Numbers Breakdown: Milton Bradley

Last winter, when I started the blogging in December, the first poll I put up on the blog was What left handled hitting outfielder should the Cubs go after? The choices were Bradley, Dunn, Ibanez, or Abreu, all of whom the Cubs were interested in at the time of the poll. I can't recall which of the sluggers received the most votes in the poll, but we know which one Jim Hendry voted for. Let's take a look at the numbers comparing Bradley's 2009 season to that of the other 3 choices.

Home Runs
Bradley- 12
Dunn- 38
Ibanez- 34
Abreu- 15

Bradley's Rank: 4

Batting Average
Bradley- .257
Dunn- .267
Ibanez- .272
Abreu- .293

Bradley's Rank: 4

RBIs
Bradley- 40
Dunn- 105
Ibanez- 93
Abreu- 103

Bradley's Rank: 4

OBP
Bradley- .378
Dunn- .398
Ibanez- .347
Abreu- .390

Bradley's Rank: 3

So even without considering how negative of an impact Milton was in the clubhouse, his suspensions, and blunders, the other three candidates were clearly miles (not Aaron) ahead of him. And the Numbers don't lie.

Raul Ibanez signs with Phillies

Today Raul Ibanez signed a 3 year deal with the Phillies. Milton Bradley is now clearly at the top of the Cubs list for left field, even with his bad temper. Also, today the Cubs resigned pitchers Neal Cotts and Chad Gaudin to one year contracts avoiding salary arbitration. The team also announced that it would tender the contracts of a group of players including Ronny Cedeno, Reed Johnson, Michael Wuertz and Kevin Greg.

Len Kasper and Bob Brenly will hold the 3rd annual Len and Bob Bash on January 15 at the House of Blues. They will raise money for charity.

Here's the Cubs rumors for today:

• The Cubs join the Rays, Dodgers, and Angels as the 4 teams interested in Abreu.


• Paul Sullivan says that Lou was upset at the thought of losing Mark DeRosa.


• Chris De Luca says that Kevin Towers kept putting Sean Marshall on the table, but the Cubs never agreed to it. He says that the 2010 Cubs payroll was the real sticking point.
  

That's it for Peavy, so the Cubs the Cubs will focus on acquiring a left handed bat. Feel free to vote at the bottom of the blog page on who you would like to see the Cubs aquire for right field. Let's hope they end up with a bat that can balance out the line up a little and has some power. Sources say the Cubs are still trying to trade Jason Marquis. I'd say if they do they'll end up with Randy Johnson. Who would you prefer Johnson or Marquis. I'd say the former. Anyway that's it for now, I'll keep you posted.