Milton Bradley Officially Released, Now Free Agent

It's official: Milton Bradley is a Mariner no more (via seattlepi.com) ...

After designating Milton Bradley for assignment last week, the Seattle Mariners placed him on irrevocable waivers for the purpose of granting him his unconditional release on Monday.

There was some loose talk about the M's trading Bradley, but that seemed pretty far-fetched considering his famous anger-management issues and (especially) his awful performance; since joining the Mariners, Bradley's batted .209/.298/.351 in 101 games, which might be acceptable for a slick-fielding shortstop well studied in the works of Thich Nhat Hanh.

Of course, given the $12 million he's earning this season, Bradley can afford to buy a dozen monasteries packed with Zen masters. Or a fortress full of Samurai, if he prefers that route.

In the end, the Mariners probably "lost" the trade that got them Bradley, because at least Carlos Silva pitched effectively for three months last season with the Cubs. But neither of the GMs who showered Bradley and Silva with so many millions of dollars are likely to spend much time on those deals in their memoirs.

Milton Bradley And Mariners: Complicated Marriage Comes To An End

From Jeff Sullivan’s mammoth post about the inevitable (and long overdue) end of Milton Bradley’s tenure with the Seattle Mariners:

Milton Bradley is like Wikipedia – the more you learn, the more you realize what you don’t know, and never will. The world is a complicated place, made up of complicated things and complicated people. Milton Bradley is a complicated person. He can be discussed in very simple terms, but he cannot be explained in anything less than a thesis, if he can be explained at all.

He probably can’t be explained. Not by us, anyway. Not without a lot of maybes. But Sullivan gives it a hell of a shot.

Mariners Cut Milton Bradley, Ryan Langherhans

The Seattle Mariners have struggled to score this season, and Monday the M's designated outfielders Milton Bradley and Ryan Langerhans for assignment, with Bradley almost certainly leaving the organization and Langerhans perhaps heading to triple-A Tacoma.

With the exception of Justin Smoak, Ichiro Suzuki and (arguably) Adam Kennedy, nobody on the roster has hit much this season. Bradley actually has one of the better OPS's on the team, but his .218/.313/.356 is hardly acceptable for a left fielder ... and particularly for a left fielder with a penchant for fits of temper and the defensive range of a cement truck with a flat tire.

It probably doesn't help matters that Bradley's earning $12 million this season (the Mariners are paying $5.5 million, the Cubs the rest). It certainly doesn't help matters that Bradley's limited range in left field is utterly obvious to everyone in the stands; in last Friday night's game alone, he was booed three times for his defensive efforts. And it doesn't help that Bradley's only real position, DH -- assuming he could hit, of course -- is manned by Jack Cust, who's been even worse than Bradley this season but at least has some recent (2010) history of success.

To replace Bradley and Langherhans, the Mariners have summoned outfielders Mike Wilson and Carlos Pegeuro from Tacoma.

Wilson will make his MLB debut nearly 10 years after the M's made him a second-round draft pick. He finally reached Class AAA in 2009, and struggled badly. He played there again in 2010, and played well. And this spring with Tacoma, he's got a .381/.423/.689 line in 16 games.

Meanwhile, Peguero's only 24 and does qualify as something of a prospect. Most interesting, according to Baseball America he's "a freakish athlete for a 6-foot-5, 247-pounder, surprisingly possessing plus speed."

Like Wilson, Peguero's going to strike out quite a bit more than he walks. But all things considered, the Mariners should get more out of Wilson and Peguero than they've been getting from Bradley and Langerhans. Except boos. They'll get fewer boos.