Hot Stove Predictions - Part 3 (1B, C, OF)

Amazingly (or maybe not) there aren’t any Type A free agents among the available first basemen. The top guys are Carlos Delgado, the oft injured Nick Johnson, Adam LaRoche, and a couple of guys who should get a good look from teams in Russell Branyan and Hank Blalock.

I’ll start with Blalock, who I see going to Cleveland. Here’s a team that desperately needs some power in their lineup (they finished 10th in the AL last year in homers) and Blalock can provide that. He’s not great at hitting lefties, but he will give a team 25-30 long balls. He could even platoon with Andy Marte, who is coming to the point in his career when he’s either got to put up the numbers or find his way to the bench or worse. Blalock is only 29 years old and still has some upside and would be a nice piece for the Indians to add.

If ever there was a player that fit the Billy Beane mold, it’s Nick Johnson. Johnson has a career OBP of .402. He’s a walk machine. Problem is he has a hard time staying healthy. It’s the “if he’s healthy” label that intrigues people and I can’t see Beane passing up an opportunity to sign a guy like this. He’s made for Oakland. It doesn’t hurt that he’s also a Sacramento native.

As for the others out there, I believe Carlos Delgado will return to the Mets, Adam LaRoche will head back to Atlanta and Russell Branyan will resign with the Mariners. Pretty boring… I know. Other free agents include Eric Hinske and Ross Gload. Either one could end up in a backup role in Atlanta or Florida, but are more likely to head to the AL where they can also DH some. I’ll pass on predictions for Kevin Millar, Dmitri Young, Doug Mientkiewicz and others like them…

As for catchers… I can’t figure out why anyone in the world would be interested in Jason Kendall. He can’t hit very well, doesn’t throw out runners and is now 35 years old. In my opinion, the best he can hope for is a back up role at this point in his career. I can see him replacing Brad Ausmus for the Dodgers.

I love Bengie Molina. He’s one of my all-time favorite Angels. I really would have never of imagined him being as productive as he has been the last couple years. Now that he’s 35, he’s probably only going to get a one year deal some where. It could be the Giants, but I have a feeling he’ll end up catching for the Mets – which seems to be a popular predicted destination for Molina. He’ll make that pitching staff better and I think he’s an excellent fit.

Miguel Olivo had a pretty good 2009, all things considered. He managed to crank out 23 homeruns while hitting .249. He just doesn’t walk very often and has a low OBP. Never-the-less there is a place out there for Olivo and I believe it will be in Detroit where he will put up more solid numbers.

Yorvit Torrealba will be heading to Milwaukee where he will be an upgrade over Kendall and be “the” guy. Rod Barajas will resign with Toronto. The Blue Jays can’t afford to let him get away.

Next up, outfielders…

If you’re buying what the media is selling about Hideki Matsui, he’s headed to Seattle. That doesn’t make sense to me since they have Ken Griffey, Jr. I see Matsui in Texas as their DH.

I’ve already predicted Dye to Oakland, Bay to the Angels and Guerrero to the White Sox.

Next up... Marlon Byrd, who will become a Giant replacing Randy Winn. Byrd is one of those guys who is probably not as good as his statistics would show. He had a solid season last year in Texas, but how will he do outside of Arlington Stadium? We’ll see, but I wouldn’t expect too much. Garret Anderson will join him in San Francisco as a slightly better option than John Bowker in left field.

Look for Xavier Nady to find his way back to his original team the San Diego Padres, replacing Brian Giles who may be forced to retire and Rick Ankiel will return to the Cardinals

Andruw Jones will head to the Cubs because the Cubs seem to have a propensity of making bad decisions and because they’ll believe he can play center field. I’m kidding; then again maybe not. After the debacle that is Milton Bradley, I can see the Cubs doing this. He’ll be reunited with his hitting coach from Texas, but it won’t matter much; Jones’ best days are behind him.

The big prize of the free agent class – Matt Holliday will play for the Mets. I’m not alone in this prediction, that’s for sure.

As for the mercenary that is Johnny Damon, I’ll go out on a limb and predict his destination will be the White Sox. Damon would probably sign with just about any place willing to pay him enough.

This prediction thing is a lot of work… but I’m having a little fun with it. I did kick a kick out of the news that Vizquel is likely to sign with the White Sox – which is something I predicted the day before the news broke. Yeah, I know… I’m that blind squirrel people talk about…

And you thought Parker Brothers invented the game “Risk”

How many times do you get to make a first impression? Stupid question, right? Well, apparently – Milton Bradley has had the opportunity to do this several times. Why else would anyone be interested in him? According to Ken Rosenthal, multiple teams are in contact the Cubs about outfielder Milton Bradley, with one source saying, "You would be shocked at the level of interest."

Let’s do the math. Milton Bradley has played for Montreal, Cleveland, the Dodgers, Oakland, San Diego, Texas, and the Cubs. That’s seven teams in ten seasons. I can understand the allure for the first couple teams, but what were the Cubs thinking when they signed him prior to the 2009 season?

Now, I don’t know Milton Bradley, but I have met Milton Bradley. He showed up at a bookstore in Long Beach last off season when his former teammate – Josh Hamilton was doing a book signing. Bradley was reserved, even cool. He signed autographs for fans surprised to see him, he smiled and didn’t say much and just hung out waiting for Hamilton. He seemed liked a nice guy. He seemed like a humble guy. Not what you would expect based on his persona.

I’ve also seen him after games at Angels Stadium, walking to the parking lot with his mom and stopping to sign autographs for fans; again – keeping it cool. My wife Cheryl and I have even commented to one another that he seems like a nice guy. It’s easy to see why some people might actually think he’s misunderstood and maybe, just maybe he’s not so bad.

Wrong. Remember the math class? Let’s ask the question why has he been so many places in such a brief period of time?

Which brings me to a discussion I’ve seen here and there on message board and heard on radio shows. There is some crazy trade proposals surfacing for the Hot Stove season. It has Milton Bradley coming to the Angels for Gary Matthews, Jr. Some people think the two teams could swap “bad” contracts and hope for the best.

Hello? Is anyone home? Tell you what - let me interview Milton before you go that route. I’ve got a plan.

On the night of the next full moon, I’ll invite him to dinner and we’ll go to a nice place away from the public spotlight and then I’ll put him to the test. First, I’ll have the server get his order wrong. Not just a little wrong – completely wrong and then have that person insist it’s exactly what Bradley ordered.

Next, I will have them spill some wine on Bradley and have them ask him if he’d like to pay for another glass. We’ll make sure there’s a well placed roach or two in his meal and when he complains, they’ll ask him to take his coat off so they can inspect it because this is the most likely source of the bug. As the restaurant staff go through his pockets, they’ll keep any cash or personal belongings they find.

During the meal, I’ll throw in a couple of “your mama” jokes, and have people continually interrupt him and ask him if he knows the Parker Brothers. I’ll ask him how it feels to be the fifth best baseball player to ever come out of Long Beach Poly (behind Tony Gwynn, Chris Gwynn, Randy Moffit, and Chase Utley).

When it’s time to leave, valet will bring him the wrong car and insist that this is the car he drove up in. They’ll eventually bring him his real car, but will let him know someone took it out for a joy ride and had a minor fender bender with it. On top of that, the accident was so upsetting the driver had to retch in the passenger seat. They’ll tell him they tried to clean it up, but the bleach seemed to do some damage to the leather seats.

As he leaves the restaurant, a motorcycle cop will pull him over. We’ll make sure he’s a Lou Piniella look-alike. He’ll tell him someone car jacked a vehicle just like his and that he fits the suspect’s description.

I’ll call him collect the next day to let him know that if he comes to the Angels, he won’t be able to bring his mom to the stadium to watch him play. I’ll then set him up to be interviewed by one of the regulars who call in every stinking day on the local Angels talk show because he thinks the show is his own personal forum. That would be sure to break him. Heck some of those people would make me snap.

I wonder what would happen? If by chance he keeps his cool through all of that, then and only then… no wait. I still can’t see it. Not even then would I want him in an Angels uniform. You can fool some of the GM’s some of the time, but you can’t fool this fan.

Let’s face it… somewhere along the line; Milton Bradley is going to make you regret he’s on your team. Unless of course the Yankees’ obnoxious announcer John Sterling says something derogatory about Bradley. In that case, the gloves are off and Bradley can do his thing. But seriously, I don’t think Dr. Phil can even help this guy (or Sterling for that matter).

Then again… there is one thing I would want Milton Bradley for and that’s the post season. Bradley is the kind of guy who isn’t afraid of the spotlight. Guys like Bradley play with a chip on their shoulder. He’s always got something to prove. He doesn’t care who’s on the mound. When he steps into the box, he’s not afraid. He wants to punish you. Guys like Bradley were made for the post season. We got a glimpse of that in 2006 when he hit a homerun from both sides of the plate against the Tigers. He was 9 for 18 in that ALCS.

Bradley isn't the kind of guy who gets that "deer in headlights" look. He's the thing you fear lurking in the dark. When your lights meet his eyes, you're liable to lose your lunch.

There's no questioning the talent. That’s why GM’s will call the Cubs. That’s why he’ll end up on someone’s roster. Watching Bradley in the post season could be a beautiful thing. Unfortunately, it’s getting to the post season with Bradley that would be the nightmare. For someone, it's going to be worth the gamble.

Parker Brothers may have invented the board game called "Risk" - but Milton Bradley took it to a whole new level.