Milton Bradley DFA

[browntown653]

Milton Bradley's career in Oakland -- a tranquil time, compared with some of his more contentious stops in Cleveland and Los Angeles -- has ended, and unexpectedly early.

The A's designated the outfielder for assignment Thursday morning, a day after general manager Billy Beane met with Bradley to discuss the outfielder's status. After that meeting, Bradley left the clubhouse upset; the day before, he had expressed dissatisfaction after not being activated when he felt he was ready to return from a calf injury.

Beane wouldn't go into specifics about his meeting with Bradley, who was informed at that point about the pending transaction, but on a conference call, Beane told reporters repeatedly that Bradley was removed from the roster because "ultimately there was going to be a playing time issue. ... We discussed some thing we both felt, and, speaking for myself, I feel better about giving him the opportunity to be free.''

Asked about the unusual timing, which came just one day after Bradley had been activated and well before the A's are faced with their next roster decision, Beane pointed out that at-bats are already spread thin in the outfield, where Travis Buck, Mark Kotsay and Nick Swisher have been the regulars. For the A's front office, this move didn't come out of the blue, surprising as it might seem from outside: Recognizing the potential roster crunch, Beane said he had trade talks about Bradley with another team in the past three weeks before a potential deal fell through.

While Bradley has missed most of the year with various injuries, some young players have emerged (Buck); the A's have acquired other outfielders they like (Chris Snelling, Jack Cust) and others have returned from injury (Kotsay). Bradley and Shannon Stewart are the only outfielders not expected to return next year, and Stewart, who was signed with the idea that he might split time in left, does not mind coming off the bench and he has been "very reliable'' this season, as Beane put it Thursday -- i.e., not on the disabled list. (Stewart also is making $1 million this year, a quarter of Bradley's salary.)

Bradley's agent, Seth Levinson, said that his impression of Beane's meeting with Bradley was that, "clearly their decision was (already) made after finding out that Milton would be unhappy not playing every day. Milton feels he is an everyday player and they felt it would be a disservice to him not playing him in his free-agent year.'' The A's never broached the possibility of a long-term deal for Bradley, according to Levinson.

The outfield logjam was going to grow, too. Snelling is likely coming off the DL soon and he is out of options, and Bobby Kielty is also expected to be available by the end of the month, although his recall isn't certain because Kielty has options remaining (he could refuse a minor-league assignment, because of his service time, but that is unlikely because Kielty would forfeit his guaranteed contract).

The A's have 10 days in which to trade Bradley, waive him or release him. A trade remains a possibility, although by designating him, the team has signaled its intention to part with him, which often lessens players' values. Beane acknowledged that some leverage is lost with the transaction, but said that he'll quickly get an idea if a deal can be made.

Several major-league sources said that there is sure to be interest in Bradley. San Diego might be the best bet; the Padres are looking for offense and former Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta, a major supporter of Bradley's, is now there. Another admirer of Bradley's, ex-Dodgers manager Jim Tracy, might push his new club, the Pirates, to make a bid.

Oakland activated Bradley on Wednesday after he'd missed more than two months with first a hamstring strain and then a calf strain. In a year and a half with the A's, Bradley had five stints on the DL for a total of 110 games missed because of injury.

Although ready Monday, Bradley was not activated right away because the A's did not know if third baseman Eric Chavez would be able to play, so they wanted to hang onto an extra backup infielder. Chavez, who has a rib-cage strain, then came out of Wednesday's game, which is another reason the A's went ahead and made the Bradley move: It enabled them to call up infielder Kevin Melillo from Triple-A Sacramento as extra insurance for Chavez, particularly with Oakland opening a series tonight at a National League park, where bench players get used with regularity.

Bradley went 0-for-3 with a walk Wednesday and struck out looking in his final at-bat. He disagreed with the call and exchanged words with home-plate umpire Tim Timmons, prompting manager Bob Geren to come out of the dugout.

Bradley, 29, was hitting .292 with two homers and seven RBIs in 19 games this year, and last year, he hit .276 with 14 homers and 52 RBIs in 96 games. His best stretch with the team came during last year's American League Championship Series, when Bradley was 9-for-18 with two homers as the A's were swept by Detroit. Media members and A's teammates were impressed with Bradley's passion during the series and his tearful reaction afterward, which centered on his disappointment for the rest of the team.

Though he had some on-field incidents with the Dodgers and a difficult relationship with manager Eric Wedge in Cleveland, Bradley had few troubles in Oakland apart from some give-and-take with the crowd at Fenway Park in a series at Boston last year. Several sources said that Bradley injured his shoulder last year while having a minor tirade in the clubhouse, but Bradley emphatically denied that.

Asked specifically if character issues led to Bradley's departure, Beane said, "Is Milton a fiery, emotional guy? Absolutely. He's not the first guy to be like that in this game and we don't get to the playoffs (last year) without Milton. As far as speculation, you can speculate all you want. I'm not going to contribute to that in any way. We had to manage our roster and it was time to go a different way.''

I would hope the A's have been exploring trade partners before this, because if they are trying to force the issue it's a bad idea. Bradley is still a decent player and the Athletics could definitely get some value in return for him. Rumor has it the Pirates and Padres are interested.

[Providence A's]

who knows...we'll either cut him loose or trade him for a low level spec...save some dough. Too many outfielders now I suppose. He's been on the DL 3 times already!

[McKain]

Trade for that ****er, Nationals. You're playing Nook Logan and Ryan Langerhans.

[Fishercat]

He was traded to Kansas City for Leo Nunez

ESPN - A's trade disgruntled Bradley to Royals for Nunez - MLB

[Providence A's]

well, at least we get something and save approximately $2 mil.

[A'sDiehard]

I'm crushed by this.

[browntown653]

They traded him for this guy!



EEK!

[DirtyKash]

Trade called off by the Royals, Bradley hurt.

[Providence A's]

I thought you were joking lol

The Official Site of The Oakland Athletics: News: Oakland Athletics News

Then, according to a Royals spokesman, the A's learned that Bradley had suffered an oblique injury in his last game for them and the trade was called off.

"Obviously we tried to make the deal, but before the final phase was completed, there was a complication with the medical part and we had to pull out of it," Royals general manager Dayton Moore said.

The A's apparently did not know of the injury when they designated Bradley for assignment on Thursday.

"The A's were not at fault," Moore said.

[catman]

Will they be required to put him on the DL and have him pass a physical before they can designate him?

[Providence A's]

he's already been DFA'd...he'll get released, traded, or accept a demotion to AAA (which he won't)...my guess is that he'll be released and that hurts because we have to pay him if we do. If he got traded, then that team would have to pay him.

[love_that_reefer]

It's pretty bad when the Royals won't take you. Someone will pick him up.

[rockin500]

he'll be released. which is probably for the best.