Milton Bradley to Cubs - 3 years/$30 mil

[WisconsinSportsRule]

3 years 30 million

 

http://mlbtr.blogs.sports...gs/entry/8691437/12734671

[Ennder]

So are they going to sign another OF for when Bradley gets hurt? Johnson can't really play every day.

[JohnBriggs12]

So are they going to sign another OF for when Bradley gets hurt? Johnson can't really play every day.

 

Johnson was pretty good last year in a significant number (333) of ABs. Fukudome and Gathright both won't play CF at the same time and either makes a decent spare OF.

 

Don't forget Hoffpauir who despite being a long time minor leaguer is coming off a huge season (1.145 OPS at AAA), and .934 in 75 ML at bats.

 

Right now the Brewer backup OF are Tony Gwynn, Trot Nixon, Brad Nelson, Chris Duffy and Hernan Iribarren. So who's in better shape?

 

Brewers will need lots of DL time not only for Bradley but Soriano as well.

[brewmann04]

well have to give the teams like the rays and cubs credit at least they are trying to get better, starting to believe that melvin will be looking for Scraps just like the old days. hopefully im wrong but this looks like the making of a long long season

[Ennder]

Forgot about Hoffpauir, he should do the trick for them. Gathright gettings ABs is a pretty funny joke that Lou might play on the Cubs.

[silversurferr]

Wattya worried about? This is not a guy or position the Brewers wanted. He is marginally better than Derosa, but is definitely an injury risk. And, even though personality problems are often overstated, Bradley is an odd dude that could melt down at any time. He reminds me of Cliff FLoyd, except with a personality disorder.

[danzig6767]

The Cubs not long ago had teams that really struggled to get on base, that is no longer the case and they just added another who gets on base very well. I sure hope that Bradley continues to struggle with his health.

[rudimen19]

Bradley might be a loose cannon, but when he blows up it's not on teammates. I remember reading an article after he tore up his knee in San Diego that stated by all accounts he is a really good teammate and always produces when he is in the lineup. $10/year is a bit much for someone only expected to play 120 games though the signing does significantly boost their lineup.

[JoeHova]

Bradley led the AL in OBP and OPS last year. It wasn't even park effects, he also led in OPS+. 2007 & 2008 are Milton's best years, but I don't know that they were flukes. I think he's a good or even excellent signing assuming he can play 120+ games per year (which is a big assumption in his case). This makes the Cubs a lot better and really hurts the Brewers chances.

[Oldcity]

Eh, the way I see it the Cubs had the division anyway. I'd rather see the Cubs get better than the Cards or Astros.

[Ennder]

Starting Marshall instead of Marquis is an upgrade for the Cubs, Bradley is a decent sized upgrade over what they had last year. Miles is a huge downgrade over every MI they had last year. The bullpen has been downgraded. I think the Cubs are probably about the same as they were last year which was good enough for an easy division win so I guess they'll take it.

[BCZF]

Keep your eyes open for flying bats and balls..

[sveumrules]

in an 8+ year career milton bradley has one, exactly one, season with 100 or more games played in the outfield.

 

now you take a brick wall, a ballpark that two months out of the season has the potential for some very unpleasant weather, loud fans who will let you know if they think you suck and a 30 year old headcase into account and i'd be surprised if milton plays 162 games the next three years combined.

[BrewCrewForever]

Bradley is a very good hitter, but I don't know about him playing in a league with no DH at this point.

[Gobias Industries]

Ehh. Seems a bit much considering the market.

 

Sveumrules is right. This signing has the potential to be a disaster for the Cubs. Maybe a Zambrano v. Bradley dugout fight?

[Invader3K]

Eh, the way I see it the Cubs had the division anyway. I'd rather see the Cubs get better than the Cards or Astros.

Yeah, I totally agree with that line of thinking at this point. Bradley is a player who makes no sense for the Brewers, so if the Cubs want him, who cares? And as far as the Cards and Astros not getting better, that seems to be the way this off-season is going, at least so far.

 

If Melvin can make just one or two key moves yet this off-season, there's no reason the Brewers can't be strong contenders for the Wild Card again.

[Ennder]

Well lets look at the most important teams.

 

Phillies - Burrell to Ibanez is probably a downgrade and I think that is their only major move so far? It is a team in its prime mostly though so I don't think they'll lose anything to age.

 

Mets - Have upgraded quite a bit with the bullpen but might be downgrading at SP and I doubt Delgado repeats his season.

 

Reds - Treading water

 

Cardinals - Treading water

 

Astros - another year older and probably were lucky to begin with last year.

 

Cubs - Maybe upgraded but probably more vulnerable as well this year.

 

Marlins - You just never know with that team since they have so much youth.

 

I'm more worried about the moves the Mets have made than the Cubs but I'm not ready to give up on the division either. The Cubs had a lot of roleplayers with career years last year. Zambrano is headed for arm problems according to most experts. The bullpen lost depth, the infield lost quality depth. The OF is old and has a lot of injury potential in it. Dempster isn't likely to repeat what he did last year, Harden is an injury waiting to happen. The Cubs seem to have traded away most of their depth in general to be able to afford Bradley. This is the kind of team where injuries could pile up and turn a season into a disaster.

 

Melvin obviously needs to add at least 1 SP and an IF and hopefully a quality bullpen arm so what comes of those moves will say a lot about the team. Right now I think we are missing the wild card by a few games.

[PKBadger]

So are the Cubs going to carry 6 OF on their roster?

 

Soriano

Johnson

Fukudome

Gathright

Bradley

Hoffpauir (can play 1B)

 

or do they plan to keep Hoffpauir in AAA again as insurance?

[homer]

People talk about him being injury prone but one of those injuries was pretty fluky - when the ump was taunting him and Bradley ended up wrecking his knee as he went on a tirade. This is a good move for the Cubs.

[Ennder]

spring training 2004 - rib injury

april 2004 - high ankle sprain

June 2004 - shoulder injury

August 2004 - Hamstring injury

May 2005 - finger ligament tear

August 2005 - knee

April 2006 - knee

April 2006 - hip

May 2006 - oblique

June 2006 - shoulder

August 2006 - ankle

April 2007 - oblique

April 2007 - hamstring

May 2007 - wrist

June 2007 - calf

July 2007 - oblique

Aug 2007 - hamstring

Sept 2007 - oblique

Sept 2007 - knee

Apr 2008 - hamstring

May 2008 - shoulder

May 2008 - head

June 2008 - quad

July 2008 - knee

July 2008 - quad

Aug 2008 - back

Aug 2008 - knee

Sept 2008 - wrist

Sept 2008 - back

 

Those are just the injuries that made him miss a few games, there were more little ones.

[nate82]

So are the Cubs going to carry 6 OF on their roster?

 

Soriano

Johnson

Fukudome

Gathright

Bradley

Hoffpauir (can play 1B)

 

or do they plan to keep Hoffpauir in AAA again as insurance?

Isn't Hoffpauir out of options? I thought Hoffpauir was like Nelson and out of options and would have to be on the roster or he could become a free agent. Maybe I'm thinking of something else though.

 

Back on topic though that is one bad OF possibly the worst OF in MLB history defensively? The Cubs better hope neither Johnson or Fukudome get injured. That could become real messy in CF for the Cubs since they wouldn't have anyone to play CF if both of them get injured.

 

What does Fukudome project defensively as in CF anyways? I would guess that he would be worse than what he was in RF last year defensively. That is a lot of ground that Johnson and Fukudome are going to need to cover in the OF between Soriano and Bradley.

[TooLiveBrew]

Felix Pie is out of options as well, but he was optioned down to AAA last season -- does that mean the Cubs can keep him there for the time being? They certainly have some interesting choices in terms of what to do with their OF.

[Ennder]

Back on topic though that is one bad OF possibly the worst OF in MLB history defensively?

 

Bradley is actually an above average fielder, it is mostly Soriano that is bad in that list.

[AdvantageSchneider]

Bradley led the AL in OBP and OPS last year. It wasn't even park effects

How do you know it wasn't park effects? Last year he had a 1.145 OPS at home and a .872 on the road. That seems like a pretty big split.

 

I'll go on record as saying as a Brewer fan, I love this contract for the cubs.

[endaround]

I love it more because it seems to preclude Peavy and the Cubs dumped DeRosa to get Bradley which negates a lot of the value