Exploring Milton Bradley's Potential

Over at MLive, Patrick Hayes has his thoughts on how the Tigers should be fixed. It's a lot of stuff that I plan to be covering in the future (tentative plans, I should say) but here's his Right Field solution:

Right Field: The outfield needs a makeover, and it's going to start here. Trade Jeremy Bonderman to the Cubs for Milton Bradley. Both make roughly $10 million per year. Bradley is signed for one more year than Bonderman, but the Cubs are desperate to get rid of him, so it's conceivable they'd pay that final year if the Tigers take him.

Jim Leyland is known for working well with head cases. Gary Sheffield didn't produce in Detroit, but he didn't make waves either. So what you say? Well, in NY he was calling Derek Jeter "not all the way black" and Joe Torre a slave master. He's had nothing negative to say about his Detroit tenure. Bradley is not as crazy as Sheff, this can work.

Before signing with the Cubs, Bradley had a career-year in Texas, with a .999 OPS. Once he escapes the racism in Wrigleyville and comes to the more laid back environment in Detroit, he'll be just fine.

And for those who think Bonderman's still young and can bounce back? You might be right. But it's time to get some of the Seay/Lyon/Bonderman radio-controlled car driving crowd out of here, you know? The Starter: Milton Bradley

It's interesting and outside the box, for sure. I know the Cubs are anxious to get rid of the PR Nightmare that has been the I-won't-bite-my-tongue and contract that comes with Bradley, but I'm not sure they'll deal for another terrible contract of a guy who can't stay healthy and is making minor improvements.

Quick thought without doing any math on it: I like the deal and if it's on the table, Detroit should take it and run.

Now, let's do some back-of-the-envelope math after the jump . . .