In a separate Tweet, Stark says that there are “2 or 3″ other teams interested in Bradley.  Earlier in the day, one of those teams was identified as the Kansas City Royals and the rumor was that they were interested in trading Gil Meche to the Cubs for Bradley.  There was also a rumor that Meche would go to the Mets, Luis Castillo to the Cubs and Bradley to Kansas City.  However, Royals GM Dayton Moore shot down the rumors calling them “unbelievable” and saying that there were no talks going on with either the Cubs or the Mets about a potential deal.

Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald wrote that the Mets might be interested in trading directly with the Cubs to acquire Milton Bradley.  If Bradley couldn’t handle the bright lights of Chicago, I’m not sure how he’s going to handle New York, but if a trade can be made, that would not be the Cubs problem.

Away from the Milton Bradley front, Miles opined that Ted Lilly may not be back from injury and ready to pitch until May 1.  I’m liking the Cubs starting rotation less and less.  To start the season, it looks like Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster and Randy wells will be the Cubs top three starters.  Tom Gorzellany and Sean Marshall will likely be the other two starters to start the season with Jeff Samardjzia waiting in the wings. 

What happens if Zambrano or Dempster gets hurt?  What if Randy Wells suffers a sophomore slump?  I sure would feel better about the Cubs rotation if they had another legit pitcher as their number three or four starter.  Even if Ted Lilly comes back when expected, the cubs could still use an “insurance” arm.

Could that arm be Braden Looper?  Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com wrote that Looper would love to pitch in Chicago.  His three kids go to school there and he’d like to pitch “at home.”  The Brewers declined his $6.5 million option and instead chose the $1 million buyout.  The 35-year old right hander was 14-7 last year with a 5.22 ERA.  His career ERA is 4.15 and he has been durable, especially over the past three years.  If the Cubs could sign him to one-year at a discount (he earned $4.75 million last year), it might not be a bad signing. 

Morosi also reports that the Cubs are showing interest in right handed reliever J.J. Putz.  Putz is coming back from surgery and held a throwing session in Arizona last week to showcase his arm.  Putz could be a nice, inexpensive picjup for the bullpen.  However, since quite a few other teams are also interested in Putz, he might not be too cheap afterall.

Another rumor that made the rounds today involved San Diego sending Heath Bell to the Cubs.  It was unclear who the Cubs would send to the Padres, but two names throw out there were Geovany Soto and Ryan Theriot.  Bruce Miles had commented earlier in the day that San Diego might be interested in moving Bell because they have Mike Adams ready to take over as their closer. 

Phil Rogers of the ChicagoBreakingSports.com ran with that thought and suggested that the Cubs and Padres had discussed such a trade.  In a later post, Miles debunked the rumor started reported by Rogers by saying, “Cubs GM Jim Hendry laughed off a Chicago-based rumor that had the Cubs interested in Padres closer Heath Bell, with possible trade bait being catcher Geovany Soto or shortstop Ryan Theriot. As I blogged this morning, the Cubs like Bell, but he’s not on their radar at all because he’ll have a big raise coming this fall, as he’s arbitration-eligible.”

In non-trade news, the Cubs announced that Ryne Sandberg will manager the AAA Iowa Cubs next year.  This will be Sandberg’s fourth year as a manager in the Cubs minor league system.  He spent two years in Peoria (2007-08), a year in Tennessee (2009), and now a stint in Iowa.

It would appear that the Cubs are grooming Sandberg to take over after Pinella retires after the 2010 season.  He told the Des Moines Register,  “I’ve been very pleased with the progression,” Sandberg said in a telephone interview today with the Des Moines Register. “Getting closer to the major leagues is very gratifying. I’m looking at this as another stepping stone.”

But wait, is Piniella really going to retire after 2010?  He’s not saying he will and not saying he won’t.  He told Bruce Miles, “I’m going to do the best job I possibly can, and at the end of this year, we’ll see what happens,” he said. “I can work on a handshake.”

All of this is a moot point, at least for now.  Decisions will be made sometime next year, and the decisions will likely revolve around how well the Cubs do in 2010, as well as how well Sandberg does managing in Iowa.

What’s in store for Today?  I’m sure there will be plenty of more rumors and maybe even some action.  Stay tuned.

I have been consistent in my criticism of Bradley.  While I don’t believe that Bradley’s performance and behavior were the main reason for the Cubs downfall this year, I do believe that they were the most distracting for the team.  Bradley’s teammates didn’t have much sympathy following the announcement of his suspension.

According to the Daily Herald’s Miles, Ryan Dempster had this to say:

“To say that everybody’s out to get you and the reporters are looking for you and always looking to stick a microphone in your face, well, if you notice that they’re always for you, I think maybe you’re always looking for them,” Dempster said. “I’ve been here six years now and haven’t had a problem with anybody here. D-Lee’s been here, Z, a lot of guys for a long time. Yeah, you have some tough times, but the city’s great. The fans are great. You’ve got to realize sometimes the consequences of your own actions.”

Paul Sullivan of the Tribune quoted Dempster as saying:

“At the end of the day, he was provided a great opportunity to be part of a really great organization with a lot of really good guys,” pitcher Ryan Dempster said. “It just didn’t seem to make him happy — anything. Hopefully this is a little bit of a wake-up call for him, and he’ll realize how good of a gig you have.

Other players commented as well, including Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez and Reed Johnson.  Everyone disagreed with Bradley’s comments that a negative shadow hovered over the Cubs organization.  Manager Lou Piniella spoke about Bradley’s impact on the clubhouse:

“Last year, I don’t know how many times I heard from the media that we had the best clubhouse in the league,” Lou said before tonight’s game. “Things don’t change that rapidly in a year.”

While I have not been a fan of Bradley and his bad attitude, I don’t think Jim Hendry handled this situation very well.  When Bradley pulled himself out of Friday’s game in St, Louis with an injured knee, Hendry had the perfect excuse to put Bradley on the DL.  If he had, he wouldn’t be dealing with the PR mess surrounding Bradley’s suspension and he would have made Bradley more marketable in the off season.  Instead, now he’s going to have to try to move a clubhouse cancer rather than just a player who had a bad knee.

The Milton Bradley experiment has been a complete and utter disaster.  Thankfully, it is coming to an end.  Let’s hope that the Cubs don’t try anything crazy like this ever again.

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The Cubs beat the Cardinals 6-3 to remain 8.0 games behind the Rockies in the Wildcard race with just 15 games to go.  The Cubs travel to Milwaukee to take on the Brewers in a three game set starting tonight.  Tom Gorzelanny (5-2) will take on Braden Looper (13-6).