Billy Beane, GM of the A’s, left a little early and said that he couldn’t wait to get home because it was much easier to make deals away from the noise of the meetings.  I would have thought otherwise, but who am I to argue with Billy Beane?

Milton Bradley remained the hot topic for the Cubs on Day 4, but there was no movement.  Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweeted that a Bradley deal is close and that Tampa Bay is the likely trading partner.  Tim Brown from Yahoo Sports then tweeted that if a deal is close, it’s not with Tampa Bay.  On Day 3 of the meetings, Nation Post Sports tweeted that a deal was in the works and would be done by Friday.

So is a deal imminent?  It doesn’t appear so.  Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald spoke to Jim Hendry and then wrote:

“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.”

So don’t hold your breath for a Milton Bradley deal to get done in the next day or  two.  Gordon Wittenmyer of the Sun-Times spoke to a “source close to Bradley” who suggested that a market might not form for Bradley until Jason Bay and Matt Holliday are signed.  Once they are off the board, then teams will start fighting over the scraps.

Call me naive, but I really thought Bradley would get traded at the Winter Meetings.  In hindsight, I had nothing to base that on other than wishful thinking, but I remain disappointed just the same.  If the Cubs wait for the perfect/best deal they can get for Bradley, they’ll likely be waiting a while and won’t be able to address their other needs.  If they make a quick move (really too late for that) and trade Bradley for the first offer they get, it will be expensive because they’ll probably have to send several million dollars to whichever team takes him, but then they can start filling the holes that the 2010 team currently has.  Pick your poison.

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The Cubs selected Mike Parisi in the MLB portion of the Rule 5 draft yesterday.  Parisi is a 26-year old right handed pitcher out of the Cardinals organization.  He was drafted by the Cards in the 9th round of the 2004 draft out of Manhatten College.  He looked promising moving up throught the Cardinals organization and was added to the 40-man roster in 2007. 

In 2008, Parisi had an 8-2 record with a 3.86 ERA at AAA  Memphis before he was promoted to St. Louis.  His performance for the Cardinals was uninspiring.  Parisi pitched a total of 23 innings for the Cards in 2008, compiling an 8.22 ERA before he was sent back to Memphis.  His time in Memphis was cut short when he went on the DL with an elbow injury and eventually had season-ending Tommy John surgery.

Parisi spent 2009 rehabbing in Florida before he was assigned to play in the Arizona Fall League.  He put together a record of 3-2 with a 4.44 ERA.  Most importantly, Paraisi made all of his starts and pitched five innings in every one, the most allowed by league rules.

Parisi has five pitches in his arsenal.  He throws a 91-93 mph fastball, a straight change, a curve, as well as a newly found cutter that he throws in the mid-80′s.  I’ve also read that he has a rather ineffective sinker.

According to the Gordon Wittenmyer article, Parisi will get a chance to make the Opening Day rotation.  With Ted Lilly out to start the season, the Cubs can use all of the legit arms they can get to start the year.