SAN DIEGO (AP) -The San Diego Padres agreed to acquire temperamental outfielder Milton Bradley from the Oakland Athletics on Thursday night, the second time in just more than a week that the team decided to add a player with a history of blowups.
The Padres will send Oakland a minor league pitcher, several people with knowledge of the deal said, speaking on condition of anonymity because it had yet to be announced.
Bradley could join the team during a weekend series at the Los Angeles Dodgers, one of his former teams.
General manager Kevin Towers confirmed in an e-mail Thursday that the Padres had interest in the outfielder, but declined further comment.
Manager Bud Black said he hadn’t spoken with Towers on Thursday, an off day for the team, and couldn’t confirm the deal. But Black said he knew the Padres had discussed Bradley the day before, and added that it was more than likely that Bradley would play left field.
Oakland designated Bradley for assignment a week earlier, cutting ties with a player who was expected to play an important role on the team this season.
Bradley had been on the disabled list three times this year.
But Bradley has always been known as much for his volatile behavior as his baseball skills. In 2005, he accused Dodgers teammate Jeff Kent of a lack of leadership and an inability to deal with black players.
Bradley was also suspended for the final five games of the 2004 season when he slammed a plastic bottle at the feet of a fan in the box seats in the right field corner at Dodger Stadium after someone threw it on the field. Nobody was injured.
The day before the A’s designated Bradley for assignment, the Padres obtained embattled catcher Michael Barrett from the Chicago Cubs.
Barrett and Carlos Zambrano got into a skirmish in the dugout June 1 and it carried over into the clubhouse where Barrett got a black eye and needed stitches in his lip.
Less than two weeks later, Barrett and pitcher Rich Hill had a verbal exchange in the dugout during a game against the Seattle Mariners.
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