But I’d still throw up a little bit in my mouth over it.

And seriously, Bobby Scales can’t play three or four positions. The only spot that I would ever be comfortable with him defensively is second base; maybe third if I’m desperate. It’s shameful to watch Lou send the guy into the outfield, especially when it would be much wiser to see if Jake Fox — who could actually have a major league career — could man those corner spots.

and 13 man pitching staffs, such a player would be really useful. Now, even though they might be more even useful, I don’t know if there’s a roster spot for him.

Of course, we could realize that 12 pitchers is at least one too many.

Joey Gathright

That’s all he apologized for: “those things that did not work out for the better”.

That’s not an apology. It’s mush.

I really wasn’t going to revisit this, but daver is right, the apology IS a big story, and I wanted to post my take on it.

And frustration was very much why I posted it. And I probably shouldn’t have used the “rip him a new one” phrase. Al, please accept my apologies for that.

I just can’t get over how much people are willing to keep beating a dead horse. Not that we haven’t beat dead horses here on BCB before – we have. But usually there’s a humorous angle to it or pictures or ALL CAPS or something. But this whole thing just reeks of bad karma and I can’t see any good coming from continuing to talk about it.

I really hate having to ever quote Hawk Harrelson, but w.r.t. Bradley, “It’s ovah” and “he gone”. Let the people whose job it is to deal with this stuff, deal with it, and let us get back to doing our jobs…

…Arguing stats vs gut instinct. ;-)

But if it’s a foregone conclusion that he’s gone – which I agree it is – why even worried about his apology? It seems like for everyone involved it’s a formality at this point, which is exactly what we got.

but Jerry Hairston comes to mind, and Pie

… as I said in the original post, he is having a good month of September.

And he did have a 22-HR rookie season, though of course that’s six years ago.

That reminds me of a question I always have: Is there any tracking of staffs or pitchers giving up hits on 1-2 counts? It seems like the Cubs give up an inordinate amount of these gaffes.

if you’re into Winter ball.

I love what MLB Network has done all year. If they carry winter league and/or AFL games, that’ll be a godsend all offseason to those of us who love baseball and want to see some, not to mention being able to keep up with what prospects are doing.

By nature, that makes him a closer candidate. But he’s an oddball, since he can do a few things with the circle change, and, as vonde points out, he seems to need extra rest.
But, the same thing may have been said about Kerry Wood.

and I think strikeouts are usually more critical when the game is on the line than in the early part of the game.

Except when you play the Pirates.

Maybe the Rays would take Milton, but there’s no way they give up Upton.

Actually yes I would love him to be the pinch hitter, so forget the cutting part.

As for the Upton thing, this ESPN article details various struggling young players.
Here is the Upton part.

We’ll cut Upton some slack because of injuries. He underwent left shoulder surgery last winter, and he says he never had an opportunity to develop strength in the shoulder. He’s also been bothered by an ankle problem since early September, and the injury has hindered him defensively.
But that’s no excuse for Upton’s bad body language, inconsistent approach to running out ground balls, and seeming indifference at times.

“When he strikes out, it’s like he’s on major league rehab in extended camp,” said an AL scout. “It doesn’t seem to bother him. They’ve got a real issue there. They’re probably not going to be able to trade him and get close to equal value, and that attitude sure isn’t going to help him become a better player.”

Upton complained when manager Joe Maddon dropped him from leadoff to ninth in the order, and recently told Rays beat writer Marc Topkin that he’d like to “flush this season down the toilet.” After hitting 24 homers in 2007, he has 19 combined the past two seasons. His on-base percentage took an enormous dip this season, from .383 to .303.

“He’s not a bad kid at all,” said a front office man who knows Upton. “He’s not lazy, and he really cares. But sometimes he gets embarrassed, and I think that’s when he lopes after a ball or doesn’t run one out. He really makes you scratch your head.”

Reports I’ve read suggest they need an OF to go, and Upton is probably the lowest on their list of guys to keep based on his attitude and performance.

then Ryan Lefebvre will get the message not to talk about the past.

We’re not talking about Ernie Harwell or Vin Scully here.

True, and he’s not going to be given as much leeway. But if Bradley really was looking to do harm, the credentials of the intended recipient are irrelevant.

Had Milton hit .300 and knock in 90 RBIs here, he could have pimp-slapped Len Kasper seven days a week and twice on Sunday and been forgiven.

Poor len.

They got old months ago.

Though Columbia works too, if you were trying to make a marijuana joke…

so now the question is how to make the club as successful as possible given the situation. saying “bring him back because we spent the $20 million” is the wrong starting point.

if the team has a better chance of success without his cancerous attitude in the clubhouse, then he HAS TO BE GONE. the next answer is how to minimize the loss with him gone. if you have no takers, you eat it. But you build a decision tree based on maximizing value of the team, assuming the $20 mil. is spent.