Knowledge of the thoroughness of Bradley's final Oakland temper tantrum spread faster than one would have hoped.

Well, crap. I say put him in the Midland rotation.

His head looks like it's shaped like Sam Cassell's.

Leo Nunez. ####### great.

The Royals are loading up for the playoff run, I see.

Will he now be known as Leo F. Nunez?

Leo F. Nunez. My money is on him not outperforming expectations a la John F. Mabry.

Seriously, is he a scout's darling or something? I see a minor league reliever who doesn't strike people out and has rarely impressed anyone enough to be given a chance to close.

So will Joey F Gathright and Emil F Brown sit so Milton F Bradley can play? That's one sad F team.

Here's what BA had to say about him when the Royals traded for him in December, 2004:

Nunez, 21, signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2000. He has been called "Little Pedro" because he's a short, frail Dominican with a live arm. He has a 92-94 mph fastball that touches 97, and he has made strides with his slider and curveball. If he can't pick up a changeup, his future will be in relief. Nunez finished fifth in the low Class A South Atlantic League in strikeouts (140 in 144 innings) and seventh in ERA (3.13) last season. He went 10-4 with one save in 27 games (20 starts), giving up 121 hits (including 16 homers) and 46 walks. His career record as a pro is 27-15, 3.38 in 84 games.

So, in other words, he's a risky guy with a lot of upside.

And here's BA's Kline after seeing Nunez in the Caribbean Series in February:

On the flipside, Dominican righthander Leo Nunez averaged anywhere from 92-95 mph with his fastball, and showed a devastating 85-87 mph slider.

He has been called "Little Pedro" because he's a short, frail Dominican with a live arm.

I wish people would stop doing that. Its like calling every lefthander with an 89 mph fastball and decent control the next Tom Glavine. Compare him to Ramon Ortiz. When he passes the success Ortiz has had in the majors, then think about whether you want to compare him to Pedro.

Ramon Ortiz was once a Little Pedro, too, before he got agegated.

Someone on AN is reporting that the radio is reporting that Dukes is close to coming to Oakland.

They just have to go through the procedures of warning all parents in a five-county area first.

Who's worse, Bradley or Dukes?

Who's worse, Bradley or Dukes?

At baseball? Dukes. At life? Dukes.

On the one hand, I applaud Dayton for buying low, I think that's how you build a franchise, by stockpiling talent, buying low, and selling high.

On the other hand, we have an absolut glut of mediocre leftfielders between Emil Brown, Joey Gathright and Shane Costa. Milton is better than any of them, but is oft injured, has character issues, and is a free agent at the end of the year. Not sure why we need that.

I would assume this is one of a series of moves Dayton will make, otherwise it makes no sense to me. Picking up Thomson and Bradley in the same day - does Dayton think we're in a pennant race?

I hope more moves are on the way, which include sending Emil out of town, and maybe even moving Milton again.

The Royals should get a compensatory pick out of this if they do hang on to Bradley. I guess that's worth something.

As for Nunez, he's a slight of build pitcher with decent velocity. I believe he had a hand injury this year which has kept him out. He had been a reliever, but has started this year. He was rushed by Baird, but I think he could still be a decent MLB pitcher. I believe either this year or next year is his last option year however.

Trade cancelled due to Bradley injury

Bradley hurt? Shocking! You'd think Dayton would've known that.

The Royals acquired outfielder Milton Bradley for a brief period Friday before sending him back to the A’s upon learning he has an oblique injury that prevents him from playing.

The A’s were to get minor-league reliever Leo Nunez in the deal.

“The only thing I know,” GM Dayton Moore said, “is there was some problem with the medical (examination).”

The hell? I don't understand how this could happen.

If Bradley's hurt, he's got to go back on the DL, doesn't he - at least temporarily? I don't think you can release an injured player...

You wonder if he is umm...aggressively describing his injury because he really doesn't want to be in KC.

If he didn't report an injury to the A's and had one when he showed up in KC, he's headed for an unpaid suspension I imagine.

"It's an unfortunate situation," said Bradley's agent, Sam Levinson. "Milton is healthy and looking forward to helping some club win many games this season."

Well, he was until he learned he was going to the Royals...

Can he not be DFAed if he's injured? And whats the scuttle about Dukes?

So Bradley will be available to mentor Dukes if that deal comes off? Nice.

So if Milton is playing shenanigans to get out of a trade, its going to backfire if he's placed on waivers. The Royals loss and the Rangers win gives the Royals first waiver priority.

So if Milton is playing shenanigans to get out of a trade, its going to backfire if he's placed on waivers. The Royals loss and the Rangers win gives the Royals first waiver priority.

You think the Royals are going to bother claiming a guy who they think is either injured or who is willing to fake an injury to get out of playing for them?

I would think that you CAN DFA a player who is injured, but perhaps not one on the disabled list.

Don't even compare MB with Dukes.

At baseball? Dukes. At life? Dukes.

Primey

You think the Royals are going to bother claiming a guy who they think is either injured or who is willing to fake an injury to get out of playing for them?

Why not? Dayton said he wants the guy. They can claim him, put him on the DL and have Oakland pay his entire salary, minus a pro-rated major league minimum. If Milton raises a fuss, what can he do about it? When he gets healthy, the Royals can then trade him. What's the downside? His clubhouse disruptions will cost the Royals the 2007 AL Central Division title?

They can claim him, put him on the DL and have Oakland pay his entire salary, minus a pro-rated major league minimum.

If they claim him, they inherit his whole salary. Only if he clears waivers, or the A's pick up his salary to get a prospect, would a team pay him the minimum.

Ah, well they're already willing to pay his salary. This way they don't have to give up Nunez.

You think the Royals are going to bother claiming a guy who they think is either injured or who is willing to fake an injury to get out of playing for them?


For just the waiver price and not an actual player? Hells yes.

Wouldn't Cincinnati get first crack at him? I thought MLB stopped league first on waiver deals (along with on most things). Cincy has the worst record in the majors.

Not that they'd necessarily claim him.

Wouldn't Cincinnati get first crack at him?

CIN & KC have identical 29-45 records, although I don't know what the tiebreaker is.

SF Chronicle is still running with the old KC trade info, but does note:

The club was traveling on Thursday when the A's announced that Bradley had been designated for assignment, but on Friday, no one had any strong reaction to the news. While Bradley fit in the clubhouse better than any team he had been on before, his moodiness appeared to increase this season, probably because of frustrations over his injuries and disagreements with the team over how best to rehab them. His irritability was wearing thin, several players said.

The obvious question is what Bradley would do to the Royals' outfield situation. Bradley's natural position is center field, where DeJesus plays. Does DeJesus move to left, demoting Gathright? Do the Royals trade Gathright, DeJesus, or Brown? Bradley would obviously upgrade the outfield, but he's a free agent after this year.

CIN & KC have identical 29-45 records, although I don't know what the tiebreaker is.

I had posted before the Cincy game was final. That did tie it. Of course, there are a few more days before he'd be formally waived - the chance of the standings changing is probably worth some minor leaguer, IF a team is high on him.

I'm not sure why any team contending for worst record in the majors would want a guy eligible for free agency, though - unless they think they can trade him in July for something of value. He's missed too much time - with decent but not great production in the ways that the Elias rankings count - to likely get a pick if offered arbitration.

the celtics are throwing games in an effort to acquire bradley.

I'm not sure why any team contending for worst record in the majors would want a guy eligible for free agency, though - unless they think they can trade him in July for something of value.

Well, there is that. They could flip him at a later date for something. But what do they lose by claiming him? They get a productive player that fills a void on their team, and while that may not be of any consequence with regards to the playoffs, if you can get extra production for virtually nothing you take it anyways. He had $4 million on his full contract going into the year, so pro-rated the Royals wouldn't be paying him that much. And then it can go one of three ways. Kansas City either sees something in him that they think can help the organization beyond 2007 and they re-sign him, if not they can let him go and get the compensatory draft picks. The third option is to trade him before July (or August) 31st to a contender that needs his bat. They can extract something of value from a desperate team that better fits into their long term plans. While I will say that I was mildly suprised that Kansas City was the one to offer up something for him, if he were to go to waivers I could see logic behind them claiming him.

The Mets are crazy not to get him, personality be damned.

The Mets are crazy not to get him, personality be damned.

I couldn't agree more.

The Mets are crazy not to get him, personality be damned.

I couldn't agree more.


Well, I disagree. The Bradley situation is one where teams may be operating with asymmetric information. Omar needs to know what Bradley is thinking and how committed he is towards winning. Even then, we'd be holding our breaths that Bradley doesn't snap. All the talent in the world can't help if he decides to sabotage the team.

Having said that, I'd like to see Omar get him. I would offer a minor league pitcher like Mulvey or Niese. Heilman is out of the question unless we get more back. It'd be nice to exchange Green for Bradley, but while Bradley is the superior player, at least with Green you know you're not dealing with a potential time bomb.

Omar needs to know what Bradley is thinking and how committed he is towards winning.

I don't recall Bradley ever not being committed to winning. Anger issues and injuries have been the bane of his existence.

I would offer a minor league pitcher like Mulvey or Niese. Heilman is out of the question unless we get more back. It'd be nice to exchange Green for Bradley, but while Bradley is the superior player, at least with Green you know you're not dealing with a potential time bomb.

It's becoming increasingly clear that Met fans are divided with respect to how good a reliever Aaron Heilman is. I think we all agree that he isn't the dominant reliever he was in 2005 when he was one of the best relievers in the game (2.18 ERA, 72/24 k/bb, 1 hr, 66 IP). That being said, there appears to be some people who think he's still one of the better setup men in baseball. I don't think he's that good. He's decent but I don't think he's reliable. It's funny, Rask. I'd be upset if the Mets traded Mulvey or Niese for Bradley and wouldn't mind if they traded Heilman for him. You're the opposite.

I don't know what it is with Heilman. His stuff is still there. It might be the league has figured him out.

"I don't know what it is with Heilman. His stuff is still there. It might be the league has figured him out."

It seems like the problem with Heilman, at least this year, is the HR ball. His K rate has dropped a ton this year, down to 5.77, but he has really cut his BB rate as well. He has a 3:1 K to BB ratio this year, which is better than last year, and equal to what he did in 2005 as a reliever. League hit 207 off him in 05, and only 218 this year, so the entire problem seems to come down to his HR rate. In 05, he allowed 1 HR in 66 relief innings, and he's allowed 5 already so far in 33 IP. His GB rate has also gone down pretty significantly; from 1.5 (thats as a starter and reliever) in 05 to 1.24 to .83. I dont know why thats happening, but I'm not so sure it can be chalked up to the league figuring him out. But for whatever reason, the guy isnt throwing as many ground balls as he used to. He's complained of arm problems; maybe he has to change his motion to compensate and its had an impact on getting the ball down? I dont know.

Part of the reason Heilman's BAA is so low this season is that his BABIP is around .210. Obviously that isn't going to be that low. Of course, I doubt Heilman is going t0 continue to allow so many homers as well.

Why would the A's try to dump the second best player in their division?

How do you figure he's even the tenth best player in the division? He can't stay healthy long enough to prove it.

The obvious question is what Bradley would do to the Royals' outfield situation. Bradley's natural position is center field, where DeJesus plays. Does DeJesus move to left, demoting Gathright? Do the Royals trade Gathright, DeJesus, or Brown? Bradley would obviously upgrade the outfield, but he's a free agent after this year.

I think its pretty clear Dayton is not enamored with DeJesus' defense in centerfield (which I don't get, I think its fine, and I think the numbers show him to be pretty average). He acquired the speedy Joey Gathright, who despite taking unnatural routes to the ball, Dayton thinks can be a ball hound out in centerfield if he can learn how to hit. Maybe Dayton thinks Milton can play CF, moving DeJesus to LF (or possibly opening up a DeJesus trade?). I would also guess some other moves are in the works?

Dayton was quoted as saying maybe they'll acquire Bradley at a later date. I wonder if he has his eye on Milton as a free agent this winter. It seems like he'd be a low cost option, and maybe by then they'll have gotten rid of some of their mediocre outfielders (Gload, Brown, Sanders, Costa) by then.

Didn't they try Teahen in center too?

Praise the Lord that the Royals won't get that clubhouse cancer.

The heck to Milton Bradley.. we know he exaggerated that injury anyways.

It's funny, Rask. I'd be upset if the Mets traded Mulvey or Niese for Bradley and wouldn't mind if they traded Heilman for him. You're the opposite.

Maybe he still thinks Heilman would be just as good a SP as Haren?

That being said, there appears to be some people who think he's still one of the better setup men in baseball. I don't think he's that good. He's decent but I don't think he's reliable. It's funny, Rask. I'd be upset if the Mets traded Mulvey or Niese for Bradley and wouldn't mind if they traded Heilman for him. You're the opposite.

Hmm, well the move for Bradley would only be for this year (or maybe next year), so you are looking at a short term gain. Losing Heilman would take away from the impact of gaining Bradley. I think it makes sense to give up someone who may be good later on, but won't contribute this year. Because I think Bradley's trade value is negligible, I wouldn't trade anyone who is central to the Met's future.

Heilman has not been his usual self this year. Still, if everything were up to me, I would have him as our no. 5 starter. Otherwise, he's still been filling an important role in the bullpen. I wouldn't move him until Sanchez is back and ready to go.

Bradley to the Padres for a minor league pitcher.

Is this Beane's way of saying "thanks" for Cust?