plus having Boras as his agent I'm going to guess...something disgusting.

 

The Yankees, Mets and Red Sox will all be looking for a corner outfielder. I think he'll be back with the Cardinals but it'd be silly not to wait and see what the market will bear. I'd rather have Holliday over Bay, too.

 

And sorry to de-rail the Milton thread. Hopefully he continues to hit and the boos stop.