Kuzul

Milton Bradley has asked the Seattle Mariners management for help in dealing with personal issues.  Rather unsurprisingly, that was the breaking news out of Seattle tonight.

Bradley met with manager Don Wakamatsu and GM Jack Zduriencik on Wednesday morning and told the pair “I need your help.”

Zduriencik says the team will do whatever it can to help Bradley.

Bradley told the Mariners management that his issues have put him in a position where he can’t compete the way he expects and that “It’s been a long time coming.”

Not to make light of a man’s unfortunate situation, but has there ever been a bigger understatement?

The guys career has been, to put it kindly, “colorful” up to this point. 

I think the fact that he once sustained a season ending injury while arguing with an umpire says just about everything one can say about his career track.

Simply put the man has burned more bridges than Sherman did on his way through Georgia.

Yet, prior to this season, someone in baseball gave him another chance to wipe the slate clean, to begin anew.  The Seattle Mariners, in perhaps the most stress-free of markets came a callin’ on the Chicago Cubs and tossed Milton one last lifeline.

GM Jack Zduriencik was certain things will work out with Bradley.

Of Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu, Zduriencik said, “He allows players to be who they are.”

The only thing the big love-fest was missing was a throng of nature loving hippies singing Kumbaya.

And how did our poor, misunderstood soul repay that utterly naive display of faith from the Mariners organization?

The season wasn’t even 10 games old and we saw Milton Bradley start 1-for-22, flip off the Texas crowd and have two closed-door meetings with Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu. Discussions were all over talk radio about how long the Mariners would wait before pulling the plug, as Jim Hendry and the Cubs did last September.

Bradley is constantly in the middle of some sort of tension, some sort of drama and that cannot be a coincidence. And it can’t always be someone else’s fault.

We’re talking about a man who gets to play baseball for a living yet projects himself as if he’s some poor schlepp struggling to make ends meet at some crumby job.

This guy takes his incredibly blessed life for granted, sports a misguided sense of entitlement and then has the audacity to act like it’s a burden to walk around with his level of talent.

If you dare question his actions he has an arsenal of accusations to toss your way. Any criticism clearly indicates you are racist, insensitive and just don’t have the capacity to understand the strife he feels on a daily basis. 

Remember, he’s saddled with this talent that he didn’t ask for.

Not to sound cruel, or indifferent to what could very well be some significant issues the man is going through, but this is the man that the world sees Milton Bradley as. He and his friends can regale us with tales of how he’s a perfectionist and he just cares so much that his temper gets the best of him.

His agents can remind us of his impoverished upbringing and talk about how he tries to give back to the community.  They can say it time and time again, “he’s really a good person at heart”, but it will more often than not fall on deaf ears.

Because that isn’t the Milton Bradley that we know. The best way to start proving to people what a good person you are is to start showing it.

Hopefully this isn’t the beginning of some sort of Oliver Stone worthy, paranoia fueled diatribe by the mercurial outfielder where he fails to take responsibility for the world he has carved out for himself.

If Bradley truly is looking inside himself for answers and is serious about seeking help, it will be a profound moment for the guy. The only thing that remains to be seen is whether he is sincere.

One cannot discount the positive impact this kind if introspection could have on his life.  The shame will be if he is not  ready to be honest and this week winds up as just another odd chapter in the strange and twisted tale best describes his career to date.

I wish him the best of luck in dealing with the demons that are plaguing him, asking of him only one thing. 

As you work your way through these troubled times, look in the mirror with open and honest eyes. 

Then come back to us a different man than the Milton Bradley we now know.

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After watching the Mariners blow game after game, it came as no surprise their hitting was amiss again Sunday.  Doug Fister’s great showing was all for nothing, and Ichiro’s stolen home run forgotten.

What is not forgotten is that as we enter May 3rd of this young season, the Mariners are batting .236 as a team. Let me repeat that: the batting average of the Mariners is at less than a clip of one in every four. This from a team which sports the player with the best average of the last decade (Ichiro), a lifetime .290 free-agent pickup (Figgins), and the fifth-best home run hitter of all time in Ken Griffey, Jr.  This, to go along with only a team-average .311 on-base percentage, just does not cut it.

What’s the answer? The Mariners could go many routes to try and rectify their problems as they did this past offseason. A possible solution is trading one of their top pitchers for some hitting, or trying to bring along Michael Saunders or one of their other minor league prospects. Both of these choices are acceptable within the confines of the Mariners’ outlook.  I have a more basic and easier solution: free agency.

Jermaine Dye, Joe Crede, Elijah Dukes, Gary Sheffield, heck, even Barry Bonds is available. Yes, that Barry Bonds. I know I am among the one percent of people who would actually take a 44-year-old steroid junkie but consider this.

He would be their best player.

At the least he would be able to help mend their dismal .311 OBP.  Elijah Dukes and Jermaine Dye would be great choices for solidifying the fourth outfielder position and would also be great fits for the Mariners’ clubhouse. If they can get the Mariners’ voodoo to work upon Milton Bradley, they can get it to work on anyone.

In the offseason, Jack Zduriencik did what he planned to do: get better defensively and fill all his holes in the lineup.  I give him full respect and admiration for signing Felix Hernandez’ big deal, his gutsy ability to trade away Carlos Silva for Milton Bradley, and then his turn around to pick up Cliff Lee and Brandon League for the lost talent in Brandon Marrow. The problem is like with Russell Branyan last year, he pinned his batting hopes on an unproven or over the hill player. 

This year it happened to be the first basemen again, with Casey Kotchman. Kotchman actually leads the Mariners in home runs and RBIs, which is not saying much considering the team has only hit five home runs and driven in 82 RBIs over the course of the first 25 games.  His average stands at a pathetic .226, and he has failed to hit in the clutch numerous times. Kotchman is a great utility or backup player; however, he is not at the level of being a starter. It is as simple as that. 

The Mariners are a significantly better team than they were when lead by Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre only two years ago. They have good chemistry and are actually trying to win games. That is why it is time for them to reach out for the likes of one of these free agents. My choice is Joe Crede, allowing Lopez to go to shortstop, and putting Wilson in a utility position just to give a little more pop from the infield. Right now it is anyone’s guess what Jack Z. will do, but Mariner faithful can just hope the bats will come alive soon.

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Four runs. That’s how many The Mariners managed to push across the plate in a three-game series that saw them get swept by the rival Texas Rangers. The lack of offense wasted not only a spectacular Seattle debut by Cliff Lee, but also another gem by surprise of the year thus far, Doug Fister.

Not that this is the first time this year that Seattle’s offense has let down a spectacular pitching performance. In fact, it seems to be an everyday occurrence at this point in the season.

Ichiro and Franklin Gutierrez are the only two in the lineup making any kind of consistent contact, hitting .320, and .317 respectively. After that, the next highest average on the team is .243, by light-hitting shortstop Jack Wilson. As a team, they have just nine home runs all together, and have gone one week since their last long ball.

Newcomers Milton Bradley and Chone Figgins have got off to horribly slow starts. Bradley hitting just .224 with 2 home runs, and Figgins at a dismal .209 clip. Mike Sweeney and Ken Griffey Jr. just look old out there. It pains me to say this about my hero, but Griffey simply does not have it any more. His bat is slow, and his knees are gone. It’s sad, but it’s true.

Seattle has the pitching to make a run, and a deep run at that. However they cannot do it without run support. So the question is how do they fix this?

I don’t want to sound like I’m panicking, I know it’s early, but they must act fast. If they wait till the trade deadline to do something, I fear it’ll be too late.

First, release Mike Sweeney and Eric Byrnes. I know everybody loves Sweeney, and Byrnes is a hard-nosed guy, but they simply are not getting it done. Go after Jermaine Dye or Carlos Delgado to fill the DH slot. Everybody knows they can still hit, and a shift to the DH role will keep them fresh.

Second, Figgins must get on track. If he can get on and they can put some offense in the middle of the lineup, they will score runs. I have faith that he will get his knocks, but it’s got to come soon.

Third, they got to relax. When you’re in a slump, you tend to try and force it, try and make something happen rather than just letting it come. It’s obvious to me that a lot of the Mariners hitters are doing this right now. They have to relax, remember what got them there, and above all else, have fun. It’s a game. Go play it.

The Mariners have the ability to go a long way this year. They must address the offensive problems however if they expect to climb to the top of the tough AL West. Pitching alone will not be enough. It’s time to move, no time to waste. Free agents, trades, minor leagues, it doesn’t matter, something must be done.

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