Right on the heels of the Seattle Mariners announcing that Ryan Langerhans had been designated for assignment to make way for outfielder Mike Wilson, the club has announced that Milton Bradley has met the same fate with Carlos Peguero being recalled from Tacoma in his place.
There was suspicion that Bradley's ouster might be the roster move corresponding with the recall of WIlson, a 27-year-old switch-hitting corner outfielder, hitting .381/.429/.683 in 16 games with the Rainiers. Wilson has demonstrated above-average power and solid plate discipline in the minors, but has below-average contact skills and is far from an asset defensively. Peguero will be given his second stint of the year in the majors after being called up earlier in the season and picking up 11 plate appearances before being returning to Tacoma. The move will give the Mariners a bit more flexibility in the corner outfield as well as a bit more power off the bench and while neither Wilson nor Peguero are particularly strong defenders it was likely Bradley's defensive struggles over the weekend that sealed his fate.
While Langerhans is no stranger to the AAA/MLB shuffle and may well accept a minor league assignment with the club, this would appear to be the end of the Milton Bradley experiment in Seattle. The mercurial journeyman outfielder was brought to the team in exchange for pitcher Carlos Silva in a swap of problem contracts between the Mariners and Chicago Cubs. Despite some early positive results, Bradley's performance in Seattle never lived up to expectations and though he never had any serious on-field incidents in his time with the Mariners, the potential for such incidents was constantly in the back of many a mind. Milton Bradley has garnered his share of fans in his short time with the club, but a roughly average hitter that is a defensive liability and something of a controversial figure isn't anything approaching an asset for the team. The Mariners will now have an opportunity to see what they have in Wilson and Peguero before deciding whether to pursue another outfielder from outside the organization.