Milton Bradley's Status With Mariners Unlikely to Change Despite Arrest

While the Seattle Mariners continue to gather information over the arrest Tuesday of outfielder Milton Bradley, it seems Bradley is in no immediate danger of having his $12 million contract for the 2011 season scuttled.

Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department arrested Bradley Tuesday, booking him under California Penal Code 422 on a felony charge of making criminal threats.

Bradley, who is going to be fighting for at-bats as the Seattle left fielder and designated hitter, posted $50,000 bail and was released Tuesday night.

Multiple sources said Bradley, who has a history of confrontational issues and who was placed on the restricted list by the Mariners last year while he took anger management classes, does not have any special language in his contract that would allow the Mariners to void his contract.

Under terms of the Uniform Player Contract that applies to Bradley and every other player in the big leagues, there is a good citizenship clause, but in the last 25 years, no team has successfully used that wording to void a contract.

In 1987 pitcher Lamarr Hoyt of the Padres was convicted of drug smuggling and served jail time for it, but when San Diego management tried to use the good citizenship clause -- Paragraph 7(b)(1) -- to void his contract, an arbitrator ruled the club had overreached and reinstated the contract.

In 2005, Orioles pitcher Sidney Ponson had his contract voided after a nine-month period in which he'd been charged with assaulting a judge in his native Aruba and was twice charged with driving under the influence, but ultimately the two sides struck a deal with Ponson reportedly receiving the bulk of his pay.

The Mariners have been trying to trade Bradley to open up roster space and free payroll, but even before this incident it was a tough sell what with Bradley needing time off in 2010 for anger management issues after walking away from the club once and with the size of Bradley's paycheck not something easily absorbed by most teams.

Seattle could release him, but that seems extremely unlikely with the Mariners not in financial shape to swallow a $12 million contract.

The Mariners said in a statement released late Tuesday they will not have any further comment on the Bradley situation.

"While we do not yet have full details on what occurred," GM Jack Zduriencik said in the statement, "we are aware of the situation and take it very seriously. We are in the process of determining the full circumstances of what occurred today. Until we have more information, we will not be able to comment further."