Bradley has to be told that there is a zero-tolerance policy for clubhouse cancer behavior.

No one heard anything out of Carl Everett last year.  And they won the WS with him batting in the middle of the line up.

I'm even looking forward to some spark out of Milton.  A lot of us here at AN were crying for Chavez and Macha to show some fire last year.  I'm not saying Milton should throw bottles at people, but some emotion would be nice.

Bill Plashke is a huge idiot.  

Why can't the baseball world see this for a baseball move, because it is primarily what it is.  The A's just added major league talent to their team while losing only a prospect, THIS should be the foccus of the trade.  If the move works from a baseball point of view, it'll work itself out and the talking heads will stop talking about it because it wont be interesting anymore.

There are questions about Bradley's behavior. The fact that he couldn't get along with Jeff Kent is probably a plus. A lot of the other stuff makes him risky and thats why he was available.The potential reward appears to exceed the risk. Media types seem to protect players they have an affinity for. We never know the whole story. Imagine the flap that would ahve been raised if an A's player had been involved in alcohol caused snowmobile accident which endangered the life of his child. Wait a minute. Carney Lansford did that. Imagine if Ricky or Jose pulled a stunt like that.

There are better sources out there.

For instance, this from Bob Klapisch of the Bergen Register (North N.J.)

NEWS ITEM: A's trade for Milton Bradley.

There were factions within the Yankee front office that argued passionately on behalf of Bradley, insisting he would solve the team's center field crisis. But Cashman resisted, equally convinced the volatile Bradley would combust in this market.

Whether or not the GM was right is now moot, as the A's acquired Bradley and infielder Antonio Perez for outfield prospect Andre Ethier.

This is a coup for A's GM Billy Beane, who adds an All-Star caliber outfielder while giving up very little. The A's can now dangle Mark Kotsay in front of the Yankees, even though his no-trade powers would have to be waived.

Beane's ability to pull off this swap is even more impressive considering he left the winter meetings early last week, flying to Washington to have lunch with Newt Gingrich and Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mellman on successive days.

link: http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyNjgmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY4Mzg3MzUm eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2
     (note:  Klapisch seems to be pretty straight up when it comes to sports coverage.
             This same article has some pretty good content on the Yanks
             positioning for Garciaparra and Damon)

P.S.  How about the Beene and Kotsay content to start some Hot Stove fury here on AN !!!

"Part of me thinks the Dodgers did this trade to fuck with us, but if the prospect pans out, then we can in a paranoid reversal blame Billy Beane for screwing with our marketshare mojo." --Rev Halofan

They are manic I tell you, manic.

I'll agree that the media deserves scrutiny, and a hell of a lot of it. But these are columnists we're talking about, not reporters. Frankly, they're just know-it-all schmucks like you and me. Oh yeah ok they're also schmucks that happen to be read by a bunch of other schmucks -- but oh wait, we're one of those schmucks reading what they write too!

Look, any publicity is good publicity. You really don't like what they say? Ignore them. Great thing about the modern age, is that there are alternatives. Don't like the major newspapers? Read the mlb website. Don't like the mlb website? Read a sports blog. Don't like a sports blog? Read another one...

Which is all really to say... cheer up! Why let these kids drag you down?

No one complains about an A-hole who plays balls out to win. I'm sure we'd have taken Jeff Kent for Ethier too.  And AJ Pierzynski is a huge in Chicago after getting shipped out of Minny/San Fran.

I think cleaning the slate, and giving Milton a team that can win every night out, in many different ways might I add, will suit him just fine.

If not, I'll just pretend like we never had Ethier in the first place and welcome in our other prospects.  I think Billy could be fine doing the same.

Cuz no-one believes that the A's have been a "good team, period" over the last few years... Somehow, I don't think Beane is sitting at home worrying how to get people to believe the A's are a "good team, period."

"Bradley will bat somewhere in the middle of the order, in front of or behind Chavez. He is arbitration eligible (he made $2.5 million last year) but will not be a free agent until after the 2007 season."

link
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2005/12/14/SPG8BG7Q641.DTL&type=a s

Bonds 100000 times!  And coincidently he didn't get along with Kent's mustache either.

way to go beane

Milton, on the other hand, would probably agree to get changed in a bathroom stall before every game if we are winning.  Look at this quote from the LA Times:  "I have to win.  I can't lose.  I'm unhappy when I lose.  It's probably why the situation in L.A. got to me the way it did.  The greatest time I had was the playoff season.  Everything was working.  I came in and added to the clubhouse.  I helped make the team a playoff team.  I took a backseat to [Steve] Finley in center field.  I bled Dodger blue.  I did everything in my power.  I played my knee off for the Dodgers.  I did everything I could."

Geez, that sure does sound like a clubhouse cancer to me (I love winning, I wanted to help the team make the playoffs).  The guy just wants to win, and he gets pissed when he's not winning.  I never knew that that would be a strike AGAINST a guy.  

You know who else had this mentality: Tim Hudson.  And another: Dave Stewart.  We need MORE people who "can't lose."  Don't differentiate between Milton and Timmy because Milton is vocal and Tim was quiet.  It's the passion that counts.  

I was skeptical about Payton. I was concerned about Kotsay. I had question marks about Rincon, and Hatteberg, and Witasick. But Beane has reassured me year after year, and although in LA (where I am right now) where they are loving this deal, I'm somehow confident that Beane can turn Bradley into an All-Star (of course, since he's in Oakland, he'll never get the press, so he won't be an all-star).

Only 4 months to go.

Beane is a "Geane-yus!"

We now have the best (and the deepest) outfield in the AL. Uncle Miltie will be a hero, you'll see. He's an AMERICAN Leaguer and his season will be closer to the .321 year he had in Cleveland,

Now bring on Mr. Thomas, and Frankly m'dear, we will win win win win win win win win win  ...

Yanks:
Weak rotation
Poor defense
Who plays center?  (might be solved with Damon)

Red Sox:
Terrible bullpen
Who plays short?  Third?  Center?

Twins:
Still no hitting

Angels:
Holes in rotation
Outside of Vlad, pitiful lineup

Rangers:
Still no pitching

Other teams aren't worth mentioning for obvious reasons.  2006 is looking pretty rosy right now isn't it?

http://www.dodgerblues.com/content/features_moments.html#bradley1

http://www.dodgerblues.com/content/players/milton_bradley.html

His middle name is Obelle...

The questionable thing in my mind is the price! Come on, guys..... Ethier??
I have a tough time remembering a prospect with that kind of hype and expectation! Maybe our SS, and I assume that we can agree that he's worth more than Bradley...

Who else... Chavvy? Tejada? They've done pretty well for themselves....

Off course I agree that all prospect don't cut it when (or if) they get to the show(Piatt...), but it just seems to me like we could've got more for Ethier - and I believe that "the Rat" has a valid point with the "not so much looking at the future, but concentrating on the now"-remark!