Lou Piniella Tiptoes Around Milton Bradley

Lou Piniella has been in baseball a long time, in big markets like New York and Chicago, so he knows how to handle the media. Those media-handling  skills are coming in very handy in the wake of Jim Hendry‘s decision to suspend pain-in-the-ass outfielder Milton Bradley, a guy Piniella openly clashed with earlier in the season, and often seems to have tired of talking about.

“I support Jim’s decision entirely,” Piniella said. “I read some of [Bradley’s] comments [about the negativity in Chicago]. I can tell you this, I’ve been here three years and I feel blessed that I’ve been able to spend three wonderful years here in Chicago. What a great city. Wrigley Field, what a fun place to play, and our fans are second to none.

“I know last year, I don’t know how many times I heard from the media we had the best clubhouse in the league. Things don’t change that rapidly in a year.”

Piniella went on to – very carefully – characterize his relationship with Bradley.  “My job as a manager is to handle people.  With Milton, probably, the least you say, the better. I think I recognized that early on and I tried to adhere to that. I enjoy communicating with my players but I think with Milton, you give him his space.”

A very diplomatic way of saying Milton is incredibly touchy and pretty much anything can set him off.

Brilliant idea, dropping a personality like that into the middle of a team that has already taken heat for years for folding under pressure.

The more time goes on, the more insanely stupid the Bradley signing becomes.  I would really love to hear Jim Hendry lay out, in minute detail, the thought process he went through on it.  Because, frankly, Bradley never fit the profile of what the Cubs were allegedly looking for.  They needed lefty power and they signed a switch-hitting OBA guy who’s never made it to 80 RBI and can’t hit from the left side?  Plus he’s a ticking time bomb in the bargain?

Head-scratcher.