Addition by subtraction in Cleveland

In the end, Cleveland general manager Mark Shapiro and manager Eric Wedge couldn't have agreed more on the need to say goodbye to Milton Bradley.

Before Bradley left Cleveland in a trade with Los Angeles on Sunday, he had become a distraction and a drain on management's time with his penchant for testing authority. In a more experienced clubhouse, an established player might have been able to pull him aside and tell him to cease with the antics. But even when Bradley pledged to be less controversial this season, he was a potential powder keg. The absence of veterans to keep Bradley in line forced Wedge to act as the hammer.

Bradley didn't play his way out of Cleveland by failing to run out a pop fly against Houston in the waning days of spring training. He assured his departure by jogging on the pop fly, then getting belligerent in the dugout with Wedge in front of the entire team. The Indians said it was the latest of many transgressions by Bradley, after he'd been warned there were lines not to be crossed.

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