Lets see what some folks on Twitter are saying about Milton:
- "Milton Bradley of Chicago Cubs sidelined again with groin injury.....yes again" - @Sportsnymph
- "Yo, Jim Hendry. How's that Milton Bradley thing working out?" - @Schaumy
- "is starting to get a funny feeling about Milton Bradley. funny, like the morning after downing a pint of Clorox funny. welcome back Smardja!" - @greenbaysucks
- "I'd love to catch some cubs games. My dad disowned them but I still love em. Except milton Bradley. He sucks" - @ZackTeibloom
- "Milton Bradley you are truly worthless. Go back to wherever you came from and let some young guys who can contribute play." - @seanklein
- "Cubs lose. Milton Bradley couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat right now..." - @jpearman
Not a lot of love to be found for Milton in Cubbieland.
I'll go out and say that I'm still rooting for him though. I'm not going to get on him for having a bad stretch, especially when the umpires don't seem to be giving him any calls. If someone had come to me and offered me $30 million over three years to play right field for the Cubs, I would have signed my name and asked questions about the decision-making that resulted in such an event later. I bet most people would probably do the same thing, so I'm not going to fault him for signing his name on a contract that Hendry was delusional enough to offer him.
We can't unsign Milton Bradley. We can't magically turn him into Adam Dunn, Bobby Abreu, or Raul Ibanez. All we can do is hope that he starts making some contact with the bat when he is actually healthy enough to stand in the outfield for nine innings.
Hopefully that starts to happen when the Cubs are down in St. Louis. If that happens, he'll have a happy homecoming. Otherwise, its going to be like Jacque Jones never left town.
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7 comments:
Oh, man. Jacque Jones. And to think I'd almost forgotten him.
Damn you, Tim.
Sorry. Would you prefer thinking about Jeromy Burnitz? Rondell White? Ozzie Timmons? Scott Bullett? Julio Zuleta?
I wanted to like Milty...I really did. And I haven't given up on him. But this guy is made of glass! Physically and mentally, he's a train wreck until he proves otherwise.
It's way too early to give up on him. He can't possibly bat .043 forever. So I'm with him.
I'm also willing to forgive his lashing out at the media at the moment. If I was batting .043 (and pissed off about it as we know he must be) and a group of reporters that has been poking me with a stick since I signed started writing about how the blowup was imminent, I'd probably not be very inclined to speak with them much either.
As much as the media bitches whenever someone calls them out on it, they do shape public opinion as much, if not more, than simply reporting on it.
I don't hear or see much jumping up and down on Geovany Soto or calling for Koyie Hill to get more playing time. Why? Because there are no stores about Soto and a troubled past, or stories about possible racist taunts that could be sent his way after batting .103 to start the season (and missing time with an injury).
But we've been seeing stories about possible scenarios that would set off Bradley since he signed. I'm not going to say some of the unwanted attention isn't deserved. He has very much made his bed in this case, so I'm not going to throw him a pity party.
But I'm also going to let him have more than 23 ABs before deciding he is a bum. I will, however, continue to question the decision-making by Hendry and Randy Bush to sign him above the other RF options.
This was a situation any fool could have foreseen, and is unneeded in the middle of trying to win a World Series. The decision still baffles me.
Tim, the reason he was signed over those other guys is because Bradley is a better player. Ibanez? He's not very good at baseball. Same thing for Abreu. I wouldn't want either of those guys if you paid me their salary. Adam Dunn was a realistic option and much better than Ibanez or Abreu, but still not near the ballplayer Milton Bradley is. If Milton Bradley plays in 70 games he'll be as productive as Dunn over 150 games.
This is the kind of move the Cubs should absolutely be making. They don't need a safe sign. They need a potential superstar and Bradley is that.
MB,
I don't know how you can say that 70 games from Milton Bradley would be as productive as 150 from Adam Dunn.
Dunn's career OBP and SLG (.383 & .520)are higher than Bradley's (.369 & .455). His HR/AB ratio is 1 for every 13.8 vs. Bradley's 1 per 27.8. He drives in almost .6 (.597) runs per game, vs. Bradley's .48 per game.
Dunn has played 150+ games in 6 of the last 7 seasons. His low total is 116. Bradley has played 100+ 3 times total, including last year as a DH.
Hell, Dunn only trails Bradley in stolen bases by 15 in his career, while stealing at nearly a 75% rate. Bradley is at 67% success rate.
With Dunn, you practically know you are going to get 40+ HRs, 100+ RBIs, and an OPS around .900.
With Bradley, you don't know anything because you have no clue how many games he can realistically play. The average for his career is 96, but he has as many seasons under that number as above it, so its impossible to accurately forecast.
I don't know how one becomes a superstar when you can't play even 100 games per year on any consistent basis.
The only thing we knew for sure was that he would be hurt alot and he would eventually have some sort of behavioral incident. How that is worth $30 million, I just don't know.
All that being said, I still am rooting for him because he is a quite good player, we need him, and it isn't his fault we may not agree with the signing in the first place.
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