Going nowhere

The worst contract in Baseball from the last couple of years got a little worse -- and potentially a lot more painful -- for the Cubs when they left the winter meetings Thursday without making a trade for Milton Bradley. It left the Cubs mulling an increasing likelihood they'll have to eat much more of the remaining $22 million on Bradley's deal than hoped to move the malcontent outfielder and get on with the rest of their offseason and lives -- that, or wait out a limited-at-best market for Bradley and risk losing out on players on their wish list for 2010. Either way, the outcome of four days of relentless talks at the winter meetings left the Cubs facing the possibility that a three-year, $30 million deal that already helped derail their summer could derail their winter. One Cubs source told the Sun-Times on Thursday that something might get done in the next few days. And a few hours later, USA Today (the only ''legit'' news source, according to Bradley) tweeted a similar report. Of course, we heard the same thing early in the week. General manager Jim Hendry says he's not working on a strict timetable. Another source close to Bradley said early Thursday that nothing significant had changed in Bradley's trade status since the meetings began and suggested the Cubs might have to wait until big-ticket outfielders Jason Bay and Matt Holliday close in on deals with teams before finding a tolerable market for Bradley -- or a better market for flipping $9 million left fielder Pat Burrell in any deal involving the Tampa Bay Rays. But that might take longer than the Cubs believe they can wait -- if better opportunities arise at all in that scenario. Meanwhile, that third year of Bradley's contract that no one else was offering last winter is chained like an anchor to the Cubs' plans. Hendry met with teams and agents -- including Bradley's agents (who also represent at least one free agent, Marlon Byrd, on the Cubs' radar -- late Wednesday night and into Thursday morning. A few hours later, Hendry was anything but his usual upbeat self by the time he headed out of the winter meetings headquarters to drive home to Chicago after the 9 a.m. Rule 5 draft. The news being made by other teams as the day wore on couldn't have improved Hendry's mood. The small-budget Rays -- still looking like the most interested team, as long as the Cubs take Burrell's final year off their hands and pick up most of Bradley's 2011 money -- committed $7 million of their limited resources to just acquired closer Rafael Soriano, according to reports. In a best-case scenario for the Cubs , that 2010 commitment doesn't affect the issue of Bradley's $12 million-plus in 2011, but it doesn't help the overall cause, either. And where do they send Burrell? One possible destination fades away if Bay accepts the New York Mets' reported $65 million offer. And if the Boston Red Sox' Mike Lowell-to-Texas trade gets done, that unlikely-to-begin-with possibility of moving Burrell to the Red Sox would seem to be eliminated because it involved getting Lowell's bad contract in return. The Cubs have been facing this coyote-ugly proposition with Bradley's contract since they suspended him for the final 15 games of the season, and after four days in Indianapolis, they might have little choice but to start gnawing. TRUTH AND FICTION In the Rule 5 draft, the Cubs selected St. Louis Cardinals minor-league pitcher Michael Parisi, 26, a right-hander with major-league experience who returned in 2009 from Tommy John elbow surgery. He'll get a chance to make the rotation, with Ted Lilly (shoulder) expected to spend the first month of the season on the disabled list. ... The Cubs have four free-agent center fielders in their sights once they move Bradley: Byrd, Mike Cameron, Scott Podsednik and Rick Ankiel. Comment at suntimes.com.