Chicago Cubs search for ways to keep Milton Bradley healthy

$30 mil well spent....

So glad the Cubs got rid of DL residents like Wood and Prior but decided to keep it warm with this piece of work. Worst. $30 million spent. EVER.

0-6 !!,and just what what does Hoffpauir have to do to break into this explosive lineup? This sounds like Lou is receiving a dictate from Hendry..trying to justify the 30 Mil.
"Milton is our right fielder" where have we heard this drivel before?

Three whiffs, two pop-ups and a double play ball. 13 runners stranded. This had to be abolutely one of the worst single game performances in major league history. At least it came in the context of a laugher win.But Cub fans, don't despair, this rally killing boat anchor will be hurt again soon, we can only hope it won't be something minor.

Keeping Bradley is very simple... keep him out of the lineup. He can't hit anyway and isn't a star in the field either.

Here's an idea. Release him. Eat his salary and let him rest his groin, quads, hamstring, back, bat and ego.

Wait wait wait! We're all forgetting that the umps conspired to make him go 0 for 6 last night. I forgot we're all supposed to feel sorry for Milton because everyone is out to get him.

Hendry tried to out-cute himself on this one. He thought he was making a great play by getting the AL player with the highest OPS; unfortunately, he did not read the fine print: the guy only started 20 games.

One simple fact seems to have eluded Jimbo: in order to bat in the NL you have to play the field. So we pick up an injury prone AL player and subject him to the rigors of playing the field everyday .... brillant!

I was a little preturbed for the first couple of months ... now, I am getting down right angry. Can't blame Bradley too much for his performance, but you can certainly blame management 100% on their handling of the player. Based on his stats, you do not play him ... period! Send him to the minors to get his confidence back.

Someone on this board will know the answer. My guess is the handling of Bradley is all due to contract issues. His contract has some sort of provision for games played but Hendry was not smart enough to include any sort of performance language. So if healthy he plays, can't get sent down to the minors no matter how badly he performs.

Correct? Something like that?

Fox comes up, hits double Bradley's average and then gets sent right back down? Huh?!?

"I wish we had a magic formula for that," manager Lou Piniella said.

The "magic", as everybody except for Hendry seemed to comprehend, was to understand who Milton Bradley was and not sign him.

I’ve read that the trigger to guarantee year 3 of Bradley’s contract is 75 games played this year. I have no idea if that is actually true (it seems ridiculously low, both in number of games and in only applying to year 1.) If it is true, he is well on his way, having started in 34 games and pinch-hit in another 8, making a total of 42 “games played” of the Cubs 55 so far.

Well I can see why the Cubs would want to keep Bradley healthy, considering what a dominant presence he is in the lineup. Man, where would the Cubs be without him in the lineup?

When are we going to get back to baseball as a sport, a game, an entertainment, a season-long athletic contest that you strive to win? No -- it's a BUSINESS, isn't it? Sheesh! Give Milton his walking papers, wish him well, eat the $$$, and admit you made a mistake in signing him. Then you platoon Johnson and Hoffpauir with Fukudome switching back and forth between right and center. Then when we win the World Series, all that extra bread will help make up for the 30-mil wasted on Bradley. Simple, huh? Thank you very much.

I heard of this stuff that is really good at keeping players healthy. HGH. I just need to find some for MIlton and everything will be fine.

And here I thought I would be able to post something original and funny, but you other posters covered ALL the bases already, even including my exact words - Milton's moniker, aka "the boat anchor". All these crap moves have to be coming from Hendry's peanut brained head, including the latest with sending Fox down.

Let's examine this case, piece by piece. You have $175 million in outfielders with nobody batting over .250, including the boat anchor at less than .200. You have a stud in the minors hitting .423 with 17 homers, so you begrudingly bring him up and promptly sit him on the bench as much as humanly possible and get your vodka drenched mouthpiece to say that he can't find a spot for him to break in. HUH? When he does get a few token ABs he hits .400 and then he gets sent down for his efforts. Boy, that will do wonders for his confidence. Wonder what Mr. Stoly told him, ugh, hey Fox, come to my office and close the door. Ugh, sorry, but we figured you would hit .500 and play 7 positions, but since you didn't do either, you have to go back down and work on your game some more. No place to put that crappy .400 average. But don't worry, it's for your own good, keep working hard and maybe you'll be back soon. Here's your ticket. Well, that's taken care of, now did sombody remember to put my Stoly in the freezer, I need a little pick me up!

What a freaking joke !!!! "I don't know what else we can do" in regards to Bradley. Truth be told, the Cubs are getting exactly what they deserve. Everybody in the world that cares anything about the Cubs was screaming not to sign this guy, yet that fruitcake the Cubs have as GM gives the guy 3 yrs. and 30 mil. I still hope that somehow this move ends up costing Jim Hendry his job. To be that stupid is justification to run him out of town if i've ever seen one. Freaking egghead Hendry, didn't stop his stupor long enough to realize there's no DH in the N.L., nor that his prize catch had never performed in a cold climate.

It just raises my blood pressure everytime i read about how this useless excuse of a baseball player, is here because the Cubs had a GM so damn lazy, he couldn't stop long enough to assess this guy's history and how it would relate to the Cubs. What was it Hendry? Were you afraid someone was gonna jump up and still your prize? You freaking goofball, the other GM's were probably then, and definitely now, mocking you out for the idiot that you've proved to be.

P.S. Raul Ibanez is now up to 20 HR's egghead.

cubbaholic wrote:

And here I thought I would be able to post something original and funny, but you other posters covered ALL the bases already, even including my exact words - Milton's moniker, aka "the boat anchor".

I persoanlly like the name Milton "day-to-day" Bradley. He has shown versitility; he can go on the DL or he can go day-to-day.

The ONLY way to keep "Game Boy" healthy i9s have the NL adopt the DH this after noon. Then have a Designated Runner to first base for Pooh Ol "Game Boy". When he get back to dugout wrap him in bubble wrap anong with Harden. Am I mistaken or did Game Boy almost MISS THE GROUND when he broke his bat.

Why is that that baseball professionals like Jim Hendry couldnt see what regular fans saw - that Bradley was a huge product of the AL last year using the DH, and he's almost as fragile as Mr. Prior came to be???? It doesnt make sense, it's like Hendry has an obsession with DL-prone players....

It's all very simple, people: Jim Hendry is the GM of the Year! And his great signing as head of scouting, that Einstein-headed Dave Littlefield, formerly GM of the Pirates, who traded away Jason Bay and Xavier Nady for nothing, along with Aramis Rameriz for Jose Hernandez, and signed Matt Morris for $10 million and immediately released him--yes, indeed, Jim Hendry is a unanimous GM of the Year!! And Cubs' continue to lose until 2208 A.D.!!!!!

i suggest a sawsall and dusck tape.

I know how you can keep Bradley from getting hurt: keep him on the bench where he belongs. Terrible pickup by Hendry.