Olney On Bradley, Jays, Wood

sorry about the bad sentence at the end, *this could probably be beneficial to both sides. (even though Pat the Bat should never own a glove)

I think the Cubs would take that trade in a second. I hate Milton, he needs to go to SD or PIT.

What incentive does Tampa Bay have in picking up $20M for an unproductive problem player when they are probably going to shed payroll/find cheaper players for the staff.

I dont see the Padres making a deal for Bradley, even with the cubs take a large chunk of the salary. It would make sense if the Padres thought that Bradley could turn it around and then be a trade piece, but everyone knows his reputation at this point. So the only way this works for SD, is if they believe he could do better with less media and easier going fans. But last time it was Mike Cameron that was his best friend and controlled him, who is no longer with the club.

The Padres have the need for someone with his talents, but the Padres are looking forward to getting rid of one troubled RF (Giles), so why would they add another?

The Rays have recently purged their system of all of the players it deemed personnel problems (Delmon Young, Elijah Dukes).

They get frustrated enough with BJ Upton's lack of hustle from time-to-time, I don't see them adding a cancer like Bradley to the organization.

I don't like attacking players' personalities most of the time, but at a certain point you can see what kind of person they are through the media. Bradley is a first-class jerk that no team would want in their clubhouse.

I thought that aside from the A.J. Burnett deal, Bradley's was the worst of the offseason, and he's certainly done nothing to dissuade me from my opinion that thought.

This guy is an absolute clown with all the talent in the world, but the mentality of someone who's still in little league. It's a shame to see it wasted, but it's no one's fault except his own.

The amount the Cubs owe Bradley makes their decision to suspend him even more baffling.

Everyone knows Bradley can be a useful player. There must be lots of stat-oriented FO staff who would push to get him. The Cubs surely could have moved him for something without having to eat the majority of his contract.

By suspending him and calling his behavior intolerable, the Cubs gave up on any chance of cutting their losses. They have to move him and they have to sell at an absolute low.

The Cubs should have grit their teeth and put up with him for two weeks, then traded him for whatever they could get.

"By suspending him and calling his behavior intolerable, the Cubs gave up on any chance of cutting their losses. They have to move him and they have to sell at an absolute low.

The Cubs should have grit their teeth and put up with him for two weeks, then traded him for whatever they could get."

I agree. The Cubs did nothing to help themselves in a situation where their back was against the wall. They did nothing to help their offseason bargaining power (if they indeed try to do that), Hopefully, they'll learn from this lesson.

Would Ricciardi's replacement quell talk of a Halladay trade in the off-season? Seems like a new GM would be wary of such an unpopular move, though maybe would return to the idea if/when the Jays fall out of contention before August.

"I agree. The Cubs did nothing to help themselves in a situation where their back was against the wall. They did nothing to help their offseason bargaining power (if they indeed try to do that), Hopefully, they'll learn from this lesson."

I disagree. Did it hurt them horribly? Yes. Did it help them at all though? Yes, yes it did.

Every time the Cubs have started to do good this season, Braldey pulls a stunt. We started the season 8-4, but had the distraction of Bradley with his media boycott, arguments with players and eventual punishment from Lou. End of June when Lou erupted at him for his whining in the dugout we were 11-3 the previous 2 weeks. Right now the team has gone 12-8 in September and 8-4 in the last 2 weeks; Bradley meanwhile is complaining of injuries, pouting and spouting off to the media.

Suspending Bradley removes the cancer from the clubhouse and allows the club to play good without fear of him pulling another stunt to bring it all back down. Winning the last couple weeks to go into next season on a high note will be a positive.

It isnt like they were going to be able to get much trade value from Bradley anyway. A quarter of the league would have nothing to do with him because of his actions the last time he was there. And so many front office people have moved around after working in those organizations, who knows how many are affected. (example, cant imagine Huntington would bring him to the Pits since he was felling the Bradley problems first hand while working with Cleveland). Then, how many teams realistically have a place to play him on a near daily basis? And wouldn’t those teams be thinking about the numerous problems he has had in Chicago, regardless of the suspension?

Nah, suspending Bradley was the right thing to do, it just should have been done earlier. And really, he should have been traded or released before the all-star when his option hadn’t kicked in yet – the writing was already on the wall.

"Suspending Bradley removes the cancer from the clubhouse and allows the club to play good without fear of him pulling another stunt to bring it all back down. Winning the last couple weeks to go into next season on a high note will be a positive."

We don't know if the Cubs will play well with Bradley suspended.

If the Cubs play well, we can't know whether Bradley's suspension was a factor.

Even if the Cubs play well and every player on the team says he played better because Bradley was suspended, then those two weeks of happiness fans got from Bradley's suspension will be counterbalanced by the millions in wasted money that the Cubs will be stuck paying when they have to eat Bradley's contract.

"And really, he should have been traded or released before the all-star when his option hadn’t kicked in yet – the writing was already on the wall."

Yes. They shouldn't have signed him in the first place, and they shouldn't have let his extension vest. But they did those things. At that point they had to cut their losses. Suspending him didn't do that. Maybe they could have gotten out from under his contract somehow if they hadn't suspended him, maybe they couldn't, but now they have no chance.

Let's see how happy Cubs fans are when they learn Bradley "won" and will get paid a fortune NOT to play for the Cubs.

"We don't know if the Cubs will play well with Bradley suspended."

Correct, but we know that Bradley himself will not have the opportunity to kill the success.

"If the Cubs play well, we can't know whether Bradley's suspension was a factor."

See above.

And that is the answer to all of it. So far; team plays well, Bradley creates an issue. Bradley not being around to create an issue when the team does well means fewer issues and less likelyhood the team gets deflated. You have an employee who tries to pick fights every time your business starts to do well, you remove said employee for the better of the business.

"Let's see how happy Cubs fans are when they learn Bradley "won" and will get paid a fortune NOT to play for the Cubs."

It isnt like Cubs fans dont realize this already. Its just sometimes it is worth it. Bradley was Hendry's mistake; he let Bradley talk him into offering a contract. And many Cubs fans have rightly been upset with Hendry for a long time for mistakes like this. But just like Tigers fans were happy to get Sheffield out of town, so are Cubs fans now. We might pay him, but at least we arent stuck with him.

I halfway agree w/Mr. WB. I'm not a HUGE Riot fan, especially now that he's swinging for the fences seemingly every at-bat. He's not athletic, has decent range, and his arm is barely stronger than David Eckstein's(circa 2001, at that). He should be a 2B. I would like Big Z to be traded, only because I just don't think he'll ever put up numbers worth his contract. He has the stuff, but I don't think he has the mental fortitude to be an ace. I really wish the Cubs traded for Peavy, to alleviate some of the pressure put on Z to lead the Cubs to a title. Maybe Epstein will give up Bucholz or Lester, or be dumb enough to move Ellsbury. Maybe Tampa would be interested. I wouldn't mind gettting Crawford and Upton in exchange for Z, if that's possible. I've read that the Rays are sold on Desmond Jennings, so I know the Rays are gonna move one or the other. Jim Hendry should be fired. Former Blackhawks GM Dale Tallon lost his job mostly for a move that will cost the Blackhawks money. And his mistake wasn't one that will cost the Blackhawks around $20mil over the next 2 years.