The Cubs need Milton Bradley to stay on the field and out of trouble

Milton Bradley set career highs in most offensive categories last season, but still only played in 126 games. Brad Mangin/SI Jon Heyman's Mailbag Got a question or comment for Jon? Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND Follow Jon Heyman on Twitter

MESA, Ariz. -- Milton Bradley hasn't shown too much of his tremendous ability in Cubs camp yet, as he's been laid up with a tight thigh and flu-like symptoms for most of the early spring games. But Bradley is showing his trademark feistiness already.

Right off the bat he questioned my first question about whether he's ready to go back to playing the outfield full time. He didn't do it in a harsh way, but Bradley, who played only 20 games in the outfield last year in Texas as he was recovering from knee surgery, still isn't a guy who gives ground. "That's a funny question,'' he said earlier this week. "That question is weird to me.''

Soon though, Bradley was providing thoughtful answers to all my questions, both good and bad. And by next month he will begin to answer the biggest question: Can he stay in the outfield long enough to make the Cubs' gamble work? Perhaps it wasn't wise to start off with a question about his ability to remain healthy, but the facts are that he hasn't played 100 games in the outfield since 2004 and has only played 100 games at any spot in three of his nine big-league seasons.

Bradley, who went 1-for-3 in his return to the lineup on Wednesday, brings many questions to mind, and he has quick answers for many of them, such as the other big one, about whether he'll be able to keep his cool this year.

"I never had a fight in my life,'' he said at one point. "I just get [ticked] off.''

Does he ever. While Bradley may never have exchanged blows (and I can't dispute him there), he certainly seems to have gotten to the cusp of fisticuffs quite a few times. Good for him that he doesn't dispute that.

He said he changed, though, after suffering a torn ACL while being thrown to the ground by his Padres manager Bud Black late in the 2007 season after going wild following some harsh remarks to him by an umpire. He also appears to blame himself, certainly not Black or even the umpire whom he says incited that fit. And that's a positive sign.

"When I hurt my knee, that was the lowest point of my life,'' said Bradley, who turns 31 next month. "That's when I knew something had to change.''

After watching the Padres miss the playoff by one game following his serious knee injury, Bradley rebuilt his career and some of his rep in Texas last year. He behaved nearly impeccably with the Rangers all season, hitting .321 with 22 home runs and 77 RBIs and most impressively leading the American League with a .436 on-base percentage and a .999 OPS. The only near-incident came when he tried to confront a Royals broadcaster after hearing that he had criticized Bradley's character; again, there were no blows (Rangers GM Jon Daniels got up to the broadcast booth in time to calm Bradley).

Bradley explained why he goes wild sometimes, saying, "I can't hold a picket sign, and march and picket like Martin Luther King.''

He attributes some past blowups to being "young and dumb.'' He said, "I was never violent.'' Rather, he said, the rep came from a string of childish temper tantrums.

"If anyone was hurt by it, it was me,'' he said..

Physically, he's had a few hurts, too. Few have suffered as wide a variety of injuries as Bradley, and it can't be comforting to see him laid up by two separate, albeit slight, infirmities this early. Cubs GM Jim Hendry maintained he isn't going to worry so early in spring, not with so many games to go, and besides, Hendry said, "We're not expecting him to play 150 games. We have other good outfielders.'' (The Cubs can move Kosuke Fukudome to right field and employ Reed Johnson or Joey Gathright in center on days Bradley can't play.) For his part, Bradley, says, "I'm feeling fine, and taking the necessary steps to prepare myself for playing the season.''

The Cubs are the class of the National League, but absences by Bradley could hurt the team as well as Bradley himself (his $20 million, two-year contract only becomes a $30 million, three-year deal if he plays at least 75 games in 2009, according to the contract filing). However many games he plays, Bradley is the most interesting addition to a clubhouse that already contains some notably temperamental talents, such as star pitcher Carlos Zambrano and three-time Manager of the Year Lou Piniella, who just might be great for Bradley.