Well, it’s been a while. Bradley has a ton of upside and if we can salvage him, would really help alleviate the loss of Granderson.

Perhaps I’m partial because I live in the Chicago area and I hear about all the crap Bradley brings to the table that doesn’t make national headlines but there is no way I want Bradley. Your main point is that he is a switch hitter which was why the Cubs got him. The only problem is that last year he was garbage hitting left handed. If I am comparing Gullien to Bradley defensively I see 2 guys who have had their range diminished over the years by injuries but I would argue Gullien will pay attention more consistently than Bradley who had several mental errors in the field last year including throwing a live ball into the stands when he didn’t know how many outs there were. His work ethic in Chicago can be summarized as last one in, first one out. He gets suspended for ridiculous reasons, he suffers from self-inflicted injuries, he accusses fans of being racist (http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/aug/27/sports/chi-27-cubs-milton-bradley-aug27), this one I just found (http://www.ryanmcbain.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4947), his wife/mother of his children complain that their pre-school aged children who were being sent to expensive private schools were subject to racial slurs from students, teachers, administration and parents and he was suspended for the final two weeks of the year for conduct detrimental to the team. In ten seasons he has only once played in more than 126 games. And if all that is not enough, the talk in Chicago is that Milton Bradley will not be a Cub in 2010, whether that means they trade him or release him. I don’t believe there are any teams out there right now hot to trade for Milton Bradley. I believe the only ones calling Jim Hendry are doing so with the thought that the Cubs will pick up his entire contract or take on significantly more in bad contracts (a Tigers combo Gullien and Willis would be an example) or perhaps both. But that’s just my opinion.

While Bradley may not be the greatest guy in the world to work with, his presence in the clubhouse probably has a negligible effect on the actual outcomes of games. There is nothing mystical or mysterious about baseball players: they are just highly paid dudes collecting paychecks. We all work with people we don’t like, but it doesn’t mean that we do a half-assed job because someone else is jerk. I see no reason why the same thing doesn’t hold true in a baseball clubhouse. Leyland agrees.

Let’s also not forget that while Guillen has a reputation as a clubhouse leader, he has also caused his share of problems, whether he is publicly complaining about his role on the team or making excuses for a poor start to the 2008 season. Leyland has called him out on at least one occasion for taking this public. Everyone but Carlos knows that he is no longer a capable defensive starter, so I’d be willing to bet that when he is inevitably relegated to DH or platooning this year (assuming he doesn’t hit the DL first), we will hear some more complaints from him.

At this point in their careers, Bradley simply has more upside than Guillen. Guillen has been in steady decline over the past several years. Bradley, on the other hand, had a monster year in 2008 and a mediocre year in 2009. I think I would also trust him in the field than I would trust Guillen. In Texas, Milton kept it pretty cool, with the exception of a few incidents. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of his problems in 2009 are a result of having to work with Lou Piniella. Frankly, I’m surprised their whole team isn’t nuts.

has played for 7 different clubs since 2000. That’s a whole lot of clubs. No one is doubting his abilities as a baseball player; however 7 clubs? Obviously there is a problem. A lot of drama goes with him. That’s most likely the reason he’s played for so many different teams in his short career.

I disagree. I think club house chemistry is important. If it were not an issue he’d probably still be with the Expos, Indians, Dodgers, Athletics, Padres, or Rangers. As it stands now the Cubs want to get rid of him. They are probably having such a hard time because of the way he acts.

No thanks. They can keep him and will probably have to as every one in MLB is getting wiser and wiser to his antics.

I’ve tried looking at this without thinking about Bradley’s mouth/actions. If I had to choose between Pierre and Bradley…I’d take Pierre. Now we know stat’s behind these guys but I see a pretty good reason on the stat sheet to get Pierre over Bradley….games played in. Why trade a guy who’s gonna break down in Guillen for a guy who we don’t know can play a full season? We can at least expect Pierre to stay healthy for a season, bat decently for us, and bring some speed along the basepaths.

Now I’m gonna note that I’m basing this on batting stat’s only. I’m not looking at contract info and I don’t exactly understand defensive stats.

is starting to turn into a discussion about discussing instead of talking about bringing Milton Bradley to the D.

I know it’s a fanpost, but we should at least try to stay on topic and be less touchy feely about things. it’s really had to interpret any sort of emotion through text anyway unless you plan putting a ton of work into your comments.

as it now appears and has been reported that Juan Pierre has been traded to the White Sox for 2 minor league pitchers. Dodgers are paying a significant portion of Pierre’s salary too….nothing official yet, though..

Bradley isn’t even here (yet/maybe never) and look at all the problems he’s caused :oP