Comments on: Jim Hendry Got Fleeced By Milton Bradley (UPDATE: Or Maybe He Didn’t)

By: Matt Clapp

Matt Clapp — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 01:19:00 +0000

Abreu wanted 3 years and 15 mil per at that time too. We couldn't have predicted the market would be quite like this. Hendry made Bradley his #1 priority, and there were a couple other teams rumored to be trying to sign him at about the same price at the time. If he waited, Bradley would've signed elsewhere.

Also, Abreu's hit only 12 homers in 604 at bats over the last 2 seasons away from Yankee Stadium and the 314 foot RF line. He'll also be 35 when the season starts and his defense is declining.

It stinks we had to spend that much, but it's just hard to blame Hendry for it. It seemed like a very fair price at the time, and remember Bradley won't make that much money if he spends 75 days on the DL I believe it was(which he does a lot)

By: Stormin' Norman Disciple

Stormin' Norman Disciple — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:41:00 +0000

@Bitternutz: So….you’re a Sox fan right? Just curious. Try to be a little more objective my friend.

By: Bitternutz

Bitternutz — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:07:00 +0000

The reason that the Bradley contract is so atrocious is that Bradley is basically an injury prone DH that got a 3 year deal to play the outfield. All of the other outfielders mentioned have been able to stay in the lineup while playing the field. Bradley has never been reliable and even last season could barely stay healthy as a DH and now he is in the NL and will have to play the field. Based on Bradley’s past performance, the Cubs will be lucky to get 300 games total (essentially 2 seasons worth of games) out of Bradley during the contract. It is probably more accurate too look at Bradley’s contract as a $30 million for 2 years because there is no way he averages more than a hundred games a year ($15 million a year). Outside of the Ibanez deal (which was atrocious by any standard) Bradley’s is by far the worst,

By: Stormin' Norman Disciple

Stormin' Norman Disciple — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 21:07:00 +0000

@Ethan: This post is your fault entirely. You are NQTC’s worst reader. I should ban you from the site. Boom roasted.

By: Ethan Samson

Ethan Samson — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 21:04:00 +0000

this is the worst article i’ve ever read

By: real stadiums have roofs

real stadiums have roofs — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 20:57:00 +0000

when suppan’s contract expires in 2010, i am totally commenting on this post

By: Gavin

Gavin — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 20:17:00 +0000

And the Nationals just announced that Dunn was paid $20 million for 2 years according to an article on Yahoo. So the only real deal in that batch looks to be Abreu.

By: Stormin' Norman Disciple

Stormin' Norman Disciple — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 19:57:00 +0000

Good point, I forgot about those guys. If anything that just shows that the Phillies and Rays got fleeced just as bad as the Cubs did though.

By: Gavin

Gavin — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 19:24:00 +0000

Phillies signed Raul Ibanez – 3 years, $31.5 million on 12/19/08.

Tampa Bay singed Pat Burrell – 2 years, $16 million on 01/08/09.

The Cubs signed Bradley officially on 01/27/09. So it’s not as if they went completely out of the range for outfielder’s this offseason. It doesn’t appear that there were that many high-level OF’s out there this off-season but once these guys were signed before Bradley, I’m surprised the Cubs didn’t try to play Bradley, Dunn and Abreu off each other to at least make Bradley think they could go elsewhere to get a left handed bat.