Bradford, who will receive a contract for between $1 million and $1.5 million, had back surgery and missed the first half of last season. When he returned, pitching for the A’s and Red Sox, he failed to overwhelm righties as he had in the past. Righties batted .282 against Bradford in 2005 after previously managing to hit just .220.
Nevertheless, Bradford still did not allow a homer to a righty batter, and has permitted just 10 homers in 835 at-bats against righties in his career. However, his funky motion does not deceive lefties, who have hit .319 against him during his career. He is a matchup reliever, but the Mets have no sure-thing lefties to serve as a complement.
The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebic writes that the Orioles, undaunted by the prospects of a 37 year old who never saw a bad pitch he didn’t like, are close to signing OF Jeromy Burnitz to a two-year pact worth $12 million >. Only compared to say, inviting Raul Mondesi or Derek Bell to spring training does this seem like a good idea.