Milton Bradley has certainly been one of the most controversial Cubs players in recent memory. If you listened to media and fans you would think Bradley is the worst player on the team. If you look deeper into his numbers you would see that Milton was far from the worst player on the team in 2009. Some people want him gone even if it makes the team worse in 2010. I am in the minority and I would like him to stay because I feel he has value in the team going forward.

One case I am making for keeping Milton Bradley is that his 2009 season was not as bad as the media and fans would make you believe. I’ll admit that his season was not what others and I had hoped, but he was far from the biggest problem on the team in 2009. Milton was one of the team leaders in OBP this past season. He might not be the run producer that people had expected him to be, but he does have value at the top of the order in front of sluggers like Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez. Bradley did post impressive OPS of .953 when he batted 2nd in the lineup. The offense seemed to take off when the team had Kosuke Fukudome and Milton Bradley hitting 1st and 2nd in the lineup. They were even in first place in early August with them in the first 2 spots. Another positive in Bradley’s season was his home success. He posted an OPS of .892 at Wrigley where he was booed heavily by Cubs fans. His main problem was his lack of success on the road. He posted an OPS of .646 on the road and that can be due to a low .270 batting average with balls in play( BABIP). Bradley’s production was also not that far off from the money he was making. Bradley was worth 1.1 wins above replacement level and that is estimated at about $5.3 million on the open market and he made $7 million this season. His production did not quite match the salary, but at least he played he did not cost the team wins. The same could not be said for players like Alfonso Soriano, Kevin Gregg, and Aaron Miles all posted negative wins above replacement numbers. Meaning that these three players hurt the Cubs when they were playing. Bradley has averaged 2.8 wins above replacement level for his career and if he matches that going forward that would be worth about $14 million on the free agent market and that would exceed his contract for the last two years.

Another reason to keep him is that I believe he is the best option to play right field at this point. You could move Fukudome back to right field where he is best at, but then we have a hole in center field. Due to budget restraints I don’t see the Cubs being able to add a Mike Cameron-type player to upgrade the center field spot and allow Fukudome to move back to right. That means we would have to look at in-house options or trade Bradley for a new right fielder. The leading in-house candidates to replace Bradley would be Jake Fox or Sam Fuld. Jake Fox posted an OPS of .665 in the second half where he had the majority of his at bats. His high strikeout rate and low walk rate has me concerned. Sam Fuld did not have the greatest track record in the Pacific Coast League, which is a hitter’s league. I don’t expect him to put up good enough offensive numbers to get a majority of the at bats in either center or right. Fuld also had a negative UZR rating in center field last year.

Some of the names being mentioned in trade rumors for Bradley include Pat Burrell, Aaron Rowand, and Gary Matthews Jr. All three of these players had worse offensive seasons than Bradley did this year and this was one of Milton’s worst seasons. Rowand is an upgrade defensively, but his bat negates any defensive advantage he has. Burrell and Matthews had negative wins above replacement numbers. So those two would cost us games more than Bradley despite Bradley being a distraction in the clubhouse. Bradley averaged an OPS of .902 from 2006-2008, which shows he is a much better hitter than he showed in 2009. I believe if they keep him in the 2nd spot we will see a more productive Bradley.

I would hope that General Manager Jim Hendry would not let the fans dictate the product on the field especially if the resulting move makes the team worse and when looking at all possible outcomes I don’t see how the team gets better moving Bradley. I would much rather keep Bradley than pay a team to take him and getting a worse player back. The St Louis Cardinals are going to be a tough team to beat next year and we need the best team to compete with them even if it means putting up with someone like Bradley.