Yardbarker: Brad Wilkerson

Brad Wilkerson retired

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:40:39 -0500

(by Jeff Bergin) It was reported today on multiple sport sites back pages and minor league blogs that Brad Wilkerson retired today. Wilkerson, a former Expo and "face of the Nationals" in 2005, once hit 32 HR and had his jersey owned by one fan of the Nationals who happens to write a Nationals blog.

Brad Wilkerson Retires

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 22:09:55 -0500

Red Sox outfielder Brad Wilkerson has retired. Wilkerson, currently with the Triple-A Red Sox, told his manager after the second game of the season. He was a .247 career hitter with 122 homeruns. He played for the Expos, Nationals, Rangers, Mariners, and Blue Jays in eight major league seasons.
This story was approved by MLB Rumors.

Brad Wilkerson leaves the Red Sox

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:11:23 -0500

Another one bites the dust in the battle for Boston’s last 2009 roster spot. Brad Wilkerson has left the team after being told by Terry Francona that either Jeff Bailey or Chris Carter will get the last remaining outfield spot. Wilkerson was batting a pathetic .119 this spring with 18 strikeouts in 42 at-bats. [...]

Non Roster Invitee: Brad Wilkerson - Red Sox

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 08:19:56 -0500

In 1988 the Montreal Expos took Brad Wilkerson as a supplemental first round pick and by 2001 the outfielder was on his way to being a regular for the team. By the end of 2002 he had finished second in rookie of the year voting with a .839 OPS while hitting 20 home runs. After a [...]

Mark Kotsay has back surgery

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 17:34:37 -0500

The Red Sox quietly released a statement today saying that outfielder Mark Kotsay had back surgery on January 29th. Kotsay had a displaced disc fragment removed and he probably won?t be available until Remember the other day when I said that the Sox signed Brad Wilkerson in case Lowell, ...

Boston Signs Brad Wilkerson

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 18:24:37 -0500

Tony Massarotti is reporting that the Boston Red Sox have signed outfielder/first baseman Brad Wilkerson to a minor league deal. The deal is worth a base salary of $400,000, but could be worth up to $1.5 million if he reached all the incentives in the deal. Last year with the Mariners and Blue ...

Red Sox sign Brad Wilkerson

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 12:27:12 -0500

The Sox have taken another step towards solidifying their roster with a handful of low AVG/high OBP veterans today by signing OF/1B Brad Wilkerson. Wilkerson has agreed to a minor league deal with roster and playing time incentives.

He played sporadically last year for Seattle and Toronto while fighting a combination of injuries. His final line for the season was a .220 AVG, .308 OBP, with 4 HR and 28 RBI.

This isn't as bad a signing as it looks on paper. It's pretty much guaranteed that Lowell, Baldelli, Kotsay, or Drew will go down sometime during the season. That's where Wilkerson (a lefty that hits lefties well) will step in and hopefully step up.

Brad Wilkerson signed to minor-league deal

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 07:30:00 -0500

According to MLB Trade Rumors, the Red Sox have signed OF/1B Brad Wilkerson to a minor league deal with roster and playing time incentives. Last year, he split time with Toronto and Seattle by hitting a combined .220/.308/.326 in 309 plate appearances and fighting nagging shoulder and back injuries. Although he may only be 6th or 7th on the outfield depth chart, Wilkerson provides solid depth if his shoulder is healthy. He's always been a solid player when he's been on the field. He&#...

Toronto Blue Jays Off Season Report

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:11:27 -0500

Season Wrap Up
The 2008 season found the Jays in 4th place behind the Rays, Red Sox and Yankees, but was not without its highlights. The pitching staff, despite injuries toJanssen and Halladay (to begin the year) and McGowan for good parts of the year, were still the best in the MLB with a 3.49 ERA and .19 points better than the next best team (Dodgers). Unfortunately, swapping 3BGlaus for Rolen wasn’t part of those highlights as he struggled in his first year in Toronto.

Holes to Fill
The only holes to fill would be in the rotation if they don’t resign Burnett and at DH, but there are a few position where they could improve. One of those positions would be catcher, there’s a reason the Phillies let RodBarajas go. Although SS McDonald (67 games at SS) is probably an above average fielder, they could use a better bat from the position than someone who hit .210 with 1 HR, 18 RBI and anOBP of .255 and this can be done by Scutaro (56 games at SS) who hit .267 with 7 HR, 60 RBI and an OBP of .341. Also, they did recently purchase the contract of SS Angel Sanchez and optioned him to AAA so he may be a back up and they might try to move McDonald, but that’s just my opinion.

Free Agents

The Blue Jays have 4 players hitting the free agent market this off season. Pitchers A.J. Burnett (31, a type A free agent) and John Parrish (31), RF Brad Wilkerson (31)and C GreggZaun (37). In my opinion, I think that the Yankees have a better chance of signing Burnett or else he wouldn’t have opted out of his contract. If they do not resign Burnett nor replace him with another quality starter, then they might resign Parrish as insurance. They will probably let Wilkerson walk and if I were them, I’d try to bring backZaun if the money’s right. A platoon of Barajas and Zaun wouldn’t be a bad thing given the catching situation in baseball these days.

The Outlook
While I don’t see the Jays surpassing the Red Sox or the Rays, they could possibly catch the Yankees depending on how well the Yankees do rebuilding the team and if the Jays resign Burnett or replace him with someone comparable. I see their pitching staying within the top 5 in baseball, but they need to improve offensively in order to move up in this tough division. Rios regaining his power stroke would be a blessing, but it won’t be enough. They need more production from their infield, too.

Wladimir Balentien Injured

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 06:21:31 -0500

Seattle top prospect Wlad Balentien was seriously injured in a AAA game.

Could Red Sox Be Hot To Trot (again)?

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 05:34:19 -0500

In a short and sweet Q&A with the Globe's Nick Cafardo, Trot Nixon revealed that he's had his agents contact the Red Sox about coming back to the Fens again. Could be an interesting option if the Brad Wilkerson deal doesn't materialize.

Wilkerson Update

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 15:34:51 -0500

Brad Wilkerson could be the Mariners' next addition.

Get to Know Brandon Moss

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 22:37:31 -0500

With the talk of the Red Sox bringing in Brad Wilkerson as a first baseman/extra outfielder, many people are jumping on Moss' bandwagon. Read and enjoy my opinions of Moss. (continued...)

Jeremy Affeldt, Brad Wilkerson

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 02:01:57 -0500

Affeldt signs with Reds WIlkerson rumors