Obsessive Bradley Trade Watch: Folks Are Getting a Little Bit Crazy About This Potential Bradley/Burrell Swap
The hottest rumor relating to the planned trade of Milton Bradley has him going to the Tampa Bay Rays for Pat Burrell in a classic bad contract swap. The main issue, however, is that Burrell has just one year left on his deal at $9 million, and Bradley has two years left at a total of $21 million.
So it would not be surprising to see the Cubs eat some of Bradley’s remaining deal, as well as take on all of Burrell’s, in order to move him. But what would be surprising – indeed, ridiculous – would be for the Cubs to eat the ENTIRE difference between the two deals, AND take on all of Burrell’s deal. Doubly surprising: this crazy scenario is actually getting play from reputable sources.
To summarize – under this scenario, the Cubs would be paying Pat Burrell for one year what they would be paying Milton Bradley for two years. Look, I get that the Cubs want to get rid of Bradley, but in no universe do they want to get rid of Bradley that badly.
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Well, in defense of RaysIndex.com, we only said the deal was a no brainer from the Rays perspective and for the same reasons you mention above. But we also mention that the deal doesn’t make much sense from the Cubs point of view.
That being said, the Cubs have put themselves in a corner by suspending Bradley and basically making it impossible for him to come back. Whatever deal the Cubs work out, it ain’t going to be pretty.
Totally agree that the move will be painful – I just wanted to point out why the Cubs eating $13 million didn’t make sense to me. And you’re right: if the Cubs did eat the entire difference between Bradley’s and Burrell’s deals, it would be a no brainer for the Rays. Of course, deals that are a no brainer on one side tend to be good-God-what-are-you-thinking on the other side.
And I would also like to point out that, to your credit, I referred to RaysIndex as a “reputable source.” That’s gotta get me something.