3 years, $30 million. That's how much time and money the Chicago Cubs invested in outfielder Milton Bradley. They thought that Bradley was going to be the missing piece to the puzzle. Lou Piniella and the Cubs thought that all they needed was a left-handed run producer to stick in the middle of their lineup. With a lineup that had Derek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, and Milton Bradley in the heart of it, not to mention guys like Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome, the Cubs felt that they had an unbeatable lineup. This was going to be the Cubs year. They were going to be contenders, maybe even World Series contenders. Milton Bradley was the missing piece to the puzzle.
Or so they thought. Alfonso Soriano was downright horrible this season before finally getting shut down. Year two of the Kosuke Fukudome has proven that he is not a run producer or a difference maker in the Cubs lineup. Aramis Ramirez suffered a shoulder injury early in the season and missed a significant amount of time. Mike Fontenot, the guy who made it so easy for the Cubs to let go of Mark DeRosa, has had a sophomore slump season that would be noteworthy if not for Geovany Soto, who has one-upped him. And then there is Milton Bradley.
Milton Bradley's numbers this season: .257 BA 12 HR 40 RBI in 124 G. Not exactly the numbers that a middle of the order corner outfielder who is making $10 million a season should have, is it? And those are his final numbers this season after Cubs GM Jim Hendry suspended Bradley for the rest of the season for conduct detrimental to the team yesterday.
The Cubs should have seen this coming before they even signed Bradley. When the Cubs signed Bradley last spring, baseball experts greatly questioned the move. They pointed to the fact that Bradley had been on 8 teams in his 10 year career, a result of his negative clubhouse presence and many run-ins with management. How could Bradley and the fiery-tempered Lou Piniella possibly co-exist?
The answer: they couldn't. Bradley and Piniella had many issues throughout the season. Bradley often did not appear to be giving his best effort on the field. On more than one occasion he did not run out ground balls. He argued with umpires. He was not in the game mentally, as shown earlier in the season when he tossed a ball into the stands with only two outs in the inning.
There were signs that this was coming. In June Bradley was sent home for a day by Lou Piniella who said that he had had enough of his act. Bradley became more and more agitated with the Chicago media and the Cubs fans. Cubs fans booed Bradley constantly due to his poor play and even worse attitude. Then last week, after getting a basehit Bradley removed himself from the game. He did not call timeout and have the trainer and Piniella come out to see what was wrong with him. He just walked off the field without warning and went straight to the clubhouse without talking to anyone on the Cubs staff. After the game, the media wanted to know exactly what was going on with Bradley, not an unreasonable request for someone who left the game so mysteriously.
Bradley was extremely short tempered and refused to answer questions about his injury. He then removed himself from the lineup on Saturday and got into a confrontation with hitting coach Von Joshua. After one more rant against Cubs fans, the Cubs media, and the Cubs organization, Hendry made the only choice he felt he had and suspended Bradley for the rest of the season.
How the season ended for Bradley and the Cubs should not come as a shocker to the Cubs organization. Bradley has been a clubhouse cancer everywhere he has gone, the evidence of this is how many times he has bounced around. When a player with as much talent as Bradley has changes teams as many times as Bradley has, you have to start looking at the character of the individual in question.
Milton Bradley is baseball's version of Terrell Owens. His tremendous talent is overshadowed by his less than tremendous performance on the field and the fact that he leaves every clubhouse or locker room he has been in in shambles. And yet, because of their tremendous talent and the what they can theoretically do for the team on the field, these players continue to get chance after chance after chance. And when the team reaches its breaking point and dismisses these players because they are cancers, everyone is shocked that this could happen again.
Milton Bradley's suspension from the Cubs doesn't surprise me. When the Cubs let him go during the offseason and he signs with another team it won't surprise me either. Other GM's think that a similar situation can't possibly happen again and that the benefits of having a player like Bradley will outweigh the consequences. My prediction: Milton Bradley will be playing for yet another team in 2010. I will be extremely surprised if teams decide that Bradley has been given enough chances and do not go after him next year.
For the record: I hope I am surprised. Maybe then Bradley and other players like him will learn that tremendous talent does not let you do whatever you want and get away with it.
Or so they thought. Alfonso Soriano was downright horrible this season before finally getting shut down. Year two of the Kosuke Fukudome has proven that he is not a run producer or a difference maker in the Cubs lineup. Aramis Ramirez suffered a shoulder injury early in the season and missed a significant amount of time. Mike Fontenot, the guy who made it so easy for the Cubs to let go of Mark DeRosa, has had a sophomore slump season that would be noteworthy if not for Geovany Soto, who has one-upped him. And then there is Milton Bradley.
Milton Bradley's numbers this season: .257 BA 12 HR 40 RBI in 124 G. Not exactly the numbers that a middle of the order corner outfielder who is making $10 million a season should have, is it? And those are his final numbers this season after Cubs GM Jim Hendry suspended Bradley for the rest of the season for conduct detrimental to the team yesterday.
The Cubs should have seen this coming before they even signed Bradley. When the Cubs signed Bradley last spring, baseball experts greatly questioned the move. They pointed to the fact that Bradley had been on 8 teams in his 10 year career, a result of his negative clubhouse presence and many run-ins with management. How could Bradley and the fiery-tempered Lou Piniella possibly co-exist?
The answer: they couldn't. Bradley and Piniella had many issues throughout the season. Bradley often did not appear to be giving his best effort on the field. On more than one occasion he did not run out ground balls. He argued with umpires. He was not in the game mentally, as shown earlier in the season when he tossed a ball into the stands with only two outs in the inning.
There were signs that this was coming. In June Bradley was sent home for a day by Lou Piniella who said that he had had enough of his act. Bradley became more and more agitated with the Chicago media and the Cubs fans. Cubs fans booed Bradley constantly due to his poor play and even worse attitude. Then last week, after getting a basehit Bradley removed himself from the game. He did not call timeout and have the trainer and Piniella come out to see what was wrong with him. He just walked off the field without warning and went straight to the clubhouse without talking to anyone on the Cubs staff. After the game, the media wanted to know exactly what was going on with Bradley, not an unreasonable request for someone who left the game so mysteriously.
Bradley was extremely short tempered and refused to answer questions about his injury. He then removed himself from the lineup on Saturday and got into a confrontation with hitting coach Von Joshua. After one more rant against Cubs fans, the Cubs media, and the Cubs organization, Hendry made the only choice he felt he had and suspended Bradley for the rest of the season.
How the season ended for Bradley and the Cubs should not come as a shocker to the Cubs organization. Bradley has been a clubhouse cancer everywhere he has gone, the evidence of this is how many times he has bounced around. When a player with as much talent as Bradley has changes teams as many times as Bradley has, you have to start looking at the character of the individual in question.
Milton Bradley is baseball's version of Terrell Owens. His tremendous talent is overshadowed by his less than tremendous performance on the field and the fact that he leaves every clubhouse or locker room he has been in in shambles. And yet, because of their tremendous talent and the what they can theoretically do for the team on the field, these players continue to get chance after chance after chance. And when the team reaches its breaking point and dismisses these players because they are cancers, everyone is shocked that this could happen again.
Milton Bradley's suspension from the Cubs doesn't surprise me. When the Cubs let him go during the offseason and he signs with another team it won't surprise me either. Other GM's think that a similar situation can't possibly happen again and that the benefits of having a player like Bradley will outweigh the consequences. My prediction: Milton Bradley will be playing for yet another team in 2010. I will be extremely surprised if teams decide that Bradley has been given enough chances and do not go after him next year.
For the record: I hope I am surprised. Maybe then Bradley and other players like him will learn that tremendous talent does not let you do whatever you want and get away with it.
No comments:
Post a Comment