O'Hare Hilton Update

Just heard baseball reporter Bruce Levine say on ESPN 1000 that Jim Hendry is working hard on laying the foundation for a Bradley trade.

With the GM meeting having wrapped things up at Noon today and no word of a Bradley deal (at least not yet, anyway) it seems most likely a Milton deal gets done in about three weeks at the Baseball Winter Meetings.

As expected, Levine went on to say that Hendry’s first priority in such a deal is money first (the Cubs still owe Milton $21 milion) and the caliber of player in return second.

Lastly, they’re whispers the Cubs are interested in adding Marlon Byrd to play centerfield with Fukudome moving back to right field. Byrd is coming off the best year of his career at the plate and is an above average outfielder as well.

The common link throughout many of the reports is Bryd’s  interest in continuing to work with Rudy Jaramillo, his former hitting instructor with the Rangers.

Let’s see if anything further develops this afternoon. More to come later this evening.