12/22/24
April 01, 2004
After a blow-up with his manager, Milton Bradley will likely be traded by Sunday.: Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro has discussed a deal with eight teams, four or five of which have made serious offers for the talented and mercurial outfielder. Interested parties are thought to be the Pirates, Dodgers, Rangers, A's and Mets. TSN's Ken Rosenthal also lists the White Sox, Giants, Expos and Royals as possible suitors, and many (i.e., me) would add the Mariners. Is this a case of a head case becoming someone else's problem, or a chance to acquire a top-tier player on the cheap?
Dear Milton, It's your job to run as first base as hard as you can. If you don't want that job, feel free to drop off an application at your local 7-11 or Wal-Mart. In short -- go fuck yourself. Love, frazer
posted by wfrazerjr at 12:54 AM on April 02, 2004
Fucking ditto.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 03:12 AM on April 02, 2004
Clearly the guy has spoiled millionaire athlete-itis, but as attitude problems go, Bradley's offenses are pretty minor. I think the Indians would be ignoring them if they didn't have so many outfielders already. Shopping him in this manner is pretty dumb -- they won't get anything close to what they would have received before the incident.
posted by rcade at 07:09 AM on April 02, 2004
Dear Milton, You are my starting centerfielder for my Yahoo! fantasy baseball team. I am going to kick you in the junk if you don't shape up soon. Hate, grum@work
posted by grum@work at 07:50 AM on April 02, 2004
Dear Milton, I got nothing. Love, vito90 I hope the M's don't make a move on this clown. I know it's not that fashionable any more, but I'm a big believer in a little thing called "chemistry", and this guy will hurt whatever chemistry good chemistry teams have. Now, if you're already fielding a team full of malcontents, then he's maybe a steal at the price. (Anybody want to hazard a guess if his one-year jump in numbers was artificially enhanced?)
posted by vito90 at 08:11 AM on April 02, 2004
Dear Milton, You're not getting your fucking stapler back. Deal with it. Love, Bill Lumburgh
posted by dfleming at 08:15 AM on April 02, 2004
Dear Milton, Welcome to the Mets. We will put up with whatever hangups you have. Masturbation in the bullpen? No problem. Smoke pot? Here's some sensi seeds. Beat up pizza delivery boys? Don't forget to piss on the establishment also. Got clips, a comb and scissors? We cut our hair in-house. Gambling habit? Good, because when the baseball gets boring we just play poker in the clubhouse during the game. After a mediocre season here, we will give you a big contract and you'll be over paid handsomely. When you start to suck ass, which you eventually will, we'll bring in more overpaid replacements to compete with you....and when you can't beat the likes of Matt Lawton, Roger Cedeno, Timo Perez, Shane Spencer or Karim Garcia, you can whine and ride pine with your head held high knowing that you'll be taking us to the bank. Love, Fred Wilpon
posted by oliver_crunk at 08:44 AM on April 02, 2004
I'm just glad the Red Sox aren't looking at him as a temporary replacement for Trotty boy. I anxiously scanned that article looking for mention of Boston interest.
posted by jerseygirl at 09:01 AM on April 02, 2004
I don't believe in chemistry. I think winning often creates it, and I don't think a team needs to like each other to win. I also think that a) Milton's not such a bad guy, b) a veteran clubhouse like the Mariners would be the best place to chill him out, and c) the M's will finish third without a major move, chemistry or not. Of course, John Levesque of the P-I disagrees with me, saying that chemistry will put the M's over the top this year. So I guess this season will be an experiment in whether there's such a thing.
posted by jeffmshaw at 09:03 AM on April 02, 2004
Well I agree the M's aren't going anywhere this year, but that's not an indictment on the importance of chemistry. And I also agree that winning breeds good chemistry. But a chronic malcontent like Bradley is bad for chemistry. Two eqivalent teams talent-wise, chemistry will push one over the top. Good chemistry can not overcome a dearth of talent. And sabermetrics still hasn't won a world series (and Billy Beane will tell you, that for the A's anyway, it's not designed to). Milton may not be such a bad guy, but there are better teammates out there than him.
posted by vito90 at 09:21 AM on April 02, 2004
Somebody needs to tell Milton Bradley to stop playing games.
posted by rcade at 09:23 AM on April 02, 2004
jeff, check out this really good report on the M's
posted by vito90 at 09:36 AM on April 02, 2004
Really, what kind of Operation are they running in Cleveland? Do they have any Clue what kind of a Risk they're taking? Yes, he should be in Trouble for breaking one of baseball's Taboos, but it wasn't a Life or death mistake. I can't Guess Who they're going to replace him with -- the Indians will be Scrabbling for another outfielder after it's all said and done.
posted by Jugwine at 09:41 AM on April 02, 2004
Vito: thanks for the link. Jugwine: the mind Boggles.
posted by jeffmshaw at 09:42 AM on April 02, 2004
You guys are ruining my Concentration.
posted by vito90 at 09:48 AM on April 02, 2004
Sorry if my sense of humor isn't up to par -- cheesy puns are the only kind I know.
posted by Jugwine at 09:52 AM on April 02, 2004
I'm just glad he's not going to be added to the yankee Monopoly.
posted by jerseygirl at 09:54 AM on April 02, 2004
Despite his talent, this is not a Stratego mistake by the Indians, Jug. Oliver_Crunk's right — Bradley should be traded to the Mets, as working with an idiot like him is Taboo. It would be nice to think Cleveland could deal with a Barrel of Monkeys, but everyone knows one explosive personality can sink the Battleship. Bradley only seems concerned with numero Uno, and trying to reform a guy like that is just a Trivial Pursuit. My advice to Milton — grow up and get a Life. p.s. — if you all think I took this too far, I'm really Sorry!
posted by wfrazerjr at 10:02 AM on April 02, 2004
fraze, other than recycling Taboo, that wasn't too bad. Stratego was a stretch, though.
posted by vito90 at 10:12 AM on April 02, 2004
Yeah, that one was pretty Parcheesi. [I keed, I keed!]
posted by jeffmshaw at 10:43 AM on April 02, 2004
Shapiro was receiving high praise from Gammons this morning (on the radio). I don't recall the name and I'm too lazy at the moment, but Shapiro is close friends with the Patriots GM (the guy just won the NFL Exec of the Year) and they're trying to build a team in a similar fashion with the over-riding thought that 'No player is bigger than the team'. Talent level be damned, get him out of town. Which begs the question... If you're kicked out of Cleveland, where do you go?
posted by 86 at 10:46 AM on April 02, 2004
Seattle! You go to Seattle! BTW, I like Shapiro as a GM very much. I think he's got Cleveland on the right track, and I wouldn't be shocked to see them compete this year.
posted by jeffmshaw at 11:03 AM on April 02, 2004
Patriots GM (the guy just won the NFL Exec of the Year) Scott Pioli. He's VP of player personnel. Random useless fact: Pioli's married to Bill Parcell's daughter, Dallas.
posted by jerseygirl at 11:20 AM on April 02, 2004
Bill Parcells' daughter is named Dallas? If his daughter were named "San Francisco," the Niners might have a shot this year.
posted by jeffmshaw at 11:23 AM on April 02, 2004
Bill Parcells' daughter is named Dallas? Look for her at a local strip joint near you.
posted by wfrazerjr at 11:42 AM on April 02, 2004
But if her name were "Champagne," would the back room of said strip joint be called the "Dallas Room"? Ah, there's that sound of one hand clapping again.
posted by jeffmshaw at 11:45 AM on April 02, 2004
Jeff, in this vein, could you keep the "one hand" comments to a minimum? "No, Mom, don't come in! I'll be out in a minute!
posted by wfrazerjr at 05:59 PM on April 02, 2004
You're all a bunch of plonkers. Love, Milton
posted by billsaysthis at 08:05 PM on April 02, 2004
The Mariners aren't interested in Bradley, says GM Bill Bavasi, because our outfield is fine, and we wouldn't have a place to put him. There are many reasons not to pursue Miltie, but that ain't one of them. typing with two hands, fraz ...
posted by jeffmshaw at 10:39 AM on April 03, 2004
Dear Milton, Just because you make money now doesn't mean there aren't issues to work through, huh?
posted by yerfatma at 10:51 AM on April 04, 2004
Looks like the Dodgers got him. Apparently they didn't learn from when they had Sheffield.
posted by usfbull at 09:02 PM on April 04, 2004
Wow, so I guess that solidifies Green's move to first base? This will put Roberts in left or right field. MB will be in center. With Encarnacion, that's three centerfielders in the outfield.
posted by jasonspaceman at 10:17 PM on April 04, 2004
i didn't want to comment because I didn't want to jinx it. but somehow the dodgers went ahead and signed him anyway. retards.
posted by lilnemo at 11:07 PM on April 04, 2004
His type of attitude will leave him alone and miserable some day. IMO, let him be an ass.
posted by sixpacker at 07:50 AM on April 05, 2004
Welcome, sixpacker.
posted by dusted at 10:27 AM on April 05, 2004
Dusted: Thanks, nice to be here. Been a loooooong time reader, and finally signed up over the weekend. What took me?
posted by sixpacker at 11:09 AM on April 05, 2004
For insight into Bradley's personality, I also offer this, which is well worth reading if only for the story about Milton's mom and the would-be robber. Wow.