Tigers intrested in MB (Silly Steve Stone Rumor)

[Guest]

He's shown signs of life lately.

 

The evidence doesn't show that. In July he is hitting .245 and in June he hit .273.

 

His OBP has risen steadily every month. He's not been a source of power this year, but he has gotten on base very well the past couple of months.

Maybe we need to bat him second then if he's going to continue to be all OBP and no power.

 

I definitely think he should bat second. I'd love to see a Fukudome/Bradley 1-2 part of the order.

 

While I would as well, putting those two back-to-back at the top of the order would probably make Lou's head explode.

 

If it's a righty on the mound, Bradley would bat lefty and Lou's obsession with splitting up lefties wouldn't let him do it. If it's a lefty on the mound, Lou would probably put Reed in there and Fuku would be lucky to bat sixth, if he was even in the lineup at all.

[Fred Hornkohl]

Here's what I got for Bradley.....

 

Bradley            AB    R    H   2b   3b   HR  RBI   BB   SO     BA    OBP    SLG    OPS  BABIP  P/PA   IsoD   RBI%
April              34    5    4    0    0    2    2    9   10  0.118  0.333  0.294  0.627  0.091  4.40  0.216  0.000
May                82   14   22    3    1    3   12    9   15  0.268  0.348  0.439  0.787  0.297  3.80  0.080  0.257
June               66    5   18    5    0    0    4   10   17  0.273  0.372  0.348  0.720  0.367  4.21  0.099  0.105
July               50    7   13    1    0    2    6   16   12  0.260  0.448  0.400  0.848  0.306  4.04  0.188  0.167

Season totals     232   31   57    9    1    7   24   44   54  0.246  0.376  0.384  0.760  0.292  4.07  0.130  0.145

 

Bradley            AB    R    H   2b   3b   HR  RBI   BB   SO     BA    OBP    SLG    OPS  BABIP  P/PA   IsoD   RBI%
vs. starters      154   26   42    6    1    6   20   25   32  0.273  0.391  0.442  0.833  0.310  4.15  0.119  0.177
vs. relievers      78    5   15    3    0    1    4   19   22  0.192  0.347  0.269  0.616  0.255  3.91  0.155  0.079

vs Left            69    8   23    4    1    1    7    5    9  0.333  0.395  0.464  0.859  0.373  3.66  0.061  0.154
vs Right          163   23   34    5    0    6   17   39   45  0.209  0.369  0.350  0.719  0.250  4.22  0.160  0.141

Home              114   17   35    6    1    5   16   22   25  0.307  0.432  0.509  0.940  0.357  4.07  0.125  0.244
Road              118   14   22    3    0    2    8   22   29  0.186  0.322  0.263  0.584  0.230  4.06  0.135  0.083

Day               106   12   31    4    1    3   11   18   22  0.292  0.405  0.434  0.839  0.346  4.06  0.112  0.157
Nite              126   19   26    5    0    4   13   26   32  0.206  0.353  0.341  0.694  0.244  4.08  0.146  0.136

Leading off        51   11   11    1    0    2    2   10    9  0.216  0.355  0.353  0.708  0.225  4.15  0.139  0.000
Pinch hitting      12    1    3    0    0    1    1    2    4  0.250  0.357  0.500  0.857  0.286  3.29  0.107  0.000
bases loaded        6    0    2    1    0    0    4    0    2  0.333  0.429  0.500  0.929  0.500  4.14  0.095  0.250
bases empty       135   19   31    3    0    4    4   21   29  0.230  0.338  0.341  0.678  0.265  3.99  0.108  0.000
runners on         97   12   26    6    1    3   20   23   25  0.268  0.424  0.443  0.867  0.333  4.16  0.156  0.145
RISP               54    7   11    3    0    2   15   17   15  0.204  0.413  0.370  0.784  0.243  4.05  0.210  0.153

Game tied          59    8   12    1    1    2    5   12    9  0.203  0.365  0.356  0.721  0.208  4.19  0.161  0.097
CUBS leading       81   11   19    3    0    1    3   20   17  0.235  0.398  0.309  0.707  0.286  4.23  0.163  0.044
CUBS trailing      92   12   26    5    0    4   16   12   28  0.283  0.362  0.467  0.829  0.367  3.82  0.079  0.293
Close score       187   25   44    6    1    6   18   36   44  0.235  0.368  0.374  0.743  0.277  4.09  0.133  0.136

Early (1-3)        77   10   15    1    1    1    8   15   16  0.195  0.347  0.273  0.620  0.233  4.35  0.153  0.159
Middle (4-6)       87   15   29    6    0    5   12   12   18  0.333  0.426  0.575  1.000  0.375  3.95  0.092  0.156
Late (7th on)      68    6   13    2    0    1    4   17   20  0.191  0.349  0.265  0.614  0.255  3.90  0.158  0.107
Extra Innings       3    0    1    0    0    0    0    1    1  0.333  0.500  0.333  0.833  0.500  3.50  0.167  0.000

[Fred Hornkohl]

from a BCB poster-

 

Stone has more to say-

 

"

 

"Stoney fires back at bruce miles:

 

 

In detroit for the series. Understand a guy named bruce miles believes that the whole bradley story was made up. Who is bruce miles."

---

 

What a jerk Stone is.

 

Oh, the hurt.

 

You can handle it Bruce, you got broad shoulders !! :wink:

[Soul]

Bruce has an excellent retort to the Stone fiasco on his blog, with a funny story regarding Ron and Stoney. It is worth checking out for a good laugh.

 

http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/2325

 

Great story. A few years ago in Pittsuburgh, he was going on about what he was going to do "when" he bought the A's. Ron Santo finished his dinner, wiped his mouth and said, "I'll tell you what you're going to be doing next year _ broadcasting baseball!"

 

I don't know if this is the first time Bruce has called Stone's nonsense out. I do know this isn't the first time Stoney has directed a bunch of nonsense our way since joining the White Sox booth.

 

I almost feel embarrassed for having liked him so much when he was with the Cubs. I swear he wasn't this bad when he was with us......or was he?

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Too bad Mercker didn't whoop Stone's ass for real about five years ago.

[RedFlash]

Stoney's is just mad that his ego just took a hit. He's mad that Bruce all but female dog slapped Stoney and his "sources" and he's trying to prove he's right by pulling a Mark Buehrle. Plus it can't be good for one's pride to have to work for the White Sox who lead the league is biggest tools in baseball.

[imb]

look at what the poster said:

 

I know alot of people hate Bradley here but I dont think just cause he struggled his first 3 months at Wrigley that hes never going to turn it around. He's shown signs of life lately.

 

Plus guys like Derrek Lee, Alfonso Soriano, Moises Alou, and many more have struggled there first couple months to first full season at Wrigley for whatever reason. It can be hard for people to adjust to playing at Wrigley.

 

When someone is talking about batters "struggling", they normally aren't talking about the fact that said player's OBP is .345 when their career rate is .370 or whatever.

 

He's using the phrase "turning things around". I highly doubt that he, or most people, thinks that taking more walks = turning things around.

 

maybe you don't, but everyone who understands what hitting is about (for instance: that guy) does.

 

he said "showing signs of life"

 

uhh, i dont know, maybe, like, getting on base over 40 percent of the time counts? maybe raising his OPS over last month counts? no, you're right, let's just look at his [expletive] batting average. give me a break.

[Backtobanks]

so this isn't real, but how about just for fun i create a deal that could make sense for the various parties involved:

 

cubs get:

adam dunn

joe beimel

 

tigers get:

milton bradley

$4M from cubs

 

nationals get:

casey crosby, LHP

scott sizemore, 2B

blake parker, RHP

junior lake, SS

 

 

fire away.

 

 

If the Cubs had the money to pay Dunn, Beimel, and $4 million of Bradley's contract, they would have made a deal for somebody weeks ago.

[OleMissCub]

he said "showing signs of life"

 

yes and he also said "struggling" and referenced other players who "struggled" early in their careers at Wrigley. Having an OBP at .350 or whatever Milton's was for most of the season isn't what people are talking about when they say "struggling". When talking about the other players struggling at Wrigley, you think they are talking about "taking less walks"?? He also referenced "turning things around". Milton's OBP isn't something that people would look to and say "damn, he sucks! he needs to turn that around!" Of course not, they are talking about his abysmal hitting and lack of power. I can't recall many posters on here bitching about Milton's lack of patience at the plate or anything like that. If damn near everything you read about Milton is that "he can't hit and hasn't given us much power", then it is a logical assumption to think when someone talks about him "turning things around" that they are talking about him actually hitting the ball.

[Old Style]

He's shown signs of life lately.

 

The evidence doesn't show that. In July he is hitting .245 and in June he hit .273.

 

His OBP has risen steadily every month. He's not been a source of power this year, but he has gotten on base very well the past couple of months.

Maybe we need to bat him second then if he's going to continue to be all OBP and no power.

 

I definitely think he should bat second. I'd love to see a Fukudome/Bradley 1-2 part of the order.

Yes, please.

[CubColtPacer]

While I'm not a fan of using just batting average to show it, I have to agree with the thought that Bradley's numbers (before yesterday's homerun) didn't show any indication of turning anything around from June to July.

 

Yes, his OPS was 40 points better and his OBP was around 70 points better. His production had certainly improved from June to July.

 

However, that increase lied in a completely unsustainable walk rate and one that was mostly based upon luck. Normally, when a player improves his walk rate it is a function of 1 of 2 things. 1) The player changes his approach to be more patient. or 2) The player has become a bigger power threat and teams pitch around them.

 

Bradley, however, both in observation and statistics already had a very patient approach. His ISOD was over .1, which is as close to as high as you can reasonably expect from all but the biggest power hitters.

 

However, the increase in his OPS from July was caused by an ISOD of around .2 even with poor power production. When you are only a decent threat for power and pitchers are throwing that many pitches outside the zone, it's luck. The most patient approach in the world can't sustain walking that much.

 

So while Bradley had better production in July, his projection for August would be no higher than his production in June because his walk rate would very likely fall right back to a normal number. That means he hadn't really done anything to turn it around so far in July that would actually cause a change in his future projections.

 

However, his home run yesterday also increased his ISOP from last month, which is something that is much more sustainable for Bradley. That's where his improvement is going to have to come if he's going to have a more normal .850-.900 OPS (along with a higher batting average that will raise his OBP and SLG).

[javy knows my name]

Steve Stone needs to realize he's not working for the Cubs anymore and worry about his own damn team.

Uhh, he works for the White Sox now. They worry more about our team than we do.

[laurens]

Steve Stone needs to realize he's not working for the Cubs anymore and worry about his own damn team.

Uhh, he works for the White Sox now. They worry more about our team than we do.

 

This is about the Tigers too though, and I think the Tigers and the White Sox are only 2 games apart in the AL central.

[RynoRules]

I am very disappointed in Stone. I really though the passage of time would allow him to get over himself. Guess his ego is much bigger than that.

[rocket]

thank god for len and bob

[dew1679666265]

While I would as well, putting those two back-to-back at the top of the order would probably make Lou's head explode.

 

If it's a righty on the mound, Bradley would bat lefty and Lou's obsession with splitting up lefties wouldn't let him do it. If it's a lefty on the mound, Lou would probably put Reed in there and Fuku would be lucky to bat sixth, if he was even in the lineup at all.

 

I don't have a problem with Reed leading off against lefties. I might actually like to see him bat second with Bradley first against lefties this year (because of Reed's .455 SLG behind Bradley's OBP).

 

I doubt that happens, though.

[sporrer17]

Stoney can't let it go. From his twitter:

 

first this -

 

"To all the people who believe who believe that david kaplan and i made up the bradley story---get a life. Trade deadline rumors are not new."

 

then

 

"The giants need a hitter to make a run at the wildcard. Word out is that the nats nick johnson might fill their needs. Chase that down bruce"

[Banedon]

Huh....hey Bruce, was there bad blood between you and Stone before this?

[Jehrico]

Steve Stone is a loser. I was upset when he left at first, but now I see it's one of the best things that happened to the team. It might be right behind the day they finally let Dusty go.

[E.J.]

Stoney can't let it go. From his twitter:

 

first this -

 

"To all the people who believe who believe that david kaplan and i made up the bradley story---get a life. Trade deadline rumors are not new."

 

then

 

"The giants need a hitter to make a run at the wildcard. Word out is that the nats nick johnson might fill their needs. Chase that down bruce"

 

Bruce: "I didn't find out anything about the Nick Johnson rumors, but I did find this picture:"

http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee6/ccwolfe75/SteveStone04.jpg

[Bruce Miles]

Huh....hey Bruce, was there bad blood between you and Stone before this?

 

Never. Ever. In fact, I always liked the guy. But we had to chase down a "story" yesterday. It was a rumor that made the rounds across the country. There was nothing to it. If he's that thin-skinned and wants to take cheap shots at me, that's fine.

 

I always found him to be great company, generous with his time and all that. He even picked up a dinner check for me when I was out one night.

 

I'd hate to think if he ever were a GM how he'd react once the criticism started. One thing I said on my blog yesterday is that if we hear a rumor, Jim Hendry says to call him and he'll do the best he can to say if it's worth chasing or not. Sully and I each talked with multiple Cubs people yesterday when Kaplan put it on his blog, and they all said it was the first they heard of it.

 

Too bad Steve feels this way.

[Sammy Sofa]

Good Lord, the idea of Stone and Kaplan united in a duo of douchebaggery is just too awful.

[Arnold Layne]

I am very disappointed in Stone. I really though the passage of time would allow him to get over himself. Guess his ego is much bigger than that.

 

 

I could care less about his ego. The problem is that he's ten times the baseball announcer than anyone in the Cubs booth, both the TV and radio side.

 

 

I don't want to be friends with him, I just want a quality baseball broadcast.

[Derwood]

I am very disappointed in Stone. I really though the passage of time would allow him to get over himself. Guess his ego is much bigger than that.

 

 

I could care less about his ego. The problem is that he's ten times the baseball announcer than anyone in the Cubs booth, both the TV and radio side.

 

 

I don't want to be friends with him, I just want a quality baseball broadcast.

 

I used to think so, but I don't miss him anymore

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I am very disappointed in Stone. I really though the passage of time would allow him to get over himself. Guess his ego is much bigger than that.

 

 

I could care less about his ego. The problem is that he's ten times the baseball announcer than anyone in the Cubs booth, both the TV and radio side.

 

 

I don't want to be friends with him, I just want a quality baseball broadcast.

 

I will give this to Stone. He taught me that a slider low and away with two strikes will likely get the hitter out. Other than that, I've got no use for him.