Red Sox Rumors: Are Diamondbacks interested in Jackie Bradley Jr?

 The Arizona Diamondbacks might be interested in Boston Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. That would be a perfect fit for him.

Boston Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. had a subpar 2018 season. He always finds himself at the bottom of the lineup and he’s more famous for making spectacular catches in center field than he is for his production at the plate.

Trading Bradley was a popular rumor last season because of his production at the plate. In 144 games played in 2018, he had 13 home runs, 59 RBI’s, and struck out 127 times. He also walked 46 times and stole 17 bases, only getting caught once. His OPS was .717. Striking out 127 times isn’t good at all and is the reason he batted ninth in the lineup.

In the postseason, his career batting average is just .185. In the 2018 postseason, he only batted .167 in the ALDS. He miraculously was MVP of the ALCS against the Astros with a .200 average. Finally, in the World Series, his average went up to .231. I guess you can say he fixed something mechanically at the plate to be better in the playoffs.

Bradley against RHP had 404 plate appearances in 2018. He had 89 hits, 11 home runs and 51 RBI’s. His OPS was .768 with a .251 batting average. Against LHP he had 131 plate appearances and only got 22 hits, two home runs, and eight RBI’s. He had an OPS of .562 with a batting average of .185.

Teams are interested in the Gold Glove center fielder. Atop that list is the Arizona Diamondbacks, as Nick Carfardo of the Boston Globe reported on Twitter.

There’s also a connection to Bradley with the Diamondbacks. General Manager Mike Hazen worked in the Red Sox front office until 2016 when he left for Arizona. Manager Torey Louvllo is also familiar with Bradley from his time on the Sox coaching staff. It also looks like Arizona needs a center fielder anyway. A.J. Pollock is now a free agent. JBJ has two years of arbitration eligibility remaining and is projected to make $7.9 million next season.

However, a later report from WEEI’s Rob Bradford said that Arizona isn’t looking to acquire Bradley to replace Pollock. Also, Evan Drellich from NBC Sports Boston was hearing the same thing and the reports were being overblown.

Dave Dombrowski told MassLive that he wasn’t looking to trade anybody, which contradicts the reports from earlier that he was.

"“I can tell you that we’re not looking to move anybody, We’re not driven to move anybody. But I think you always keep open minds to anything that takes place. People come to you with different thought processes.”"

The contradicting reports can get confusing this time of year. I’m sure they would want to keep some of the players they had in 2018 to win another Championship. Will the Sox keep Bradley for 2019? Most likely but they are willing to talk to teams about options and like Dombrowski said, to keep an open mind. Anything is possible this time of year but it needs to be the right fit for both teams at the end of the day.

A report from the Red Reporter had a Reds possible trade for Bradley going along with the idea of the Sox cutting payroll. But it looks like for now, Bradley is staying with the Sox for the 2019 season.

In my opinion, if the Sox were going to trade Bradley the team they should trade him to is Arizona. They won’t be getting him for that much and he’s used to some of the staff already. Sox fans may have overrated the center fielder because of his play out in the field making highlight-reel catches. But the 100+ strikeouts per season needs to be worked on.

Bradley has been good for the Sox in the field but that can be replaced. Trading him to Arizona would be good for Bradley. New environment, new players and a familiar staff.  Arizona would be perfect.