Is Milton Bradley Baseball's Best Midseason Acquisition?

by Phillips, Rumors and Rants

Being a die-hard Padres fan, I was a little nervous when my hometown team acquired Milton Bradley from the Oakland A's on June 29. At the time I thought the Friars - long known to have one of the loosest and closest knit clubhouses in baseball - had brought in the one guy who could destroy their continuity and tear apart those tight bonds. Boy was I wrong.

Since arriving, Bradley has single-handedly reanimated the Padres corpse of an offense. In 33 games he's hitting .345 with 10 home runs, 27 RBI and 27 runs. He's also carrying a .441 on base percentage and slugging .655 while playing phenomenally in left field. Those numbers would likely be even better if he hadn't missed 16 games with a hamstring problem and a strained oblique. Other than Mark Teixeira there hasn't been anyone who can even claim to be as good a mid-season acquisition as Bradley. To compare, Teixeira in 27 games with the Braves, is hitting .327 with 10 home runs, 32 RBIs and 20 runs. He has a .416 on base percentage and is slugging .664. The Braves also had to part with a wealth of prospects to acquire Teixeira, whereas the Padres only sent AAA reliever Andrew Brown to get Bradley.

But here's the kicker, Bradley's biggest contributions haven't been on the field, they've been in the clubhouse. His teammates in San Diego love him. Repeat: love him. Adrian Gonzalez sees Bradley as a mentor, Jake Peavy says his intensity is infectious and Padres GM Kevin Towers claims he's seen Bradley make everyone on the team better. Not to mention the fact that he's become a huge fan favorite in "America's Finest City."

Bradley has taken to San Diego just as well as the Friars have taken to him. He claims that when he has joined other clubs, they've had cliques and no one has really reached out to him or made him feel welcome. After games guys would just go into their own world. Not the Padres. The players are all actually friends, go to dinner together and all spend time together outside of the locker room. Bradley claims the day he showed up he knew this would be different. He felt welcomed, appreciated and even liked. It's obvious that he's become incredibly popular with his teammates and not just because of his play on the field.

I'm not going to be completely forgiving, Bradley's past transgressions still have me wondering if he's due for another blow-up. But for now he's certainly won me over, and most of San Diego has come with me.