Bradford Traded to Rays

The Orioles shed their first veteran, trading reliever Chad Bradford to the Tampa Bay Rays for the infamous Player to be Named Later. Since it appears that the Rays will pick up the remaining $4.5 million on Bradford's contract, the prospect coming back to the Orioles is certainly not one who will be an impact player. Still, saving the cash and freeing the roster spot is valuable for the Orioles as they rebuild from the ground up, so this is still a good deal for the O's. As the Orioles have proven over the past few years, middle relievers have such variable performance from year-to-year that spending significant sums on veterans is seldom a good idea. It is much cheaper to stock the organization with young power arms and hope that seven can form a balanced bullpen.