ST. LOUIS — Milton Bradley’s season is finished. Perhaps his days with the Chicago Cubs are too. The Cubs suspended their volatile outfielder for the rest of the season Sunday, one day after he criticized the team in a newspaper interview.
General manager Jim Hendry said he decided to send Bradley home after learning of the player’s remarks in the (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald of Illinois. Bradley, scratched from Saturday’s lineup with a sore left knee, was quoted as saying “you understand why they haven’t won in 100 years here,” and that the team did not have a “positive environment.”
Bradley has two years remaining on a three-year, $30 million contract he signed as a free agent last offseason.
Cubs manager Lou Piniella agreed with Hendry’s move.
Footnotes.
Twins third baseman Joe Crede plans to have another surgery on his injured back to remove fluid from a herniated disc that is impeding on a nerve.
• Angel Villalona, a prospect for the Giants, is the main suspect in the killing of a 25-year-old man in the Dominican Republic, police said Sunday. Villalona turned himself in to authorities.
• Mariners catcher Rob Johnson was not available for Sunday’s series finale against the Yankees after spraining his left ankle during a postgame celebration Saturday.
• Phillies pitcher Pedro Martinez injured his neck swinging and missing in the second inning of Saturday’s loss to the Braves, and left after throwing one warm-up pitch before the fourth. “I didn’t sleep very well last night,” he said.
