Milton Bradley Appreciation Thread

[David]

Here's to Milton Bradley, there's been quite a bit a talk about what the Cubs have lost in DeRosa but, for me it's simple - Bradley' bat > DeRosa bat' regardless of DeRosa' versatility and leadership.

 

Bradley's bat is obviously much better than DeRosa's, but Bradley isn't taking DeRosa's ABs. He's taking Edmonds' ABs from last year.

 

DeRosa's ABs will be taken by Aaron Miles and whoever replaces Bradley in right when Milton gets hurt.

 

But I do appreciate Bradley's bat - I hope he's healthy all year.

 

 

Mike Fontenot says, "Hi."

 

Fontenot will take Fontenot's at bats, and some of DeRosa's. But my bet is Miles will have more PA than Fontenot will have increased PA.

 

I really don't see Miles getting more PA than Fontenot barring injury or Fontenot completely sucking.

 

We shall see.

[jersey cubs fan]

Here's to Milton Bradley, there's been quite a bit a talk about what the Cubs have lost in DeRosa but, for me it's simple - Bradley' bat > DeRosa bat' regardless of DeRosa' versatility and leadership.

 

Bradley's bat is obviously much better than DeRosa's, but Bradley isn't taking DeRosa's ABs. He's taking Edmonds' ABs from last year.

 

DeRosa's ABs will be taken by Aaron Miles and whoever replaces Bradley in right when Milton gets hurt.

 

But I do appreciate Bradley's bat - I hope he's healthy all year.

 

 

Mike Fontenot says, "Hi."

 

Fontenot will take Fontenot's at bats, and some of DeRosa's. But my bet is Miles will have more PA than Fontenot will have increased PA.

 

I really don't see Miles getting more PA than Fontenot barring injury or Fontenot completely sucking.

 

We shall see.

 

I didn't say he'd get more than Fontenot. But Fontenot played on the Cubs last year. In order to say he will take DeRosa's at bats, you have to only count whatever at bats he gets in addition to what he had last year, 284 PA.

[dew1679666265]

Here's to Milton Bradley, there's been quite a bit a talk about what the Cubs have lost in DeRosa but, for me it's simple - Bradley' bat > DeRosa bat' regardless of DeRosa' versatility and leadership.

 

Bradley's bat is obviously much better than DeRosa's, but Bradley isn't taking DeRosa's ABs. He's taking Edmonds' ABs from last year.

 

DeRosa's ABs will be taken by Aaron Miles and whoever replaces Bradley in right when Milton gets hurt.

 

But I do appreciate Bradley's bat - I hope he's healthy all year.

 

 

Mike Fontenot says, "Hi."

 

Fontenot will take Fontenot's at bats, and some of DeRosa's. But my bet is Miles will have more PA than Fontenot will have increased PA.

 

I really don't see Miles getting more PA than Fontenot barring injury or Fontenot completely sucking.

 

We shall see.

 

I didn't say he'd get more than Fontenot. But Fontenot played on the Cubs last year. In order to say he will take DeRosa's at bats, you have to only count whatever at bats he gets in addition to what he had last year, 284 PA.

 

Exactly. Fontenot will have the same ABs he got last year plus a decent number. Most of DeRo's lost ABs will go to the new additions, though.

 

Fontenot will still get more ABs than Miles overall, but Miles will get a larger number of ABs that would have gone to DeRo had he stayed.

[David]

Here's to Milton Bradley, there's been quite a bit a talk about what the Cubs have lost in DeRosa but, for me it's simple - Bradley' bat > DeRosa bat' regardless of DeRosa' versatility and leadership.

 

Bradley's bat is obviously much better than DeRosa's, but Bradley isn't taking DeRosa's ABs. He's taking Edmonds' ABs from last year.

 

DeRosa's ABs will be taken by Aaron Miles and whoever replaces Bradley in right when Milton gets hurt.

 

But I do appreciate Bradley's bat - I hope he's healthy all year.

 

 

Mike Fontenot says, "Hi."

 

Fontenot will take Fontenot's at bats, and some of DeRosa's. But my bet is Miles will have more PA than Fontenot will have increased PA.

 

I really don't see Miles getting more PA than Fontenot barring injury or Fontenot completely sucking.

 

We shall see.

 

I didn't say he'd get more than Fontenot. But Fontenot played on the Cubs last year. In order to say he will take DeRosa's at bats, you have to only count whatever at bats he gets in addition to what he had last year, 284 PA.

 

 

I misread the bolded.

 

Either way, I think it's a weird convoluted way of looking at it.

[jersey cubs fan]

Here's to Milton Bradley, there's been quite a bit a talk about what the Cubs have lost in DeRosa but, for me it's simple - Bradley' bat > DeRosa bat' regardless of DeRosa' versatility and leadership.

 

Bradley's bat is obviously much better than DeRosa's, but Bradley isn't taking DeRosa's ABs. He's taking Edmonds' ABs from last year.

 

DeRosa's ABs will be taken by Aaron Miles and whoever replaces Bradley in right when Milton gets hurt.

 

But I do appreciate Bradley's bat - I hope he's healthy all year.

 

 

Mike Fontenot says, "Hi."

 

Fontenot will take Fontenot's at bats, and some of DeRosa's. But my bet is Miles will have more PA than Fontenot will have increased PA.

 

I really don't see Miles getting more PA than Fontenot barring injury or Fontenot completely sucking.

 

We shall see.

 

I didn't say he'd get more than Fontenot. But Fontenot played on the Cubs last year. In order to say he will take DeRosa's at bats, you have to only count whatever at bats he gets in addition to what he had last year, 284 PA.

 

 

I misread the bolded.

 

Either way, I think it's a weird convoluted way of looking at it.

 

It's a straightforward rational way of looking at it.

[radarluv1]

is miles the only backup for 2b, 3b, and ss?

[dew1679666265]

is miles the only backup for 2b, 3b, and ss?

 

Yep. Hoffpauir is the primary 1B backup and Miles is the only other infielder on the roster (other than the starters, obviously).

[jersey cubs fan]

is miles the only backup for 2b, 3b, and ss?

 

the way things stand now, yes. I was assuming they'd find at least another backup middle infielder before the season started. It will be interesting to see how they handle double switches, as well as those days when they want to rest Aramis, make him unavailable, but not put him on the DL.

[radarluv1]

is miles the only backup for 2b, 3b, and ss?

 

the way things stand now, yes. I was assuming they'd find at least another backup middle infielder before the season started. It will be interesting to see how they handle double switches, as well as those days when they want to rest Aramis, make him unavailable, but not put him on the DL.

well this seems like a big problem to me. maybe its not that unusual for most NL teams though.

[Guest]

Here's to Milton Bradley, there's been quite a bit a talk about what the Cubs have lost in DeRosa but, for me it's simple - Bradley' bat > DeRosa bat' regardless of DeRosa' versatility and leadership.

 

Bradley's bat is obviously much better than DeRosa's, but Bradley isn't taking DeRosa's ABs. He's taking Edmonds' ABs from last year.

 

DeRosa's ABs will be taken by Aaron Miles and whoever replaces Bradley in right when Milton gets hurt.

 

But I do appreciate Bradley's bat - I hope he's healthy all year.

 

 

Mike Fontenot says, "Hi."

 

Fontenot will take Fontenot's at bats, and some of DeRosa's. But my bet is Miles will have more PA than Fontenot will have increased PA.

That's fine...but an awful lot of Miles' at bats will be replacing Ronny Cedeno.

[Guest]

Here's to Milton Bradley, there's been quite a bit a talk about what the Cubs have lost in DeRosa but, for me it's simple - Bradley' bat > DeRosa bat' regardless of DeRosa' versatility and leadership.

 

Bradley's bat is obviously much better than DeRosa's, but Bradley isn't taking DeRosa's ABs. He's taking Edmonds' ABs from last year.

 

DeRosa's ABs will be taken by Aaron Miles and whoever replaces Bradley in right when Milton gets hurt.

 

But I do appreciate Bradley's bat - I hope he's healthy all year.

 

 

Mike Fontenot says, "Hi."

 

Fontenot will take Fontenot's at bats, and some of DeRosa's. But my bet is Miles will have more PA than Fontenot will have increased PA.

 

I really don't see Miles getting more PA than Fontenot barring injury or Fontenot completely sucking.

 

We shall see.

 

I didn't say he'd get more than Fontenot. But Fontenot played on the Cubs last year. In order to say he will take DeRosa's at bats, you have to only count whatever at bats he gets in addition to what he had last year, 284 PA.

 

Exactly. Fontenot will have the same ABs he got last year plus a decent number. Most of DeRo's lost ABs will go to the new additions, though.

 

Fontenot will still get more ABs than Miles overall, but Miles will get a larger number of ABs that would have gone to DeRo had he stayed.

Not really. It doesn't map anywhere nearly that cleanly.

[Guest]

It makes more sense to say that Miles is replacing Cedeno and that the first 216 AB's he accrues this season are replacing Ronny, not DeRo.

[Cynosure]

Aren't the Cubs like .800 with Bradley in the line-up?

[dew1679666265]

It makes more sense to say that Miles is replacing Cedeno and that the first 216 AB's he accrues this season are replacing Ronny, not DeRo.

 

Except that every time a left hander takes the mound this season, it'll be Miles batting instead of DeRosa. That was 171 ABs last year for DeRo.

 

Fontenot played twice the games at second that Cedeno did. Those ABs will now be split between Fontenot and Miles (and a few to Gathright or Hoffpauir for the times that Fontenot came in when DeRo moved to the OF in the middle of a game).

 

Plus, anytime this season Fontenot takes a day off against a righty, it'll be Miles playing. That won't be a lot of ABs, but they would have likely gone to the DeRosa/Fonenot duo last year.

 

Miles will definitely be getting a whole lot of DeRosa's ABs.

[CubColtPacer]

It makes more sense to say that Miles is replacing Cedeno and that the first 216 AB's he accrues this season are replacing Ronny, not DeRo.

 

Except that every time a left hander takes the mound this season, it'll be Miles batting instead of DeRosa. That was 171 ABs last year for DeRo.

 

Not really. A decent percentage of DeRosa's starts against left-handers last year came in the OF. If I counted correctly, there were 25 starts against left-handers where Cedeno started at 2B and DeRosa started in the OF. In those scenarios, it will be Miles taking Cedeno's AB's and either Soriano, Bradley, or Hoffpauir taking DeRosa's AB's.

 

Fontenot played twice the games at second that Cedeno did. Those ABs will now be split between Fontenot and Miles (and a few to Gathright or Hoffpauir for the times that Fontenot came in when DeRo moved to the OF in the middle of a game).

 

Plus, anytime this season Fontenot takes a day off against a righty, it'll be Miles playing. That won't be a lot of ABs, but they would have likely gone to the DeRosa/Fonenot duo last year.

 

Miles will definitely be getting a whole lot of DeRosa's ABs.

 

DeRosa had 272 AB's at second base and 47 at third. Fontenot will likely take around 175 of those AB's at second and Miles will take the other 100 of Derosa's along with Cedeno's 110.

 

Miles will likely get between 300-350 at-bats this year, but only 150 or so of them (100 at second and 50 at third) are replacing DeRosa. The other 150-200 are replacing Cedeno.

 

The combination of Hoffpauir, Johnson, and Gathright will probably pick up more of DeRosa's AB's than Miles will. They will be the ones who will be the injury replacements in the OF which was DeRosa's role.

[dew1679666265]

It makes more sense to say that Miles is replacing Cedeno and that the first 216 AB's he accrues this season are replacing Ronny, not DeRo.

 

Except that every time a left hander takes the mound this season, it'll be Miles batting instead of DeRosa. That was 171 ABs last year for DeRo.

 

Not really. A decent percentage of DeRosa's starts against left-handers last year came in the OF. If I counted correctly, there were 25 starts against left-handers where Cedeno started at 2B and DeRosa started in the OF. In those scenarios, it will be Miles taking Cedeno's AB's and either Soriano, Bradley, or Hoffpauir taking DeRosa's AB's.

 

Fontenot played twice the games at second that Cedeno did. Those ABs will now be split between Fontenot and Miles (and a few to Gathright or Hoffpauir for the times that Fontenot came in when DeRo moved to the OF in the middle of a game).

 

Plus, anytime this season Fontenot takes a day off against a righty, it'll be Miles playing. That won't be a lot of ABs, but they would have likely gone to the DeRosa/Fonenot duo last year.

 

Miles will definitely be getting a whole lot of DeRosa's ABs.

 

DeRosa had 272 AB's at second base and 47 at third. Fontenot will likely take around 175 of those AB's at second and Miles will take the other 100 of Derosa's along with Cedeno's 110.

 

Miles will likely get between 300-350 at-bats this year, but only 150 or so of them (100 at second and 50 at third) are replacing DeRosa. The other 150-200 are replacing Cedeno.

 

I didn't notice that amount of ABs for DeRo against lefties in the OF. Thanks.

[weis21]

It makes more sense to say that Miles is replacing Cedeno and that the first 216 AB's he accrues this season are replacing Ronny, not DeRo.

 

Except that every time a left hander takes the mound this season, it'll be Miles batting instead of DeRosa.

 

From what Bruce said it was either Derosa or Bradley due to financial considerations. I don't know why it had to be that black or white, or why Hendry felt the need to throw 5 million Miles' way, but there is nothing to do now.

 

I don't think Miles playing second base over Fontenot next year against purely LHP will be a negative at all. He's posted an OBP of .368 and .378 against LHP in 07 and 08 respectively. Fontenot has done nothing but look completely clueless against LHP in his short MLB tenure.

 

If he posts anywhere close to the .378 OBP he posted last year, then the Cubs could do a lot worse at second base.

 

Of course, this assumes that there will eventually be another SS or 3B option if/when an injury occurs.

[dew1679666265]

It makes more sense to say that Miles is replacing Cedeno and that the first 216 AB's he accrues this season are replacing Ronny, not DeRo.

 

Except that every time a left hander takes the mound this season, it'll be Miles batting instead of DeRosa.

 

I don't think Miles playing second base over Fontenot next year against purely LHP will be a negative at all. He's posted an OBP of .368 and .378 against LHP in 07 and 08 respectively. Fontenot has done nothing but look completely clueless against LHP in his short MLB tenure.

 

It's a win-win in my book. Miles is already on the roster, so let him platoon with Fontenot. Fontenot has a question mark as to his abilitiy to sustain his MLB success over a full of AB and Miles is far from a bad option against strictly LHP as a second baseman.

 

Yeah, Miles is a better option against lefties than Fontenot. My problem, though, is that he'll be a big downgrade from what DeRosa gave us against lefties last year.

 

CCP did provide the stats that showed most of DeRo's ABs against lefties came in the OF, but that doesn't make me feel any better about dumping DeRo.

 

Of course, this is taken in the context that Derosa was not an option. If it really took his trade to free up the cash to sign Milton then fine. But I find it hard to believe there was no other way to keep both of them.

 

Our payroll right now is at $137 million. In trading DeRo and signing Miles, we saved roughly $3 million. Most estimates have said our payroll is $140 million.

 

I'm not convinced trading DeRo was a necessity to sign Bradley.

[weis21]

You caught me before I was able to figure out what the hell was being talked about dew. :twisted:

 

It's been a long week (comprehensive finals) and I completely misconstrued the earlier context.

 

Either way, the point that I was trying to make is that since Dero is already gone like it or not, if (and only if) Miles is used solely as a platoon to Fontenot then he will not be a bad option given his high OBP and Fontenot's lack of success vs. LHP/time logged as a MLB regular.

 

Oh yeah, Milton is going to be a beast.

[dew1679666265]

You caught me before I was able to figure out what the hell was being talked about dew. :twisted:

 

It's been a long week (comprehensive finals) and I completely misconstrued the earlier context.

 

I can completely understand, my friend. It's all good. :D

 

Either way, the point that I was trying to make is that since Dero is already gone like it or not, if (and only if) Miles is used solely as a platoon to Fontenot then he will not be a bad option given his high OBP and Fontenot's lack of success vs. LHP/time logged as a MLB regular.

 

He'll hit some singles. I guess that'll be moderate enough production.

 

I'd still rather have saved the $4 million over the next two years and gave German a shot at being just as good as Miles for a fraction of the cost. Or signed one of the few better options at a cheaper cost than Miles. But, oh well.

 

Oh yeah, Milton is going to be a beast.

 

Please stay healthy Milton.

[Cubswin11]

Has it been confirmed by someone with the Cubs Hendry/Kenny that trading DeRosa was just for monetary reasons? Is it possible it could have been done for a expected Peavy deal? I mean it's not like we got a a guy in the deal that will help us out this year or ever even get to the majors. It's not like we owed DeRosa a big deal he only had 7ish left and was a FA after the year, likely type-a. After showing we were willing to spend money giving Demspter and Bradley big deals and signing Miles to a decent sized contract I find it hard to believe we traded DeRosa to save 2-3 mil (taking in Miles contract) for the year. Maybe is was just Hendry/Piniella wanted to get Fontenot in there more and see what he can do with 400-500 ab's.

[weis21]

Either way, the point that I was trying to make is that since Dero is already gone like it or not, if (and only if) Miles is used solely as a platoon to Fontenot then he will not be a bad option given his high OBP and Fontenot's lack of success vs. LHP/time logged as a MLB regular.

 

He'll hit some singles. I guess that'll be moderate enough production.

 

I'd still rather have saved the $4 million over the next two years and gave German a shot at being just as good as Miles for a fraction of the cost. Or signed one of the few better options at a cheaper cost than Miles. But, oh well.

 

Yeah, here I am definitely with you. I would have loved to sign Grudzielanek to a 1-year deal for 1-2 million. But, given the current, albeit "less than perfect" scenario, we could do worse than Miles. He is more or less another Ryan Theriot playing second base for Fontenot when he sits versus LHP.

[dew1679666265]

Has it been confirmed by someone with the Cubs Hendry/Kenny that trading DeRosa was just for monetary reasons? Is it possible it could have been done for a expected Peavy deal? I mean it's not like we got a a guy in the deal that will help us out this year or ever even get to the majors. It's not like we owed DeRosa a big deal he only had 7ish left and was a FA after the year, likely type-a. After showing we were willing to spend money giving Demspter and Bradley big deals and signing Miles to a decent sized contract I find it hard to believe we traded DeRosa to save 2-3 mil (taking in Miles contract) for the year. Maybe is was just Hendry/Piniella wanted to get Fontenot in there more and see what he can do with 400-500 ab's.

 

Nothing has been officially confirmed as to why DeRosa was traded.

 

It's possible that it was for an expected Peavy deal that fell through. If so, Hendry should have waited until there was no possibility that the deal would fall through before pulling the trigger on the DeRo trade.

 

It's also possible that it was made to get Fontenot more ABs. The problem there is, with a very large injury risk in RF, a potential injury risk in LF and an injury risk at 3B to take up DeRo's time, there would have been plenty of ABs for Fontenot - especially since, as our roster stands now, he would have been our only middle infielder.

 

Fontenot got well over 200 ABs last year and with Cedeno gone he would have gotten all (or the vast majority) of those as well. He would have had at least close to 400 ABs, if not more. There was no reason to trade DeRo if that was their reasoning.

[dew1679666265]

Either way, the point that I was trying to make is that since Dero is already gone like it or not, if (and only if) Miles is used solely as a platoon to Fontenot then he will not be a bad option given his high OBP and Fontenot's lack of success vs. LHP/time logged as a MLB regular.

 

He'll hit some singles. I guess that'll be moderate enough production.

 

I'd still rather have saved the $4 million over the next two years and gave German a shot at being just as good as Miles for a fraction of the cost. Or signed one of the few better options at a cheaper cost than Miles. But, oh well.

 

Yeah, here I am definitely with you. I would have loved to sign Grudzielanek to a 1-year deal for 1-2 million. But, given the current, albeit "less than perfect" scenario, we could do worse than Miles. He is more or less another Ryan Theriot playing second base for Fontenot when he sits versus LHP.

 

Yeah, and that's not particularly good. Theriot is a really nice player to have who will produce something for a cheap price. And if Miles was making Theriot's money, I wouldn't have the slightest problem with him here.

 

Problem is, he'll produce around what Theriot gives us (if he repeats last year's career year) at a much larger cost.

[weis21]

Has it been confirmed by someone with the Cubs Hendry/Kenny that trading DeRosa was just for monetary reasons? Is it possible it could have been done for a expected Peavy deal? I mean it's not like we got a a guy in the deal that will help us out this year or ever even get to the majors. It's not like we owed DeRosa a big deal he only had 7ish left and was a FA after the year, likely type-a. After showing we were willing to spend money giving Demspter and Bradley big deals and signing Miles to a decent sized contract I find it hard to believe we traded DeRosa to save 2-3 mil (taking in Miles contract) for the year. Maybe is was just Hendry/Piniella wanted to get Fontenot in there more and see what he can do with 400-500 ab's.

I think, if I remember correctly, that Bruce Miles basically insinuated as much around this board. I always kind of thought that it was a trade to either replenish the farm after a Peavy trade or to get prospects that the Padres specifically wanted.