Dodgers Solve Bradley Problem

Milton Bradley was traded Tuesday, off to another do-over in another baseball city, two years and out again.

Saying he had tried everything -- short of contacting Bradley -- to resolve the differences between the talented and mercurial outfielder and those who disapproved of him here, new Dodger General Manager Ned Colletti traded Bradley and infielder Antonio Perez to the Oakland Athletics for outfielder Andre Ethier, a double-A prospect.

“I don’t know how they expected to keep me in center field if nobody even spoke to me,” Bradley said. “They weren’t trying to reconcile anything. They made up their minds to go with Jeff Kent. They wanted the old man instead of the young man.”

Bradley’s late-season feud with the veteran Kent ultimately ended his stay with the Dodgers, at about the time an injury to his left knee ended his second season with them. He underwent surgery and said he is recovering well. He will play right field for the A’s and bat in the middle of their lineup, either in front of or behind cleanup hitter Eric Chavez, and the Dodgers will continue their search for another outfielder.

“According to the people that are close to him, they thought another club and another place was the only way it was going to work,” Colletti said.

Colletti said he spoke to players on the roster, but not directly to Kent, and those around the organization, including owner Frank McCourt, and concluded that Bradley would no longer be accepted among them.

Facing a Dec. 20 deadline to sign, trade or non-tender Bradley, Colletti relented on a long-standing offer to deal with the A’s. Ethier, 23, a left-handed hitter, batted .319 with 18 home runs and 80 runs batted in for Midland, and was the Texas League player of the year. The Dodgers also parted with Perez, who batted .297 in 98 games last season but was without a position and might not have made the team out of spring training.

“I was looking for a way to mediate it, I was looking for a way to reconcile it,” Colletti said of the Bradley situation. “At every turn, I just got stopped. I’d ask once, I’d ask twice, I’d ask three times, and it was clear there was no way to make this work. ... I got no glimmer of hope at all that it would work.”

So, Bradley, less than two years after being traded from the Cleveland Indians because of a spat with Manager Eric Wedge, joins his fourth team in six seasons.

A product of Long Beach Poly High and seemingly pleased to be playing close to home, Bradley spent two tremulous seasons with the Dodgers. He batted .275 with 32 home runs and 105 RBIs and played deftly in center field in 216 games.

He was suspended for the last five games of the 2004 season, however, for slamming a plastic bottle at the feet of fans in the Dodger Stadium outfield. In October, he had a clubhouse confrontation with Times reporter Jason Reid when asked about his treatment by St. Louis fans after a playoff game.

This August, after an argument with Kent and under orders from Manager Jim Tracy not to discuss the incident publicly, Bradley told reporters Kent did not relate well to African Americans. Only knee surgery saved Bradley from another season-ending suspension.

As he held the telephone to his ear Tuesday afternoon, Bradley revealed that he was cradling his first child, Jeremiah, born Sunday, in one arm. Earlier, he had spoken to A’s owner Lewis Wolf, General Manager Billy Beane and Manager Ken Macha about another fresh start.

Though aware of Bradley’s anger-management history, the summertime 911 calls involving Bradley and his wife, and short stays in other organizations, Beane said he had maintained steady contact with the Dodgers since the end of the regular season, hoping to acquire Bradley.

“I trust our environment,” Beane said. “This has been a pretty welcoming environment. We think that ultimately, at this time, he’s a good fit.”

The Chicago Cubs -- who, with permission from the Dodgers, dispatched Manager Dusty Baker to Bradley’s home -- New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays also had expressed an interest in Bradley.

“I have to win,” Bradley said. “I can’t lose. I’m unhappy when I lose. It’s probably why the situation in L.A. got to me the way it did.

“The greatest time I had was the playoff season. Everything was working. I didn’t mess up any clubhouse. I came in and added to the clubhouse. I helped make the team a playoff team. I took a backseat to [Steve] Finley in center field. I bled Dodger blue. I did everything in my power. I played my knee off for the Dodgers. I did everything I could.”

Bradley said the “negative stuff” was driven by the media and Dodger “spin,” but that he was happy going to Oakland, and delighted to hear that A’s Chavez, Mark Kotsay and Jason Kendall supported the trade.

“So, yeah, if that’s me, I’ll be all that,” Bradley said. “It’s not going to change me, who I am, being outspoken, being real, being a great ballplayer. ... I’m just glad Oakland realized that.”

The rest, Bradley said, will have no bearing on him.

“I’m holding my son as we speak,” he said. “For 27 years I’ve lived life for myself. I’ve pretty much done whatever I wanted, good or bad, and let the chips fall where they may. Now I’ve got somebody who’s depending on me. I know if I go 0 for 4, strike out four times, everything’s all right. Maybe I’ll take some of the pressure off myself. All I know is, nobody’s ever moved me like him.”

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The Bradley file

A look at some of the incidents in Milton Bradley’s career:

* March 31, 2004: Bradley is removed by Cleveland Manager Eric Wedge from an exhibition for not running hard on a popup that dropped for a single. Four days later, Bradley is traded to the Dodgers.

* June 3, 2004: Bradley is suspended for four games and fined $2,500 after throwing a bag of balls on the field.

* Sept. 28, 2004: Bradley makes an error on a fly ball, and a Dodger Stadium fan throws a plastic bottle at him. Bradley then throws the bottle at the feet of fans and is ejected. As he is leaving the field, he rips off his jersey and shouts at fans. He is suspended for five games and fined $15,000.

* Nov. 25, 2004: Bradley is arrested for investigation of disorderly conduct in Ohio.

* June 28-July 30, 2005: Redondo Beach police respond to domestic violence reports at Bradley’s home three times in a 33-day period.

* Aug. 20, 2005: Bradley and Jeff Kent have a confrontation during a game against Florida. Kent is upset about Bradley not hustling on plays. Bradley says Kent has an inability to deal with African American players.

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The principals

The Dodgers obtained minor league outfielder Andre Ethier for outfielder Milton Bradley and infielder Antonio Perez. Some key statistics on each player:

MILTON BRADLEY

* Played the last two seasons of his six-year career with the Dodgers, batting .290 with 13 homers and 38 RBIs in 75 games in 2005 and batting .267 with 19 homers and 67 RBIs in 141 games in 2004.

* Batted .321 with 10 homers and 56 RBIs in 101 games for the Cleveland Indians in 2003.

* Drafted by the Montreal Expos in 1996, reached the major leagues in 2000 and was traded to the Indians in July 2001.

ANTONIO PEREZ

* Batted .297 with three homers and 23 RBIs in 259 at-bats for the Dodgers in 2005, his third season in the majors. All were career highs.

ANDRE ETHIER

* Was selected Texas League MVP in 2005 after batting .319 in 131 games with 30 doubles, 18 homers, 104 runs and 80 RBIs for Midland.

* Drafted in the second round by the A’s in 2003 after playing at Arizona State, where he ended his college career with a 23-game hitting streak.