SEATTLE -- There are only two people from whom Milton Bradley has ever wanted to get an autograph.
He's about to play with one of them.
"Some of the things that happen in your life and as a baseball
player are kind of surreal to you. To play with Ken Griffey is one
of those," Bradley said of the Mariners star. "It's an absolute
blast for me."
The mercurial outfielder is now Griffey's newest teammate.
Seattle mariners acquired Bradley on Friday from the Chicago Cubs for
expensive and underperforming pitcher Carlos Silva.
Chicago also received $9 million from the Mariners as part of
the swap, which makes Seattle the eighth team of Bradley's 10-year
career. Silva has $25 million remaining on his contract and Bradley
has $22 million left on his deal.
According to sources familiar with the deal, the Mariners will send about $3 million to the Cubs in 2010 and about $6 million in 2011.
That money could allow the Cubs to obtain a center fielder and move Kosuke Fukudome back to right field. They've expressed interest in free agents including Marlon Byrd, Rick Ankiel and Scott Podsednik.
But they've also explored potential trades for a center fielder -- most prominently, Curtis Granderson, before he was traded to the New York Yankees.
The dual dumping, which came together in 48 hours, got rid of
headaches for each team -- yet has the potential of creating new
ones in each city.
Chicago has been wanting to trade Bradley since the Cubs
suspended him for the final two weeks of last season, shortly after
he criticized the atmosphere surrounding a team that hasn't won a
World Series since 1908.
"I have no interest in talking about Chicago," Bradley said on
a conference call. "I've moved on. I wish you would move on. And I
wish the Chicago Cubs organization the best."
Hendry said Friday he regrets signing the outfielder to a $30
million, three-year contract. Bradley hit .257 with 40 RBIs last
season.
"I bear the responsibility for that not working out," Hendry
said during another conference call. "Obviously, in this case, it
did not work out how we planned, which was also the reason I sent
Milton home. [That's] not going to be tolerated, to treat our fans,
teammates and members of the media the way he did.
"It's just time to put it behind us and move forward."
Bradley's reaction: "That's Jim's opinion."
Seattle, which has never appeared in a World Series, didn't
expect to find a suitor for Silva. He has done little except lose
and get hurt in the two seasons since he signed a $48 million,
four-year contract.
Silva won five games in two years with the Mariners. They will
now pay more to Chicago to shed the contract second-year Mariners
general manager Jack Zduriencik inherited from predecessor Bill
Bavasi.
Zduriencik's third splashy move in three days was to add more
offense following his acquisition of ace Cliff Lee in a trade with
Philadelphia and the signing of infielder Chone Figgins.
Bradley was suspended for one game last season after arguing
with umpire Larry Vanover when he was called out on strikes with
the bases loaded April 16. That was his first at-bat at Wrigley
Field as a Cub.
In June, he got sent home by manager Lou Piniella during a game
against the White Sox after he threw his helmet and attacked a
water cooler following a popout. The Cubs finally decided they had
enough in September, after he criticized the team in a suburban
newspaper.
"Everything in sports and being a celebrity and what not is
about getting a reputation and is about what dirt you can dish or
what you can get on someone. The last couple weeks it's become
apparent that people aren't necessarily the people that they are
portrayed coming from the media," Bradley said.
"[I] understand how PR works and media works. ... how you've
got to have a bad guy and you have to have a good guy. That's just
the way it is. I'm portrayed however I am. Just adds to the
mystique, I guess."
The Mariners repeatedly have proclaimed they want players of
high character with good attitudes, citing Figgins as the latest
example on Tuesday.
But they also wanted another bat.
"We were in search of a middle-of-the-lineup guy for quite some
time," Zduriencik said.
Seattle's GM said he got nothing but good reports on Bradley --
who also got that autograph he coveted from Barry Bonds -- going
back to his minor league career a decade ago.
Zduriencik specifically relied upon the input from two former
coaches of Bradley: current Mariners bench coach Ty Van Burkleo,
who was with Bradley in Oakland in 2007, and performance coach
Steve Hecht, who had the outfielder in Texas in 2008.
The 31-year-old Bradley was an All-Star that year as a
designated hitter with the Rangers. He led the AL in on-base
percentage while batting a career high-tying .321 during a
relatively event-free year. That was followed by the tumultuous
season with the Cubs.
"It's a new day, new way for this guy," Zduriencik said.
He said Bradley will likely play left field and perhaps share
designated hitter with Griffey on a team that last season went
85-77 following a 101-loss year, and that Seattle is "going to
welcome him with open arms."
The 30-year-old Silva missed most of the season with a bad
pitching shoulder, after he had devoted himself to yoga and a
better diet. He went from 285 pounds to 250, yet was 1-3 with an
8.60 ERA in eight games.
He was 5-18 with a 6.81 ERA in two seasons with Seattle after
leaving Minnesota.
The Cubs have seen Silva's medical reports and watched him pitch in Venezuela the past seven to 10 days, ESPNChicago.com's Bruce Levine reported.
"I think this deal helps us in a lot of ways," Hendry said of
his Cubs. "Hopefully, Mr. Silva will get back to where he was a
few years ago. He was a quality free agent when he left the
Twins."
Information from ESPNChicago.com baseball writer Bruce Levine, ESPN The Magazine senior writer Buster Olney, ESPN.com senior writer Jayson Stark and The Associated Press was used in this report.