Cleveland Indians: 8 failed cornerstone players since the Shapiro Era

Milton Bradley

The exact words used to describe Milton Bradley upon acquiring him was “Kenny Lofton’s eventual replacement”. All it took to get this alleged future Hall of Famer (because that’s what you’d need to replace Loften) was Zach Day. A steal, right? Then Indians GM John Hart went on to heap high praise onto Bradley, saying;

"In Milton Bradley we are getting a top-of-the-order, middle-of-the-diamond player we feel will have a major impact at the major-league level in the near future"

While Bradley would have a long career, he never reached the heights of Lofton. Not in Cleveland or elsewhere. Bradley would spend parts of three seasons in Cleveland, coming over in the trade deadline deal of 2001 and lasting through 2003. His best year was in 2003, where he hit .321 with 64 walks, 61 runs, and 17 stolen bases.

However, Bradley was a headache to deal with and often butted heads with other players and management. Eventually, second-year manager Eric Wedge had enough of Bradley and had him shipped out during spring training. The final straw came when Bradley refused to run out a pop-fly in a spring training game and was banned from the facility for the rest of the time in Winter Haven, FL.

Bradley would move on and eventually end up in the All-Star game in 2008 with the Texas Rangers, but considering he was once thought of as a replacement for Lofton and never lived up to that expectation, it’s safe to say he belongs snuggly on this list.