![]() |
|
|
| |
« Jays Looking For Quality Over Quantity In Any Halladay Deal | Main | Cubs Rumors: Harden, Grabow, Zambrano »
More teams are calling the Cubs about Milton Bradley and, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Rangers might be one of them. Team officials told Sherman they would consider bringing Bradley back if the Cubs were willing to take on a considerable chunk of the $21MM he'll make over the course of the next two seasons. Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune says that's unlikely.
Jon Heyman of SI.com says the Cubs have to deal the outfielder - some of Bradley's teammates won't even speak with him. We heard about a potential three-way deal yesterday, but Toronto does not appear to have interest in Bradley. ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick reports that the Jays have serious doubts about adding Bradley to their clubhouse.
The Rangers, who are considering moving Josh Hamilton to a corner outfield spot, may lose Marlon Byrd to free agency this offseason.
This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.
As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.
Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.


|
|
The rangers could do this, but how do they figure evening out the trade? Do the rangers just take Milton from the Cubs for all the money, kind of like what happened with Alex Rios?
Posted by: 04Forever | November 10, 2009 at 08:38 AM
Then again, why would any team want a guy that has some of his teammates not even speaking to him? How can they promise the team getting him its going to be better?
Posted by: 04Forever | November 10, 2009 at 08:40 AM
I hope Marlyon Byrd goes to the Giants because he is cheap and you can get him for say 2 year 12 million? he will hit .280 and hit about 25 hr hopefully it ould be a nice pickup and with Nick Johnson this will be great
Posted by: Black-And-Proud | November 10, 2009 at 08:40 AM
Brandon McCarthy+(Teagarden,Davis) for Milton Bradley +$9-12M of the 21M remaining on Bradley's contract.
Posted by: BoSox | November 10, 2009 at 08:50 AM
I'm pretty sure that no team wants Bradley. All these rumors are made up by the Cubs' writers.
Why would anyone want this guy? Did anyone even see what he did on and off the field last year?
Posted by: Ethanator99 | November 10, 2009 at 08:57 AM
@BoSox
Thats far too much in return for Bradley.
Posted by: bbxxj | November 10, 2009 at 08:59 AM
@Ethanator99
Thats the problem the Cubs are in, unless they just dump him and expect nothing in return, they are better off taking him back hoping he has a good first half and dealing him at the deadline.
Posted by: BabyJesus | November 10, 2009 at 09:06 AM
Black and Proud
Marlon Byrd has never hit 25 HR in his career. In fact, before this year, his career high was 10. And that was with playing almost his whole career in two bandboxes in Philadelphia and Arlington. What in the world makes you think he'll hit 25 at AT&T?
Posted by: DanyaRomulus | November 10, 2009 at 09:41 AM
Milton to the Jays never made a lick of sense anyways I don't even know why that rumor was floated. I think it could of happened but you don't give a guy cancer and expect him to thank you for it, you need to include other stuff. I don't know why the deal couldn't have worked if both the Cubs and Mets gave the Jays something else for when Milton inevitably became malignant again.
Posted by: BaseBallz | November 10, 2009 at 09:54 AM
@BoSox
Thats far too much in return for Bradley.
Ok, what about Bradley+$ for McCarthy?
Posted by: BoSox | November 10, 2009 at 09:54 AM
"Brandon McCarthy+(Teagarden,Davis) for Milton Bradley +$9-12M of the 21M remaining on Bradley's contract."
and
"Ok, what about Bradley+$ for McCarthy?"
Why ? Bradley won't give you value for your dollar and you don't have anything to show for it when he implodes. Why do people think Bradley has positive trade value ? especially after the year he had last year hitting in an inferior league ?
Posted by: BaseBallz | November 10, 2009 at 09:56 AM
The three way deal the Mets should be looking for should be between the Rangers and the Cubs.
The Cubs would take Luis Castillo and pay the 12 million he is owed over the next two years.
The Rangers would take Milton Bradley and pay him 7 million this year. The other two million would come from the Cubs this year. They would also be responsible for 1 million of 12 million owed next year.
The Mets would take on Michael Young's full contract, 16 Million over the next 4 years and move him back to second base. This would alleviate a great deal of pressure signing Holiday or Bay.
So with any trade you have to ask, how does this work for all three teams involved?
-The Rangers have unloaded their biggest contract (heaviest burden) and can look to add pitching and a cheaper option at third base (Beltre, Crede, Feliz, DeRosa, Mora, or Adam Kennedy) in the spring when players need contracts more than teams do. They also had success with Milton Bradley in 2008.
-The Mets (who can afford Young) get him for 10 million a year more than they would have had to pay Castillo. They have augmented their offense in the infield and still can add at first base and left field shedding Delgado, Sheffield and Schneider just to name a few.
-The Cubs get a switch hitting second baseman with something to prove and get rid of Wilty Milt who was a cancer to the clubhouse all season. Yes they end up paying 15 of the 21 million but at least get a player (Castillo) that has potential to help them. Maybe he is just a stop gap until Castro is ready. Either way this better than dumping/releasing twenty-one million dollars....
Posted by: gocubbies | November 10, 2009 at 10:00 AM
gocubbies ...
As absurd as this sounds I don't think the Rangers view the Young contract as a problem. Until he really tanks they will happily pay him $16m. Personally, I think it is an awful contract and it will only get worse with more time.
Posted by: bjsguess | November 10, 2009 at 10:19 AM
Gocubbies, this would mean the Cubs would add 13-14 million to their payroll and the only thing to show for it would be Luis Castillo. In effect you'd be paying 14 million for an aging, singles hitting 2b...how does that help the Cubs?
Posted by: crunchy1 | November 10, 2009 at 10:26 AM
gocubbies,
wow thats a horrible deal you should really proof these ideas before posting or at least say to yourself, "Would i trade my 3.9 win player for a 1 win player? I would save some money, but with that money i would have to try and make up the difference of what i have traded away."
Now lets reverse your example and make this more concrete. You are saying that if the Cubs needed some money they could trade Aramis Ramirez (2.9) win player for say Jack Cust (another 1 win player) and you would call that a great deal.
Well thats not a great deal, thats a horrible deal, unless you are the A's, or in your example, the Mets.
Teams don't need to overpay for DH's; the FA market is filled with them and they will sign cheap.
Michael Young is a great value and is consistently very good as well as playing at a valuable defensive position. Him or Ramirez are not the types of guys you trade for the Milton Bradley/Jack Cust's of the world. The former get big contracts, while the later get non-tendered.
Posted by: BaseBallz | November 10, 2009 at 10:27 AM
It seems the only way to trade Bradley is to make a bad business deal even worse. No matter what Heyman says, the Cubs should prepare to be stuck with Bradley next year. While it will probably never be a good fit, maybe Bradley can minimize some of the damage he has done to his image. For starters, he needs to understand that he needs to have a better relationship with the media. It is a battle he can't win. He can make an effort to be a great teammate but if the media doesn't like him, it won't matter. He'll get crucified and every transgression will get magnified and embellished. He's got to swallow his pride and play nice with the Chicago media -- even when they don't play nice (as they often don't). He needs to understand he hurts the team when he becomes a distraction. If (and this is a HUGE if) Bradley can come to this understanding, then the Cubs can live with him. Heck, he may even help them on the field.
I agree with BabyJesus, they're better off keeping him if a trade means the Cubs have to pay his salary and get nothing but a highly paid stiff in return. If he can play nice with the media for a few months, his trade value can only go up. It's about as low as it can get right now.
Posted by: crunchy1 | November 10, 2009 at 11:04 AM
"I'm pretty sure that no team wants Bradley. All these rumors are made up by the Cubs' writers.
Why would anyone want this guy? Did anyone even see what he did on and off the field last year?
Posted by: Ethanator99 | November 10, 2009 at 08:57 AM"
It may have to do with the fact he just had what was essentially a career year last year. The only difference between what happened with J.J. Hardy and what happened with Bradley is the attitude. Both had 2 good seasons followed by an abomination of one. Hardy still netted a good, young CF.
So, take off value for being a jerk of a player, and Bradley still has decent value. Then consider that he just played for the Rangers in '08 and was really good there.
Posted by: cubs223425 | November 10, 2009 at 11:09 AM
What about this? Maybe I am crazy but. Could Bradley work for Cardinals? How they trade Bradley for cash. They take on his contract.
Would this work?
Posted by: holycow | November 10, 2009 at 11:18 AM
cubs223425,
all the more reason to keep Bradley for now. Take a 1/2 season to show people he's trying to turn things around: call a truce with the media, apologize to his teammates, show up to camp early, do and say the right things, maybe give back a chunk of his salary by donating it to charity...whatever it takes to rebuild his tattered image. At that point the Cubs should look to trade him and get some value, without having to pay a large portion of his salary. At this point, none of the deals I've seen make any sense from either a baseball standpoint or a financial standpoint for the Cubs.
Posted by: crunchy1 | November 10, 2009 at 11:23 AM
gocubbies ...
that is the worst trade proposal i have ever seen put on this site about the rangers. Who in there right mind would trade Mike Young for the guy who quit on the Rangers in 2008 cause he didn't want to hurt his stats(Bradley). Milton Bradley is the most selfish player in baseball and i don't want him here. I rather see us roll out Cruz, Borbon and Hamilton in the outfield
Posted by: Rangerfan | November 10, 2009 at 11:33 AM
"So, take off value for being a jerk of a player, and Bradley still has decent value. Then consider that he just played for the Rangers in '08 and was really good there."
Three gigantic differences.
Hardy makes about 5-6 in arbitration. Bradley is on the hook for 21 over 2.
Hardy plays an in-demand position. Bradley can barley play one at all with any consistency and/or skill. When he is on the field, he claims his body is falling apart (hamstring, calf, oblique, etc) and removes himself from the lineup randomly.
And the "being a jerk" thing is a little more then that. This article says that he has teammates that wont even speak to him. He has been run out of Oakland for attacking his GM (amoung other things). He was run out of Cleveland for ignoring and fighting with his manager before claiming him racist (among other things). He was run out of LA because he disobeyed the organization and continued to make a small internal argument with a teammate into national media where he was claiming racism (among other things). He was run out of Montreal because of issues with multiple people in the organization. And now he is being run out of Chicago for incidents with the Manager, coaches, Media and Fans plus whatever went on behind closed doors. Being a "jerk" can be handled. Being disruptive and destructive is another thing, and lowers value quite a bit. TB said they would want him if they could release him at anytime without having a financial hit - ie, Cubs need to eat almost all the money. That isnt trade value - thats people willing to take him only if it suits and benefits them completely.
Posted by: SuzysMan | November 10, 2009 at 11:41 AM
go cubbies...Why wouldnt the Cubs just take Young in the trade instead of involving the Mets?
Posted by: holycow | November 10, 2009 at 11:46 AM
i was thinking the same thing holycow.
as much as I dont think the Rangers would do it Id rather have Young than Castilo
Posted by: Sabinus | November 10, 2009 at 12:52 PM
there are 3 good match-ups in baseball for this Bradley deal.
1. Aaron Rowand for Bradley
2. Juan Pierre for Bradley
3. Gary Matthews for Bradley
The act is that the Cubs HAVE TO get rid of him. Each of these teams (giants, dodgers, angles) could use some pop in the line-up. Bradley would probably fit best with the dodgers because of Manny, but the best return of the three is probably Rowand because of the positive leadership in the club house. With each of these players the cubs could wash teir hands of the issues they had with Bradley and move forward with someone else and the with the new CF they are looking for.
Posted by: slr5607 | November 10, 2009 at 02:13 PM
Getting Michael Young for Milton Bradley would be the best swindle by Trader Jim since Hee Seop Choi for Derek Lee.
Posted by: Gleebo | November 11, 2009 at 03:13 AM