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

NQTC reader Ethan pointed out to me this morning that perhaps the Bradley signing was a bit premature in light of the recent contracts that have been given out. In the last week, Adam Dunn signed for 2 years and $10 million dollars, while Abreu signed for 1 year and $5 million dollars. Early in the free agent period, however, Hendry signed Bradley to a 3 year deal for $30 million dollars!! Is he that much better than those other two, or did Hendry just misjudge the market? It seems pretty apparent that he did.

Looking at the career numbers of the 3 outfielders, they are very similar in terms of production:

Adam Dunn--- AVG: .247 OBP: .381 SLG: .518
Bobby Abreu--- AVG: .300 OBP: .405 SLG: .498
Milton Bradley--- AVG: .280 OBP: .370 SLG: .457

If anything, those players have far better career numbers than Bradley. That doesn't even take injuries or age into account either. Abreu is 34, but that hardly matters in terms of his contract since it is only 1 year and not a long-term commitment. Adam Dunn is actually 29, a year younger than Bradley at 30. Both Dunn and Abreu have been considerably healthier during their careers than the fragile Bradley as well.

I'm not trying to say that Bradley will be bad or that he was a bad acquisition. It just seems that with all the salary jockeying the Cubs have been doing, this deal to Bradley is unnecessarily expensive. Hendry clearly misjudged the market for free agent outfielders. It is easy to say that in hindsight, the market was way lower than Hendry had thought. But looking at all the factors, there were a bunch of decent quality outfielders available and not a lot of teams out there looking. Is the difference between Bradley's actual contract and what the market would have afforded him today what handcuffed Hendry on the Peavy deal? We will never know, but right now it looks like our ne'er do wrong GM may have made a bad miscalculation.

***UPDATE: A few things have been brought to my attention in the last couple hours since making this post. Thanks to NQTC reader Gavin, who pointed out a few things in the comments and a few things to me directly. Looks like I was wrong about Hendry being fleeced:

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.

Also, it appears that the Dunn deal was actually for 2 years and $20 million dollars. This is what I get for doubting Hendry.

Today's Links

• Sam Smith is right, Bulls fans are angry. He's somewhat of an apologist for them though.
• Oh yeah, and Larry Hughes wants out. Finally he agrees with me on something.
• Chicago native Curtis Granderson accepts an invitation to play in the World Baseball Classic.
• Great National Championship. Florida wins. Hats off to Tebow, that guy is a monster.
  
• You know, there's number 2s, and there's number 2s.
• Milton Bradley is introduced for the Cubs and he's going to wear number 21. Oh and his problems are a thing of the past.
• Thursday Dick Joke Jambaroo. That Nazi Shark has been making bad calls on the winners of games all year.
• The ownership questions in San Diego and Chicago may play a big impact in any Peavy-to Chicago deal.
• Dennis Rodman is in a movie about a midget basketball team playing against full-size people, with Dennis Rodman as Himself.

Today's Links

• The Bulls finally win one! It came down to the wire, but they pulled it out. If the last week has shown anything, it's that Drew Gooden is very important to this team.
  
• Antoine Walker gets busted for driving drunk. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
• Top Ten odds on what Milton Bradley will do this season. Pretty funny.
• The Cubs just finished sending Jason Marquis to the Rockies. Does that mean there will be enough money for Peavy? We probably won't know until the Cubs are sold.
• Mark Cuban has something to say about his involvement in the sale of the Cubs.
• Top Ten Michael Jordan magazine covers of all time via Zoner.
• Don't worry about Milton Bradley's ability to stay healthy, Jim Hendry already took care of that in the contract.
• Bears linebackers coach Lloyd Lee is out. Please let Babich be next!?
• Look who the Chicago Tribune writers voted for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Harold Baines? Really Phil Rogers and Paul Sullivan? Baines? Oh and Rogers voted for Grace. That's fine I guess, except for how its a terrible vote. I hate our mainstream sports media.
  

Money Well-Spent....Sort Of; Welcome to Chicago Milton Bradley

Milton Bradley coming to Chicago is good and bad news. The 3 year 30 million dollar deal he was given by the Cubs Monday has been splashed all over the sports media outlets, but what does it mean for the Cubs? For starters, we have to look at how it came to this.

Two things led to the sense that an acquisition of someone like Milton Bradley was necessary for the Cubs to have more success than last season. The first is Kosuke Fukudome. Even now I still want to like Kosuke. He seems like a hard worker that plays the game the right way (and I wasted $25 on a Fuku jersey tee). Unfortunately his average, which was around .325 6 weeks into the season, took a huge dip. Even though he was still drawing walks, he could not hit. Not only that, but the little he did hit was not for power. The second thing, which is tied directly to the first, is the perception that the lack of a power hitting left handed bat is what caused the Cubs to falter in October. There is no reason to discuss the faultiness of that rationale here, but suffice it to say that perception created the "need" for a player like Milton Bradley.

There is no question that Milton Bradley is a talented player. In 9 seasons he has an OBP of .370 and a SLG of .457. Unfortunately he has only played in 817 games during that time, an average of 93 games a year. As someone recently pointed out to me, his career arc through his first 9 seasons is eerily similar to that of Carl Everett's (844 games, .349 OBP, .477 SLG) in not only statistics but also attitude. While Bradley has been effective when he's played, he's been a bane to the teams he was on while he was not playing.

Was Bradley a good acquisition for the Cubs? The injury history should make all Cubs fans a bit cautious, as should the theatrics and behavior problems of his past. There is no way to predict whether he will stay healthy, though it seems like a good bet that he will not, but in terms of his behavior there really is nothing to worry about. Lou Pinella will be able to control Bradley. He does not take much crap from anyone, and Milton Bradley will be no exception. Pinella will have Bradley playing by the rules or he won't be playing.

What about the outfield, you ask? Well if Bradley stays healthy and sane (that's a big if), the outfield should work out just fine. Soriano in left, Fukudome/Gathright in center, and Bradley in right. Obviously the corner positions will leave something to be desired defensively, but Fukudome and Gathright are fast enough to help pick up the slack. ***UPDATE: Reed Johnson can also get starts at any of the 3 outfield positions to give guys a rest or fill in when someone gets hurt, which is likely. (Thanks to reader Cousin Danis for reminding me about Reed).

One last quick note: Whether this works out or not, the loss of Mark DeRosa to clear cap space was unfortunate and will cost the team. He was a beloved player in the clubhouse and among fans. Besides that he had a career year at the plate and his versatility in the field will be missed. Good luck De-Ro.

Cubs Sign Milton Bradley

After all of the rumors, the Cubs signed outfielder Milton Bradley -Insert board game joke here- to a 3-year $30 million contract today.

So, here's another guy with great potential, who has been hampered by injuries in recent years. Last year was one of Bradley's best, making an all-star appearance with a .321 average and 22 homers.

If I'm not mistaken, Bradley is also known for some antics. In the past, he has been a jersey shedding, fan chasing, knee exploding while arguing, circus act.

In short, he should fit in pretty well out by the bleachers, but if his numbers hold steady, he will be a great addition to the Cubs lineup too.

Today's Links-Blackhawks Let Me Down Edition

• Check out the site Franchise Trees. They are pretty cool.
• Well that Rose Bowl kind of sucked. Penn State got hammered. Joe-Pa hasn't lost like this since the Great Depression.
• If you want the Cubs to get Milton Bradley, maybe you better take a look at this.
• The Bulls have no defensive identity. In fact, they can't really defend anybody.
• The first hockey game I ever watched on TV from start to finish occurred yesterday. The Classic at Wrigley was awesome, besides the whole Hawks losing thing of course.
• Do you have a problem with Urlacher's play this season? Well he has a problem with you.
• Cleveland's analysis of the DeRosa deal. It looks like one of those prospects the Cubs got might actually contribute soon.
• That Magic game was awful, but the Bulls had at least one good moment. Nice job Benny.