Milton Bradley and Cubs agree to deal?

[DaveB]

<!--quoteo(post=8320:date=Jan 2 2009, 02:29 PM:name=Ace)-->QUOTE (Ace @ Jan 2 2009, 02:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=8313:date=Jan 2 2009, 02:45 PM:name=DaveB)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DaveB @ Jan 2 2009, 02:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Don't know if you guys saw this, but Ace posted it on his blog and I think its encouraging.

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <!--quotec-->In coming to this conclusion, the MLB Examiner looked at (examined, if you will) several statistical groupings - and I think they're pretty darn interesting.

Bradley hits .327 when playing as a DH, and a combined .274 at the three outfield positions (there's not much leeway here)
Hitting second in the lineup, Bradley only hits .248.
Hitting third in the lineup, Bradley hits .266.
<b>Hitting cleanup, Bradley takes off with a .331 batting average and .443 on base percentage </b>
Bradley hits over .300 when coming up in the second and sixth innings (typically when your middle of the order is hitting).
And using those numbers, it's clear how the Cubs should use Bradley to maximize success.

His left handed bat fits nicely in the number four spot in the lineup between right handed sluggers Derrek Lee (3rd) and Aramis Ramirez (5th). Placing Ramirez behind Bradley works well because of Bradley's ability to take walks – taking a walk in the number five slot might lead to being stranded on base. <b>Taking a walk in front of Ramirez however, is a whole different story.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I think Bradley in the four-hole between D-Lee and ARAM could be a really great fit. He also grounded into double-plays 2.3% of the time, compared to D-Lee's 4.1%, meaning there will be less times that an inning is killed before ARAM even gets to come up to bat.

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Personally, I wish they would go ARam-Bradley-Lee (if only because I'd rather see ARam getting more at bats than Lee), but your point is well taken.

In my post, I forgot to highlight the most interesting number - how much worse Bradley is when he's playing in the field versus DH'ing. I'm going to assume that's statistically meaningless, though; explained away by the times in his career that he was DH'ing, the teams he was on/ballparks he played in, etc.

Here's hoping, at least.
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Ace, I agree with you that DLee shouldn't be batting 3rd. But like you mentioned in the blog, the Cubs seem to refuse to even consider moving him, thats why I assume hes going to be hitting 3rd no matter what.

And I think the sample size of Bradley playing in the outfield is too small to make any assumptions. He played in the outfield such a small percentage of the time compared to DHing.