Daniel Travitz

As we all know the mariners officially released former Texas Ranger All star Milton Bradley. Milton Bradley has had a tough start to the season , but we have seen that he can be a very productive middle of the lineup hitter when he is in Rangers Ballpark. If there was ever a manager who I believe could handle all of Milton Bradley's crap, it would be Ron Washington, and if Wash could get Bradley into shape and turn him into a very good fourth or fifth outfielder we would have a very good option instead of young wash-ups like Brandon Boggs or Craig Gentry when Hamilton and/or Cruzie inevitably goes to the disabled list. This would be a very low risk/ high reward signing that has the potential to help out the injury stricken oufield we have now and could make the difference down the stretch. What would we do if tonight David Murphy broke his leg sliding into home(knock on wood), who would we call up??? We need to seriously think about signing him and put our booing days behind us and dig deep(very deep) and find ourselves cheering for Milton once again.

Sounds great and all -IF- Josh or Nelly get hurt again. If they don't, you're looking at way too much $$ to be sitting in AAA, where we already have Endy Chavez and Craig Gentry waiting. Could Bradley come back to Texas and play well? Sure. But that's an extremely risky move considering that we already have 2 outfielders in AAA with a combined 3132 ML plate appearances. I also believe that Bradley would like to be an every day starter, and his grapes would sour if he sat on the bench for too long.

You have Josh and Nelly coming back soon - at that point, he's a DH, where you already have a glut. He's not really a capable defender, and he's going to get hurt soon anyway - he does every year. So this would seem to not make much sense for Texas. If it were September and they were going into the playoffs and wanted a good veteran bat for the bench for depth - they I could see that.

Why? Because Cruz & Hamilton are around the corner, with Leonys Martin puffing hard to get through AAA soon. There's your Ranger Outfield, come playoff time. There's no Champ's Blood in Milton's veins.
He doesn't deserve to be a Ranger.

Hubz you're getting a little ahead of yourself there buddy... lol. Frisco pitching isn't the same as major league pitching. I highly doubt that Martin will be starting CF in the playoffs for TX.

This would be a very low risk/ high reward signing that has the potential to help out the injury stricken oufield we have now and could make the difference down the stretch.

No. This is not the Milton Bradley of 2008. This is the Milton Bradley of 2011 with three more years of wear on the tires and probably more emotional baggage in tow than when he left Texas, with no real semblance of the old power stroke remaining, with deteriorating batted-ball rates ... the Rangers aren't going to pick him up, and it has a lot more to do with the fact that he won't be an asset here than his famous volatility.

If he'd work cheap. agree to go to Round Rock, go see a psych,and take his meds, I don't see a lot of downside in seeing if he can't eek out one last late summer hot-streak. He'd be strictly a in-case-of-injury break-glass kind of player, but we may need a guy come August. That or trade a prospect for one.

i'm neither hear nor there on bradley. part of me says he's done. however the other part of me says he just purposely tanks in his tantrum modes. i think he really enjoyed playing for wash, thus I think he could still succeed here. granted as stated before i would only pick him up if there was a major injury to one of the out fielders.

but speaking of pick ups... anybody interested in possibly trying to pull off a simple trade for posada and Joba? just an idea as a way to mix it up. as Sundays thread stated YT has the lowest Offensive output at catcher i have no clue how it compares to posada... however he always seems to do well at RBPiA. Plus i might be in the minority but think Joba could still be a decent starter. not an Ace... but a decent 3-5. Or we get another peice for the bullpen... just an idea..

Why not?

.218/.313/.356 with a -27.6 UZR. That's why not.

DCAggie ... Sorry ... why do you propose crazy trades that are totally ludicrous?

Posada. He's 39yo ... he's hitting .165 .278 .349 .626 plus you'd pick up his $13.1mil contract ... and how/where would you play him? Why do you think NYY wanted him to hit 9th as DH? And you would trade for that? If you want to add a third catcher who has similar offensive line ... he's down in AAA now. Posada is done.

Joba. You are right ... you'd be in the minority. TEX gets more benefit from Joba to have him on the NYY roster or better yet in their rotation. That way they get wins off him without the salary.

Bradley. His time in TEX was 4 seasons ago. He's done. IF he purposely tanks when he's in his ugly moods ... then who says he doesn't do that back for TEX? TEX lucked out with him in 2008 and isn't about ready to touch that third rail again.

Milton Bradley would DEFINITELY make a difference; an aging outfielder with SEVERE mental/anger issues, a history of injuries, and an inability to not become a clubhouse distraction. I loved Milton Bradley in 2008, but this is 2011, and Bradley seems to have further damaged his noodle. Seriously, instead of any team signing Milton, he needs to go get some help.

It's really not a question of Wash getting to Mliton, to handle his various issues. Milton is mentally ill, and that's not something you can "people skill" your way around. Many have tried. I hope he gets the help he needs, but the Rangers shouldn't be his halfway house.

@WmW

Well this being the Milton Bradley why the hell not forum, i assumed it was also a viable place for a crazy @$$ trade. sometimes to be successful you gotta take a gamble. baseball is funny like that. its the one sport that you tend to see that somebody elses trash, is sombebody elses treasure. Again i wasnt suggesting we do the trade, i was just seeing what anyone thought about it. Like i said, i had no clue what Jorge's numbers looked like compared to Naps or YT who are both struggling.

Youre never gonna survive.... unless you get a little crazy - Seal

and he F*** heidi klum everynight.... the man knows what he's talking about.

youre allowed to laugh at that....

Acquiring Bradley, Posada, or Chamberlain would not be gambling. Gambling presumes that there is a risk worth taking for the potential higher reward.

In those cases the potential rewards do not come anywhere close to outweighing the high risk, cost, and lost contributory value from those players they would displace on the 25man to make room for them.

+10 for windingmywatch. Couldn't agree more.

Expect in any given forum DCaggie will throw down some ridiculous trade nonsense. If you expect it to be there, it will stop aggravating you, and you can just learn to ignore. In this case, why we would want or need the ancient, overpriced Posada when we already have a (much younger) guy in Napoli who essentially does the same thing (a catcher who sucks at catching so he's relegated to DH) for a lot less money, is quite puzzling, indeed. But hey, why not? It's just a trade fantasy, and all you guys who don't see that are boring stiffs who forget what it feels like to be 10 years old, dreaming about players you'd love to have on your team.

Thanks WW... Had DC proposed TEX consider acquiring AJ to fill the second catcher role that might be a bit more along the lines of reality.

Yeah, Wmw... Really, it's reasonable to think that Texas may actually need another catcher at some point this season, since TY isn't exactly known for his durability If he goes down, at this point it's Taylor Teagarden, right?

But doesn't everyone know that Posada isn't a catcher anymore? Sure, he could catch in a pinch if he had to, but his days of putting on the pads for 100 games a season are over. He's going to retire at the end of the season, I imagine - if he can't get the bat around anymore, he has 0 value, and his contract is preposterous. So, yeah - that's just a very puzzling trade suggestion, especially considering we have Napoli, and the thought of a Napoli / Posada tandem behind the plate is horrifying.

@WmW and WWJDD

i've actually already proposed we trade with CHW for AJ and Danks or Floyd. i'd take either of them. however i have a feeling it would cost us more than we're willing to give up unless it would be AJ for Burhle so i dunno what to think of that. i dunno how much burhle's got left in the tank.

and i typically only propose trades in trade forums... typically that i create. i just didnt want to create an entire forum for the whole posada thing when i figured most of you would not go along with that. i just figured with the bradley insanity that it would fit in here. Plus said i'd only be willing to risk taking bradley if there was some major injury to hambone or Cruz. thats the ONLY situation.

However let me remind you WWJDD, that you agreed with me that Joba might be worth trading for. the actual point of the posada trade would be to ultimately get Joba not necessarily posada. but as with any trade you have to give something to get something, and often times you have to take something you dont want to get something you do want. vise versa. Hence why i even brought it up on the first place.

DC ... think there's far more value in a dialog on how TEX might fill a very obvious need:

Who should TEX consider acquiring to fill its second catcher spot? Discssion about AJ and other catchers fits into that dialog.

Posada isn't listed on the NYY roster as a catcher ... he's listed as a DH. TEX already has a DH and doesn't need a much older and less capable version of Napoli as an alternative to Young, Napoli, or Torrealba. There is no fit to need that Posada satisfies.

Not sure what value you see in Chamberlain that would warrant TEX making a deal with NYY that bundles Posada with Chamberlain in order to get Chamberlain. That means TEX would take on old ex-catcher with a $13mil salary ... just to get a replacement value RP. Joba is worth more wins to TEX with Chamberlain stuck on the NYY roster where he is.

I think the error in your thinking is that you see someone out there and think you ought to make a deal for them before you figure out what need they would satisfy. Start with defined need first ... not the other way around.

Failing to clearly define a need and shooting from the hip results in you acquiring Napoli a marginal defensive catcher as a backup DH and backup 1b ... when you don't have that as a defined need. Now TEX doesn't have a second catcher because they didn't have sufficient roster space and as it wears out its primary catcher ... it is stuck with having to make another move to counter a move that they ought to perhaps not made to begin with.

That is why it is far more value to talk about guys like AJ Pierzynski. And no value in talking about Bradley, Posada, and Chamberlain.

I love discussions by text lol. i think there's been a slight misunderstanding. Dont get me wrong. I know what the rangers strengths and weaknesses are and i wasnt saying we SHOULD do that trade i was merely gauging if anyone would have interest in that. I know posada is listed as their DH. that doesnt mean he COULDNT play catcher for the rangers. Same as napoli. i was merely seeing if there was anyone else out there that might feel that we coudl take on a catcher that could fill a void, and make a gamble that Joba could still be a starter.

However I never said that would be my preferred trade. there are about one million others i'd make before that. right now i'd be willing to sign bengie off FA than have posada as our catcher. That wasnt the point. (i also had no clue he was owed that much money) the point was more of attempting to guage if anyone thought that joba could still possibly work out as a starter. I think there are some ppl that would be willing to take a chance on that, even if you are not one of them. again, i stated i think his main problem is his attittude and general displeasure of being in NY (i mean who wouldnt be unhappy there). But yes, i'd be far more willing to make a trade for AJ pierzynski and someone like Floyd or Danks, or even get matt Treanor back along with Luke Hochevor. I'd even be willing to guage Baltimores interest in trading Weiters along with Matusz even if it cost us a good amount of prospects. I realize what the rangers needed. I think there's just a minor disconnect in what i meant in my gamble idea for posada and joba. and again to reiterate i still said i wouldnt take bradley.

Did none of y'all watch our game against ChiSox last night? AJ can't throw anyone out at second. Hell, Michael Young straight stole on him.

Absolutely zero chance that Baltimore is trading either Wieters or Matusz. Even if we offer up the whole farm, with nobody untouchable.

geo.... just out of curiousity.... what if we threw in Cruz....

DC... where does Cruz play? You think Cruz with his injury history is plus over Markakis? BAL doesn't even answer the phone when teams ask about Weiters.

trey ... true... AJ is getting burned by runners (11% CS down from career 24%) ... and in the 2010 Beyond the Boxscore Catcher Defense Rankings AJ is a marginally better than the guy who isn't TEX #2 catcher (102 vs 113) and Posada is still worse (117) ... but Matt Treanor is #40.

http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2010/11/10/1803183/2010-beyond-the-box-score-catcher-defense-rankings

Undoubtedly TEX is looking at options and TT is probably the near term best option when TEX decides it no longer can afford to carry 13 pitchers and 1 catcher.