I seem to be in the minority on this, many Cub fans don't like the Bradley signing because of his injury history and also because he likes to say some dumb things at times. People also feel that Bradley was given way too much money considering what Adam Dunn and Bobby Abreu ended up signing for. Dunn actually received the same amount of money per year as Milton, just on a two year deal instead of three. Abreu signed a one year $5 million deal, but that deal would not have been possible when the Cubs were in the market for a new right fielder. Hendry wanted to sign a right fielder as soon as possible this offseason, and I can only imagine the outcry of fans if Hendry waited until after Valentine's Day to sign Abreu.
So for the next two or three years we have Milton Bradley to play right field. The reality of Bradley is that he will play about 120 games and put up good numbers. Last season he hit .321/.436/.563 with Texas. It's almost impossible to expect him to repeat those numbers, but he will still hit around .300 and be a good switch-hitting cleanup guy for the Cubs. Sure he will sit out a game or two where other players might played, but his 120 game production will be better than the 162 game production of most players. In fact I will predict right now that Bradley has more homers and RBI than Fukudome even though he will probably play a lot less games.
If you are on the fence about liking Bradley, remember that no matter what he will be around for a while. He's going to put his foot in his mouth a lot and he might piss some fans off when he sits out with a "sore quad". I'm positive that Bradley will be a pleasure to watch and will make a positive impact on this Cubs team in 2009.
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