YAHTZEE! Towers Acquires Milton Bradley

IN THE GAME OF LIFE and in baseball, nothing is a certainty. GUESS WHO? is coming to San Diego? Padres General Manager Kevin Towers has agreed to a trade with the Oakland Athletics, acquiring the enigmatic outfielder Milton Bradley and $1,360,929 in exchange for hard throwing right handed reliever Andrew Brown.

The switch-hitting Bradley has a career .271 average in just over eight seasons and can CONNECT with FOUR different teams (Montreal, Cleveland, Los Angeles & Oakland). Bradley's best season came in 2004 when he hit .267 with 19 home runs and 67 RBIs for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Last season, Bradley hit .276 with 14 home runs and 52 RBIs in 96 games for the A's. Unfortuantely Bradley is more known for his BATTLESHIP sized antics and clubhouse problems. The talented player had well publicized problems with Eric Wedge in Cleveland and with Jeff Kent in Los Angeles. He was also suspended for unusual on-field incidents; i.e. throwing equipment onto the field after a perceived bad call and throwing a plastic beer bottle (which was thrown at him) back into the stands. He has also been known to throw chairs, water bottles and personal insults. (Note: Bradley is an alum of Long Beach Polytechnic High School, the same high school that produced San Diego Padres Hall of Famer, Tony Gwynn.)

Brown, 26, was 2-3 with a 2.78 ERA (11 ER/35.2 IP) in 32 relief appearances for Triple-A Portland this season. Acquired by San Diego from the Cleveland Indians along with third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff in exchange for Josh Barfield, Brown is a hard thrower who routinely hits the high 90's with his fastball. However, Brown did not refine his control the way had Towers hoped, making the fireballer somewhat expendable. Brown made his Major League debut with the Indians last September, appearing in nine games (allowing six hits and four runs over 10.0 innings, with a 3.60 ERA). Unlike Bradley, he is not known for creating problems within the clubhouse or with other players on his team. Ironically, this is the second time Brown has been traded for Bradley, as he was involved in the exchange between Cleveland & Los Angeles.

Its a STRATEGO move by Towers, as Bradley offers the Padres a low risk-high reward chance at boosting the struggling offense, or at least shoring up the bench. Bradley is an above average outfielder at all three spots. He also offers some pop and some much needed speed. If Bradley, who has often been more fun than A BARREL OF MONKEYS, doesn't fit into the Padres OPERATION, KT didn't really give up much to get the talented, yet TROUBLEd outfielder.

Balancing the outfield has been a bit of a TWISTER for rookie manager Bud Black, as he has had to juggle Jose Cruz, Jr., Termel Sledge, Hiram Bocachica, Russel Branyan and the returning Brian Giles in the corner outfield spots. For now it seems Giles, and his hefty ability to draw walks, will start everday in right field, and Bradley (if heathy) will start in left.

Like Barrett, Bradley will become a free-agent at the end of the year. It is currently unknown if the Padres will obtain any compensatory draft picks (as they will with Barrett) if Bradley is not resigned.