Mets Merized Online » Milton Bradley

Four Way Trade Involving The Mets Fell Through

Former Writers — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:33:19 +0000

ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark is reporting [hat tip to MLB Trade Rumors] that at the winter meetings earlier this month, the New York Mets were involved in a four team trade proposal with The Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Angels.

Had the deal of went through here is how things would have panned out:

New York Mets Trade: Luis Castillo
Tampa Bay Rays Trade: Pat Burrell
Chicago Cubs Trade: Milton Bradley
Los Angeles Angels Trade: Gary Matthews Jr.

New York Mets Receive: Gary Matthews Jr.
Tampa Bay Rays Receive: Milton Bradley
Chicago Cubs Receive: Luis Castillo
Los Angeles Angels Receive (Presumably): Pat Burrell

However, as Stark points out the deal fell threw for an unknown reason. I’m merely speculating here, but when dealing with such large and huge contracts it probably came down to money.

Last season with the Angels, Matthews hit .250 with only four home runs and 50 RBIs in 316 at-bats. Those numbers are rather unimpressive to say the least and to be honest I think the Mets are better off holding onto Castillo.

Cubs Deal Milton Bradley To Mariners For Carlos Silva

Hojo's Mojo — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:44:48 +0000

According to Carrie Muscat of MLB.com via Twitter, the Chicago Cubs have finally parted ways with outfielder Milton Bradley in a trade with the Seattle Mariners.

Sources confirm Milton Bradley headed to Mariners for Carlos Silva — Merry Christmas Cubs fans.

Larry Stone of the Seattle Times earlier reported that the Cubs were on the verge of a deal with the Mariners involving Bradley.

It ends up being a bad contract for another bad contract as everyone thought it ultimately would be. Some Mets fans had hoped to see the Mets get involved so that they could unload Castillo, but despite the on again, off again rumors, it never happened.

Silva signed a four-year, $48 million contract with the Mariners in 2008 and went 4–15 with a 6.46 ERA, In 2009, he missed most of the season due to several injuries including a frayed labrum and rotator cuff problems.

Bradley hit .257 with 12 homeruns and 40 RBIs last season, and wore out his welcome quickly with the Cubs who were forced to suspend him.

By the way, don’t look now, but the Mariners are seriously putting together quite an off season.

Cubs Didn’t Look At Milton Bradley’s Intangibles; Lesson Learned

Joe D — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:01:16 +0000

I haven’t really had a lot of nice things to say about the four-year deal the Mets gave Luis Castillo just before the start of the 2008 season. It turns out that he was injured or in pain for most of the season in the first year of that contract, but this year Castillo has made the deal much more palatable after delivering an unexpected solid year at the plate and in the field. Suddenly, with just two years remaining for a total of $12 million dollars, the contract doesn’t look as terrible as it once did.

In comparison, the Cubs thought they got themselves a steal when they signed Milton Bradley to a three-year $30 million dollar deal last winter. Bradley has long been the darling of the sabermetric crowd, but all production aside, Bradley’s “intangibles” were chock full of seedy and undesirable flaws and character traits. Yesterday, the Cubs decided to cut his cancerous presence from the rest of the team and eat the remaining $21 million left on his contract. He will undoubtedly be traded or released after the season.

The Cubs were expected to win the division this season. They were one player away in their minds, and they thought they got that player in Milton Bradley. Unfortunately for the Cubs, instead of a signing a player with a winning attitude they made the mistake of ignoring things like heart, determination, leadership and grit. The GM made the mistake of believing those things were non-existent and now he must pay the price. Lesson learned.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the Cubs have suspended disgruntled outfielder Milton Bradley for the rest of the season.

Bradley, who signed a three-year, $30MM contract last winter, took shots at the Cubs organization during an interview with the Arlington Heights Daily Herald on Saturday, and has battled with fans on the North Side of Chicago for much of the season. GM Jim Hendry is expected to seek out a trade partner for the 31-year-old right fielder this offseason.

“The last few days became too much for me to tolerate,” Hendry said Sunday, fed up with the player’s attitude toward the fans and media in Chicago. “I’m certainly not going to let our great fans become excuses.”

Bradley’s trade value has undoubtedly taken a hit because of this mess. And it’s not like he was hitting the cover off the ball. Through 124 games this season, he had a .257/.378/.397 batting line, 12 home runs and 40 RBI.

It’s hard to believe that some fans have considered Milton Bradley a prime target for the Mets for 2010. Really?

I know things are bad in Metsdom these days, but I didn’t realize we were so freakin’ hard up.

Bradley is the polar opposite of Jeff Francoeur. He makes some Mets fans drool because they believe that intangibles dont really exist, and find it hard to ignore Bradley’s career OBP?

As for me, I’ll take the guy with the crappy OBP and the winning attitude over Bradley anyday. I bet if you gave that choice to Cubs manager Lou Piniella and GM Jim Hendry, you’d get the same answer.

You can pretend that heart, grit, determination, leadership and a positive attitude don’t mean anything. But then a guy like Milton Bradley comes along and blows that theory out of the water.

Bradley will now be looking for his eight team to play for in eight years. I hope he doesn’t look toward the northeast.