No Bradley deal for Cubs, but Hendry stays confident

Despite another day of Twitter and other Internet hysteria, the Cubs had nothing new to report on the Milton Bradley front Thursday as the winter meetings ended quietly.

The Tampa Bay Rays remain the most likely landing spot for Bradley, but despite national reports that a deal was close to being done, the Cubs said Thursday evening that was not the case.

General manager Jim Hendry left Indianapolis shortly after the morning's Rule 5 draft.

Although he expressed disappointment at not making a trade, Hendry expressed confidence trades and free-agent signings could get done within the coming days and weeks because of the groundwork laid at the meetings.

"We paved the way for some potential bullpen deals," Hendry said. "We had a lot of talks. We kind of caught up yesterday on some free-agent outfielders. The first couple days, we were meeting with teams. Yesterday, we met with a lot of agents. We feel like we'll have some conclusion to some of the things we wanted to do, hopefully in the next week or two."

Hendry finished the winter meetings with a rush of activity. His Thursday lasted well into Friday morning, as he touched base with teams on a potential Bradley trade (including Tampa Bay) and with representatives for free-agent outfielders such as Mike Cameron, Marlon Byrd and Rick Ankiel.

All three of those outfielders are in the mix for the Cubs to sign, but Hendry said late Thursday that he and assistant GM Randy Bush have not begun prioritizing among the three.

The Cubs have talked about free-agent pitcher Ben Sheets, who is rehabbing from injury, but they'd have to see him throw first before any talks would get serious. They'll look again Friday at free-agent reliever J.J. Putz, who will throw in Arizona as he recovers from elbow problems that ended his season early with the New York Mets.

As far as Bradley goes, the sticking point with Tampa Bay will be how much of the $21 million over the next two years of Bradley's contract the Cubs will have to eat. Outfielder Pat Burrell's name remains in play with the Rays. The Cubs could either keep Burrell or turn around and trade him to another team.

Even though there weren't as many trades as predicted at the meetings, Hendry felt talks progressed far enough that something could be done soon.

"I thought there would be more trading," Hendry said. "I was hopeful there would, obviously, for us. I talked to a few guys this morning, and they felt like they were going to make a deal in the next couple of days. Maybe a lot of it was they're getting closer and maybe they can tie it up.

"For us, obviously we would have loved to make one here, but I don't think it's going to be a detriment. I think we'll make a deal or two before the holidays. I think other people feel that way. But it was a little bit of a slower pace and not as much action as I think all of us who sit in our seat would have liked."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=343320">Cubs pick right-hander Parisi in Rule 5 draft<span class="date"> [12/11/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>