Bradley Suspended for the Rest of the Season

[CubbieBum]

Bradley will outplay whoever the Cubs stick in RF next year.

 

You don't know that.

 

Yeah he does.

 

Who's replacing Bradley in RF next year? I'm eager to hear your response.

Why don't you wait until we see who actually will replace him next year before you make any proclamations as to who will have a better season. Speculation at this point is like pissing in the wind.

 

Or you can look at the realistic in-house and free agent RF options for next year and see that I'm right

 

Or you can stop acting like you are Miss Cleo. Actually now that I think about it you are right. No one ever has a break out year and an unexpecting FA never ends up producing better than expected. I'm pretty sure teams never trade anymore too.

[17 Seconds]

I wonder what kind of stuff has gone on behind the scenes that we don't know about.

[Irrelevant Dude]

 

what the hell are you talking about? You folks keep bringing up his "productivity" as if it is something to write home about.

 

9.1 VORP, 3.2 WARP3, .775 OPS

 

That's hardly irreplaceable. I don't know who is out there we can get or who we can promote, but those are hardly great numbers.

 

you think those would be his numbers next year?

 

they could be worse for all you or I know. More likely he'd suffer some season ending injury in the first week.

 

they could be. But it's pretty clear that this season's numbers are an anomaly (only 2nd time in last 6 years to OPS under .800).

That may be clear to you, but it isn't to me. Why should we assume that an injury-prone player in his 30's will return to his previous form? There's a decent chance that he will, but it isn't out of the question that his best years are behind him.

[Derwood]

You may be right, but again, who plays RF for the Cubs next year?

[Tyrant]

I wonder what kind of stuff has gone on behind the scenes that we don't know about.

 

That's another factor. We don't know everything that has happened, only what's been publicly reported. I think it's a damning sign that none of his teammates seem to care at all that he's been suspended. Combine that with everything in Milton's past, I don't see how people can continue to think Bradley isn't the primary culprit.

[davell]

Realistic Cub possibility: We bring up Colvin and he looks great the last 15 games or so of the year. We DFA Bradley, because no one will pay ANYTHING of his contract, nor give us anything for him, because of what's happened here.

 

Colvin goes into next year as our starting RFer. He proceeds to put up a line of .245/.270/.360 for April/May and then we send him down only to use Hoff there for June/July, where he puts up the same line as Colvin. We finish next year with Fukudone in Rf and Johnson in CF fulltime, with the main offseason goal of 2011 as "we need more lefthandedness"

[OleMissCub]

You may be right, but again, who plays RF for the Cubs next year?

 

Probably someone who can put up a 9.1 VORP

[Gingerballs Lives]

What's laughable is that people seem to view Bradley as if he were Barry Bonds.

 

He's been league average at the plate while playing below average defense - practically irreplacebale!

 

 

Agree 100%. He's basically an overpaid, injury-prone, [expletive] version of Scott Hatteberg.

 

WANT

 

Find me one person on this board who thinks Bradley is as good as Bonds. One.

 

Quiet, he's on a roll.

 

Yes, and you are the one defending Milton Bradley, even though his teammates and organization will not.

 

Screw these guys, I'm with Flamez24Rulz! You know, the guy with Aaron Rodgers jumping around in every one of his posts!

[erik316wttn]

I've never been a big believer in clubhouse chemistry. Hell, the 1970's A's dynasty would regularly get into fistfights in the clubhouse. But, all rules are off when it comes to Milton Bradley. He's the exception to the rule. The man in a cancer and a nutcase and the sooner we cut him loose the better.

[imb]

I wonder what kind of stuff has gone on behind the scenes that we don't know about.

 

i dont want to fall into sullivan's trap, but by the looks of things, a lot. Lee and Ramirez and company weren't exactly wishing him a fond farewell.

[Outshined_One]

You may be right, but again, who plays RF for the Cubs next year?

 

I can see the Cubs moving Fukudome to RF and doing something absolutely asinine like getting Chone Figgins for CF.

[Andy]

I wonder what kind of stuff has gone on behind the scenes that we don't know about.

Honestly, I doubt if too much has. Bradley has no filter and I'd be surprised if he hadn't yapped if most anything of substance had happened.

[OleMissCub]

I wonder what kind of stuff has gone on behind the scenes that we don't know about.

 

i dont want to fall into sullivan's trap, but by the looks of things, a lot. Lee and Ramirez and company weren't exactly wishing him a fond farewell.

 

Absolutely, and like I said earlier, if they are actually willing to say the things they said in that article, then it is likely alot worse.

[Gingerballs Lives]

I wonder what kind of stuff has gone on behind the scenes that we don't know about.

 

i dont want to fall into sullivan's trap, but by the looks of things, a lot. Lee and Ramirez and company weren't exactly wishing him a fond farewell.

 

Yes, but unless you can come up with a name right now who will produce more than the mythical production levels of a 2010 Milton Bradley, you are completely wrong.

[USSoccer]

I guess I get the decision. Regardless of how this mess started-and there's plenty of blame to go around-I get it.

 

With any other player, I would be a lot more angry that Hendry went and torpedoed all of his leverage going into an offseason where he would always look like trading MB. However, with Bradley, is this as big of an issue as it would be with anyone else?

 

I can only assume there's been a ton of ish behind the scenes we aren't privy to. It's telling no one in the clubhouse has defended him. Given that, would his trade value be really all that high?

 

On the other hand, one would want their GM to make rational, weighted decisions instead of knee jerk pissed off reactions to things, and taking someone's trade value from "negligible" to "none" is still taking it down.

 

EDIT:

 

In conclusion, I guess I'm saying I understand why it was done, but also think it was done stupidly.

Edited September 21, 2009 by USSoccer

[Gingerballs Lives]

You may be right, but again, who plays RF for the Cubs next year?

 

I can see the Cubs moving Fukudome to RF and doing something absolutely asinine like getting Chone Figgins for CF.

 

That's a lot smarter of a move than making Milton Bradley the focus of your offseason plans.

[Flames24Rulz]

What's laughable is that people seem to view Bradley as if he were Barry Bonds.

 

He's been league average at the plate while playing below average defense - practically irreplacebale!

 

 

Agree 100%. He's basically an overpaid, injury-prone, [expletive] version of Scott Hatteberg.

 

WANT

 

Find me one person on this board who thinks Bradley is as good as Bonds. One.

 

Quiet, he's on a roll.

 

Yes, and you are the one defending Milton Bradley, even though his teammates and organization will not.

 

Screw these guys, I'm with Flamez24Rulz! You know, the guy with Aaron Rodgers jumping around in every one of his posts!

 

Sure, believe what you want to believe.

 

Bradley's a jackass, there's no question about that. I feel this easily could've been handled in a better manner than how it's currently being handled. I'm only defending Bradley because I think he's a decent player and he's better than the in-house options that we have right now. Is that too difficult to understand?

[Flames24Rulz]

You may be right, but again, who plays RF for the Cubs next year?

 

I can see the Cubs moving Fukudome to RF and doing something absolutely asinine like getting Chone Figgins for CF.

 

That's a lot smarter of a move than making Milton Bradley the focus of your offseason plans.

 

Sure, if you pay Figgins like $4 million a season. Some team is going to give him $10+ million a season and I'm starting to believe that team is unfortunately going to be us.

[Derwood]

You may be right, but again, who plays RF for the Cubs next year?

 

I can see the Cubs moving Fukudome to RF and doing something absolutely asinine like getting Chone Figgins for CF.

 

That's a lot smarter of a move than making Milton Bradley the focus of your offseason plans.

 

Figgins is basically the same age as Bradley and is way, way worse at baseball

[hawkeyecub]

I'd say this was the right call. At some point you just have to cut your losses, and this situation was clearly just going to get worse next year.

 

i can see trading him, but i think they could have DL'ed him with knee inflammation or tried to work with him to shut the hell up the rest of the year, and then try to accommodate him by dealing him to a handful of teams he wants to play for. as it is now they've basically ended up in a situation where they have to eat most of his contract next year (and i think the year after - i don't see any reason why they could get out from under 2011) and get nothing in return, there are no good in-house options and with the $10M committed to bradley the next two years, it's going to be really hard to get acceptable production from RF without giving up some good players from the farm.

 

i dunno, just seems like other teams do a lot better job of damage control than the cubs do. i suppose it doesn't matter much because, barring some miraculous improvements, the cubs are just going to be mediocre and boring in 2010.

 

Do you really think it mattered though?

 

Prior to the suspension, I'm sure every team in baseball knew we were going to dump Bradley this winter. Now he's suspended and every team in baseball knows we're going to dump Bradley this winter. The only difference is it may send a message that you can't completely act like an ass in the clubhouse, trash your fans, blame everyone possible for your problems and be an overall headache for everyone in the organization.

 

As far as who we'll have in RF next year, I have no idea and it probably won't be good. But there really wasn't anything Hendry could have done in this last month to make it work. Milton has been trying to force a trade for the last month with his comments in the media.

[Irrelevant Dude]

On the other hand, one would want their GM to make rational, weighted decisions instead of knee jerk pissed off reactions to things, and taking someone's trade value from "negligible" to "none" is still taking it down.

I would like to think that Hendry sat down with Bradley much earlier in the season to try to settle him down, but I doubt that ever happened. He waited to do anything until the team was virtually eliminated.

[ToupeeOnFire]

Because much of Bradley's value is wrapped up in his on-base percentage, I think some people tend to see him as a litmus test in the increasingly tiresome sabermetrics vs. crusty old baseball men debate. Never mind the fact that Billy Beane, after seeing the error of his ways, jettisoned MB as soon as possible (that must make Billy Beane a racist).

 

The fact that MB has had problems everywhere he has been seems to elude some people. Be angry at Jim Hendry for signing Bradley in the first place, don't be angry at him for suspending him (and I doubt Hendry gets anything for him on the trade market).

[imb]

I wonder what kind of stuff has gone on behind the scenes that we don't know about.

 

i dont want to fall into sullivan's trap, but by the looks of things, a lot. Lee and Ramirez and company weren't exactly wishing him a fond farewell.

 

Yes, but unless you can come up with a name right now who will produce more than the mythical production levels of a 2010 Milton Bradley, you are completely wrong.

 

to be honest, i don't see anyone on the roster that can top what we would theoretically get from bradley in 2010, but...

 

a lot can change between now and april

 

we were "lucky" to get as many games as we did from bradley this year, he's a good bet to miss a lot of time next season

 

he's obviously miserable, for a variety of reasons, many of which are his own fault, and as bad as his attitude and actions got to be this season, it would likely only get worse next year. Can you imagine the articles sullivan and company would be writing during spring training next year if bradley were around? It would be unbearable.

 

So, yes, Bradley is an idiot who and is as responsible for this situation as anyone else, but this basically played out just like everyone's worst fears and now, thanks to Hendry, we're kind of behind the 8-ball at a position where we need to get production next year. Maybe Hendry can pull some magic move and get us a productive RF out of this deal, but maybe not.

 

Either, way, getting Bradley off the team now is the right move, but if we can't get a productive OF for next season, it should cost Hendry his job.

[TruffleShuffle]

You may be right, but again, who plays RF for the Cubs next year?

 

bobby abreu maybe? his fielding blows but he's been easily worth the $5M the angels are paying him. it seemed like the market settled and he was the last one standing; there may be another situation where everyone is all set and the cubs end up with bobby abreu or reggie sanders type.

 

as for trades, maybe cody ross? he's due for an arbitration raise, similar to josh willingham last year, and the marlins didn't get all that much for willingham because they needed to dump salary. ross isn't great but he'd be a plus fielder in right and could probably be had without giving up a ton.

[Derwood]

Because much of Bradley's value is wrapped up in his on-base percentage, I think some people tend to see him as a litmus test in the increasingly tiresome sabermetrics vs. crusty old baseball men debate. Never mind the fact that Billy Beane, after seeing the error of his ways, jettisoned MB as soon as possible (that must make Billy Beane a racist).

 

The fact that MB has had problems everywhere he has been seems to elude some people. Be angry at Jim Hendry for signing Bradley in the first place, don't be angry at him for suspending him (and I doubt Hendry gets anything for him on the trade market).

 

He won't get anything now that he suspended him.