Although it is a near certainty that the Chicago Cubs will want to trade Milton Bradley this off-season, it is not a certainty that any other team will want the troubled outfielder. But even on the heels of Bradley’s season-ending suspension by the Cubs for conduct detrimental to the team, at least one team is speaking up that they would have interest in Bradley.
Padres GM Kevin Towers said Friday that he would be open-minded about discussing Bradley, who played 42 games with San Diego in 2007 before blowing out his knee in an on-field altercation.
“I haven’t had any calls from Jim about him,” Towers told ESPN.com. “But I think people kind of know what players we target. We have to take chances sometimes. We took a chance on Milton the first time we had him, and he actually played pretty well [before the injury].
“We could be in the market for an outfielder. I’m not saying it’s necessarily Milton. But our experience with him was rather a positive one. It wasn’t really a negative one.” ESPN Chicago.
Of all the possible locations for Bradley, San Diego may make the most sense. The idea destination will have several qualities:
1.) Smaller market club, lower payroll, looking for a bargain player (check).
2.) Younger team without a lot of veterans who won’t put up with Bradley’s crap (check).
3.) Management that has dealt with Bradley before and had a positive (or at least not negative) experience (check).