Jackie Bradley Jr. was attending the wedding of former teammate Mookie Betts when he learned he had been traded back to the Red Sox. John Bazemore/Associated Press
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Jackie Bradley Jr. is back with the Red Sox who acquired him from the Brewers right before MLB locked out its players Dec. 1 at 11:59 p.m. He has quite the story to tell about the night the deal happened.
“It all happened so fast but at the moment I really didn’t have full time to process it because I was at a wedding,” Bradley said. “So I was focused on that.”
He wasn’t just at any wedding. He was attending former teammate Mookie Betts’ wedding.
“So here’s the real story,” Bradley said. “I actually come out of the wedding. So it’s during the reception now. It was Markus’ wedding actually.”
Bradley always calls Betts by his real first name, Markus.
“We weren’t allowed to have our phones,” Bradley said. “So there was a special, designated area to where you could have your phone. So I just happened to come out and call my wife.”
Bradley, who was on the west coast, called his wife Erin, who was on the east coast, just to check in to see how she and the kids were doing.
“Five seconds after I hang up the phone, I get a call,” Bradley said.
It was Brewers President of Baseball Operations David Stearns who let him know he was headed back to the Red Sox in a trade that sent Hunter Renfroe to Milwaukee.
“He was like, ‘It’s back to the Red Sox.’ And I was like, ‘Wow. Wow.’ I mean, I didn’t really have anything to say. I was kind of in shock. I was still actually present somewhere else.”
He called his wife back and then spoke with Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom.
Bradley then met up with several other players, including J.D. Martinez, at the reception.
“I gave him (Martinez) a hug. I was like, ‘Hey, teammate. It’s good to see you again.’ ”
He said he still had a lot of fun at the reception despite being caught off guard with such big news.
“I definitely enjoyed the rest of the night,” Bradley said. “I tried to kind of push it to the side momentarily. But it was a lot to grasp at one moment.”
He said he was excited after he had time to process.
“It felt good,” Bradley said. “Obviously a sense of familiarity. But I’m always thankful for an opportunity.”
RED SOX PROSPECTS Triston Casas, David Hamilton, Durbin Feltman and Chris Murphy are among the 12 additional minor leaguers who Boston invited to major league camp as non-roster invitees.
Big league camp officially opens Sunday. The first official workout isn’t expected until Monday or Tuesday.
Catcher Kole Cottam, outfielder Franchy Cordero and infielders Ryan Fitzgerald and Christian Koss also were added as non-roster invitees as well as pitchers Chris Murphy, Geoff Hartlieb, Brian Keller, Kaleb Ort, and John Schreiber.
Casas is the highest-profile prospect who will be in major league camp. Baseball America ranks him No. 19 on its Top 100 list.
The first baseman is expected to begin the 2022 regular season at Triple-A Worcester.
He finished out 2021 by playing nine games at Worcester (.866 OPS). He batted .279 with a .394 on-base percentage, .484 slugging percentage, .877 OPS, 14 homers, 15 doubles, three triples, 63 runs and 59 RBIs in 86 games (371 plate appearances) between Double-A Portland and Worcester. He then went 29-for-78 (.372) with seven extra-base hits in 21 games in the Arizona Fall League.
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