Mets sign righty reliever Chad Bradford

[Mattingly]

Anyone have any ideas on how Chad will strengthen the Mets' bullpen, and whether he'll be the setup for Billy Wagner? If not, then in what role will he be expected to be in?

PRESS RELEASE

Mets sign Chad Bradford

The New York Mets today signed 31-year old right-handed relief pitcher Chad Bradford to a one-year Major League contract.

Bradford, 6-5, 203 pounds, was 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 21 games with the Red Sox in 2005. Chad began last season on Oakland's Disabled List. He underwent lower back surgery in March. Chad made nine minor league rehabilitation appearances between June 24th and July 12th before being traded to Boston for outfielder Jay Payton on July 13th.

In his major league career, the Jackson, MS native has pitched with the White Sox, A's and Red Sox and has a combined 23-16 record and seven saves with a 3.49 ERA in 325 games.

"Chad is a veteran guy who has had success in the post-season," said Mets General Manager Omar Minaya. "He brings valuable experience to our bullpen."

Last season for Boston, Bradford did not allow a run in 23 of his 31 appearances. He only gave up three extra-base hits (two doubles and a home run) in 104 batters faced.

Bradford pitched with the White Sox in parts of 1998, 1999 and 2000 and was with Oakland until his trade to the Red Sox. Chad appeared in at least 68 games each season from 2002-2004.

"New York is a great situation for me," said Bradford. "I worked with Rick Peterson in Oakland and I know what he can do. With all the off-season additions, I'm sure the Mets will be contending for a playoff spot and I want to do all I can to help."

In eight post-season appearances with the White Sox (2000) and the Athletics (2001-2003), he has not allowed a run in 8.1 innings.

For his career, righthanded batters have a .225 (188-834) average against Bradford. Chad has permitted 10 home runs in 834 at-bats against righthanded batters lifetime, an average of one home run per 83.4 at-bats.

[Mattingly]

The Pitch From Down Under

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla., Jan. 11 - The children from the poorer sections of Jackson, Miss., sat enraptured. So did the students at high school sports banquets, the ballplayers at Fellowship of Christian Athletes meetings and the people at church functions throughout central Mississippi.

In his lilting drawl, Bill Perry recounted a tale about a former high school pitcher of his, Chad Bradford. At the end, someone inevitably would ask if the story was true.

"With Chad, I tell them everything is possible," said Perry, who is also a minister who officiated at Bradford's wedding.

Perry would tell how Bradford, an uncoordinated string bean of a 15-year-old, pitched a fastball as straight as string, as if, in the local vernacular, it were fixin' to be hit into the next town. He threw a good curveball once, but only once, and was much better as a class clown than an athlete at Byram High School.

[VIBaseball]

Bradford's stats clearly show him as a righty vs. righty specialist. Lifetime, he's pitched in 325 games with 319.1 innings pitched. His ratio has been a good bit below 1:1 the last two years.

Here are his stats vs. lefties and righties over the past three years.

L: 57-174 (.328), 8 HR, 30 RBI, 39 BB, 5 HB
R: 90-421 (.214), 5 HR, 52 RBI, 19 BB, 10 HB

I was about to compare him to Jeff Innis, a pretty effective Met reliever of bygone days who held the club record for games pitched in a season for a while. However, this link has an interesting observation about Bradford's unusual motion -- it says that even though he delivers his ball from way down low, he's not a true submariner; he's like a conventional pitcher who just bends and twists.

http://bostondirtdogs.boston.com/Headline_Archives/2005/07/special_deliver.html