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Sports Briefs: Bradley reaches an agreement with Cubs
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Published: January 6, 2009
The Chicago Cubs and free agent Milton Bradley reached a preliminary agreement yesterday on a $30 million, three-year contract, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.
The deal is subject to a physical scheduled for Thursday, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been completed.
Adding Bradley was one of the top priorities this offseason for the Cubs, who got swept out of the playoffs for the second-straight year after a lineup loaded with right-handers struggled against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Bradley, a switch-hitter, batted .321 with 22 homers for Texas while leading the American League with a .436 on-base percentage. He made the All-Star team while serving primarily as the designated hitter.
In Chicago, he'll fill the Cubs' need for a left-handed bat in the middle of the order and will be used mostly in right field even though he has played 100 games in the field just once -- in 2004 with the Dodgers. The Cubs will likely spell him with Kosuke Fukudome, who also will platoon with Reed Johnson in center. Fukudome was in right field last season.
More baseball
■ The Tampa Bay Rays added a big bat for the middle of their batting order, agreeing to a $16 million, two-year contract with Pat Burrell.
Burrell, 32, spent the past nine seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, who defeated the Rays in the World Series a little over two months ago.
He hit .250 with 33 homers, 33 doubles and 86 RBIs last season and has averaged 31 homers, 99 RBIs and 103 walks over the past four seasons. A left fielder throughout his career, Burrell is expected to be used mostly as the designated hitter with Tampa Bay.
One of the Rays' top priorities was to add a right-handed power hitter to a lineup also featuring Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria, B.J. Upton and Carl Crawford.
■ Carl Pohlad, a billionaire banker whose Minnesota Twins won two World Series titles during nearly his nearly 25 years as owner, died yesterday.
When Pohlad paid Calvin Griffith $38 million for the Twins in 1984, he was widely credited for saving baseball in Minnesota. With the purchase, he inherited a promising group of young players including Gary Gaetti, Kent Hrbek and Kirby Puckett, a future Hall of Famer.
Minnesota won World Series championships in 1987 and 1991, triumphing in tense seven-game showdowns against the St. Louis Cardinals and the Atlanta Braves.
Fans filled the Metrodome, waving Homer Hankies, but attendance dropped in later years and the Twins craved a new ballpark that would produce more revenue.
As the team threatened to leave, Pohlad's reputation took a hit. After a long pursuit to replace the Metrodome, the Twins got the go-ahead from the state in 2006 for a $522 stadium paid for mostly by a county sales tax. The team was to contribute $130 million.
■ Former All-Star pitcher Derrick Turnbow agreed to a minor-league contract with the Texas Rangers along with fellow right-handers Casey Daigle and Elizardo Ramirez.
Turnbow, 30, was an All-Star in 2006 and was with the Milwaukee organization for the past four seasons.
Turnbow has a career 17-16 record with a 4.30 ERA with the Brewers and Angels. He spent most of the 2008 season with Class AAA Nashville, where he was put on the disabled list in July for the duration of the season with right-shoulder tendinitis.
Daigle, 27, was 1-5 with a 3.78 ERA at Class AAA Rochester in the Minnesota organization.
Ramirez, 25, had one appearance out of the bullpen last season for the Rangers. He spent most of the season at Class AAA Oklahoma, going 10-7 with a 4.50 ERA.
Ramirez has appeared in the majors in each of the last five seasons. He has played for Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Texas.
■ Outfielder Reggie Abercrombie and reliever Clay Hensley were among five players who agreed yesterday to minor-league contracts with the Houston Astros.
Outfielder John Gall, and infielders Mark Saccomanno and Jason Smith also agreed to deals.
Abercrombie, 27, hit .309 with two home runs and five RBIs in 34 games with the Astros last season. He is a career .223 hitter in 180 games with Houston and the Florida Marlins.
■ Royce Ring became the third left-hander in the St. Louis Cardinals' bullpen, agreeing yesterday to a $475,000 one-year contract.
Ring, 28, was 2-1 with an 8.46 ERA in 42 games for the Atlanta Braves last season after making an opening-day roster for the first time in his career. He was 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA through June, then faded and was cut by the Braves in early August.
In addition to his salary, Ring can make $25,000 in performance bonuses based on games.
Miscellaneous
■ Don Sanderson, an amateur hockey player in Canada who died after hitting his head on the ice during a fight, was mourned by 500 people yesterday in Port Perry, Ontario, at a funeral attended by commentator Don Cherry and teammates wearing club jerseys.
Sanderson, a 21-year-old college student, fell into a coma after a Dec. 12 fight during an Ontario Hockey Association game and died Friday.
Sanderson was injured when his helmet fell off and the back of his head hit the ice.
■ Dominik Hrbaty upset James Blake 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (1) yesterday to lead Slovakia to victory over the defending champion United States at the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia.
Hrbaty, coming back from an elbow injury that saw his ranking slide to No. 250, gave Slovakia a winning 2-0 edge after teammate Dominika Cibulkova beat Meghann Shaughnessy 6-2, 6-2 in the first women's singles match.
Hrbaty and Cibulkova defeated Shaughnessy and Blake 6-4, 7-6 (4) in mixed doubles to complete a sweep.
The U.S., Australia, Germany and Slovakia are playing in Group A, and Russia, France, Italy and Taiwan are in Group B. The winners of each group will play in the final Friday.
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