According to multiple reports from St. Louis on Sunday, the Cubs suspended Milton Bradley for the remainder of the 2009 campaign. Jim Hendry cited the comments Milton Bradley made to Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald on Saturday as the final straw and reason for the suspension.
"There have been a lot of issues that we've lived with during the year," Hendry said Sunday, "but the last few days became too much for me to tolerate, to be honest with you. I'm not going to let our great fans become an excuse, I'm not going to tolerate not answering questions from the media respectfully. Whether you feel like talking or not, it's part of our jobs. I'm not going to allow disrespect to other people in that locker room and uniformed personnel." Hendry reacted after reading Bradley's comments, in which he said the Cubs were "not a positive environment."
"The only real negativity here is his own production," Hendry said.
Several of Bradley's teammates came to the support of their GM. Ryan Dempster said it was unfortunate and he brought it on himself. Aramis Ramirez added Jim Hendry made the right call and Derrek Lee said Bradley should apologize for his actions according to a report in the Tribune.
Tyler Colvin will be called up from Double-A Tennessee and added to the Cubs' 40-man roster on Monday. Lou Piniella said during his pre-game show Sunday night that Tyler Colvin would be brought up and he is looking forward to getting him into the lineup. The Sun-Times reported Colvin will receive playing time and is expected to be in the starting lineup for the final two weeks of the season.
On his pre-game show Sunday, Lou Piniella said Jim Hendry held a team meeting on Sunday afternoon and told the players Bradley had been sent home. Piniella added he fully supports Jim Hendry's decision and said, "The Bradley thing is something that happened and we will move forward."
Bruce Levine reported, "Bradley's career with the Cubs remains in jeopardy, despite the two guaranteed years remaining on his contract." Levine added "more than a couple of teams looked at Bradley's backloaded contract" before the July 31 trade deadline.
According to a report in the Sun-Times, the Cubs received enough possible interest in Milton Bradley since July "they might be able to find him a new home" with likely eating a lot of the remaining two years on his contract.
Quotes from the Tribune on Milton Bradley:
Ryan Dempster
"At the end of the day, he was provided a great opportunity to be part of a really great organization with a lot of really good guys," Dempster said. "It just didn't seem to make him happy- anything. Hopefully this is a little bit of a wake-up call for him and he'll realize how good of a gig you have. It probably became one of those things where you start saying things that you're putting the blame on everybody else."
"Sometimes you've just got to look in the mirror and realize that maybe the biggest part of the problem is yourself and (not) wanting to be here and play every day, and (not) wanting to have some fun. It didn't seem like he wanted to have some fun, even from spring training."
"Hopefully this is something that can be good for his career and good for him as a person."
Derrek Lee
"If you're serious about wanting to continue your career- you don't want to finish the season suspended," he said. "My advice would be to talk to the people you need to talk to and maybe apologize if that's what you need to do, or interpret what was going on for the situation that got you suspended."
"I had no problems with Milton personally," he said. "If he called me, I'd answer the phone. This is a different situation. I would let him reach out to me on this one. He's suspended for the season. There's not much I can do to help him on that one. I think if he needed to talk, I'd talk to him."
Aramis Ramirez
Ramirez was surprised, but defended Hendry for making the right decision.
"I've never seen that before," Ramirez said. "I've never seen a GM suspend a player for something he's been doing or something he said in the paper. But Jim (Hendry) has a point. if you don't want to be here, send him home."
Ramirez said he never got to know Bradley and they rarely spoke. He disputed Bradley's comment to the Daily Herald that there was constant "negativity" surrounding the organization.
"I don't think so," he said. "When you make the playoffs two years in a row, there's no negativity here. I've been here since '03 and we've been in the playoffs three times, so we're doing pretty good."
And as for the media negativity Bradley referred to?
"You've guys have got to do your job, and we have to do ours," he said. "If you don't want to talk to the media, don't talk. But if you do something good or something bad, the media is going to be there."
Lou Piniella
Piniella said he tried to be fair to Bradley and have a good relationship, but found out early that the best way to handle him was to give him his space.
"I read some of his comments, and I can tell you this," Piniella said. "I've been here three years and I feel blessed that I've been able to spend three wonderul years here. What a great city. Wrigley Field- what a great place to play, and our fans are second to none. It's been a really, really nice experience for me."
"Last year, I don't know how many times I heard from the media we had the best clubhouse in the league. And things don't change that rapidly in a year. So Jim made the decision, and I support it."
Reed Johnson
Reed Johnson, whom Bradley said gave him sound advice early in the season, appeared to have washed his hands of the outfielder. Johnson said it was a privilege to play at Wrigley Field, and most players understand that.
"You had guys like Eric Karros and Jason Kendall say if you play major league baseball over a long career, you should spend at least one year with the Chicago Cubs," Johnson said. "All of us are really surprised that a player could come here and not have the time of his life.... In a way, I feel sorry for him. He can't enjoy the same things the rest of us enjoy."
Bradley told the Tribune in June he felt "isolated" in the clubhouse. Johnson, Dempster and others disputed that comment.
"From our standpoint, nobody was making an effort to isolate him from groups," Johnson said. "For the most part, that was his choice."
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Bradley need to see a shrink. I mean, seriously. There are clearly some underlying issues here.
I see a movie coming someday:
"Demon in the Outfield" ala the
"Jimmy Piersall Story".
Hendry and the Cubs have major egg on their faces and a financial quagmire to deal with...but eventually that will wear away.
Milton has to live in his head...that could be the toughest act of all.
It's possible his career is over...If I were an executive with a small market team...I'm not sure I'd be willing to risk mlb minimum for fear Milton's attitude would spread throughout the organization.
It's not morally right that Milton
financially benefits from this...
but legally is a another matter.
It's going to be fascinating to see how this plays out.
But the end result is both the Cubs and Bradley lose.
Was that the movie that the Norman Bates actor stared in?
Yes...but based on a true story.
This has got to be the best thing to happen to the Cubs all year. It is the most intriguing. The fact that four players stood up immediately and gave long quotes speaks volumes about how the entire clubhouse felt during all the silence. I mean, like each other or not, ballplayers belong to a fraternity that not many of us truly understand. They normally talk publicly about a teammate's issues.
I bet they all play pretty lose and have some fun for the next 2 weeks.
Hendry has also earned a little respect here, or is definitely trying to make up for his colossal mistake (and save his job). If only he'd done it way back when he SHOULD have, after the incident with Lou and the "piece of sh!t" comment.
Milton's Cub career is over. Without a doubt. I would not be surprised if his career was over. Kind of ironic, Hendry hands Milton a very generous contract, multi years and lots of cash late in his pathetic career, and then mismanages it all so poorly that Hendry is forced to act to save his own ass and suspends ole Milt, throwing gasoline on the train wreck and explodes the rest of his career. wow.
Good riddance! Can't believe a player could come to play in one of the best sports city's in the world, and complain!! We don't need him, the fan's don't need him,and $30 million is to much to pay for a .257 average!! Bye Bye
As one of my H.S. teachers used to say as the bell rang to signal the end of each class.....'Thanks for coming, and thanks for going!'.
love the Karros/Kendall comment. I admit I was excited when he first came, and obviously winning makes everyone feel better, but I think I saw the guy smile once this entire year...and then he covered it up. I also don't think I ever heard him say that there was anything wrong with him, but rather everyone else was making it hard for him. Seriously, there really isn't much else to say than, "later"
Why do we always have controversy in right field?
Somehow I am reminded of a song. (poignant as well because of the death last week of Mary Travers. She didn't sing it, but her partner Paul did.)
Saturday summers, when I was a kid
Wed run to the schoolyard and heres what we did
Wed pick out the captains and wed choose up the teams
It was always a measure of my self esteem
Cuz the fastest, the strongest, played shortstop and first
The last ones they picked were the worst
I never needed to ask, it was sealed,
I just took up my place in right field.
Playing...
Chorus:
Right field, its easy, you know.
You can be awkward and you can be slow
Thats why Im here in right field
Just watching the dandelions grow
Playing right field can be lonely and dull
Little leagues never have lefties that pull
Id dream of the day theyd hit one my way
They never did, but still I would pray
That Id make a fantastic catch on the run
And not lose the ball in the sun
And then Id awake from this long reverie
And pray that the ball never came out to me
Here in...
(chorus)
Off in the distance, the games dragging on,
Theres strikes on the batter, some runners are on.
I dont know the inning, Ive forgotten the score.
The whole team is yelling and I dont know what for.
Then suddenly everyones looking at me
My mind has been wandering; what could it be?
They point at the sky and I look up above
And a baseball falls into my glove!
Here in right field, its important you know.
You gotta know how to catch, you gotta know how to throw,
Thats why Im here in right field, just watching the dandelions grow!
You got to be kidding me!! This guy gets 10 million a year, and now a freaking vacation. For 10 million you can call me every racial slur there is, ignore me in the clubhouse, throw things at me, hell, kick me in the ass evertime I make an out. He's gonna make it for 2 more years!
Hit the road Milton.........now go find your stapler!
How bad does this suspension hurt Bradley's trade value in the offseason? We are now obviously getting rid of him and every team will know we are. I feel as though this suspension hurts the team more then Bradley.
We already bought high and were going to sell low; but doesn't this suspension force us to even sell lower.
You cannot sell something that is not worth anything, i would like to see baseball say enough of this guy, his production proves he is not worth the risks or the headaches. The cubs are already better if he is not around, although it would be nice if Hendry had to eat that stupid contract. Canning him would be the next step to a better season next year.
I think Gerald Perry was the sole reason Bradley is a Cub. I think a HUGE reason why he is unemployed! Hitting was slumping but i think Bradley was why he was fired.
Anyone with two eyes could see this was a toxic move. This guy poisoned the team.
Anyone in the Cubs organization that ok'd this move should be fired.
And he better apologize for making all those bad board games...