Immovable Milton Bradley Fatally Paralyzing Chicago Cubs

On Monday morning, the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals stood roughly shoulder-to-shoulder at the front of the pack of teams vying for position in the 2010 National League Central division.

The Milwaukee Brewers and Houston Astros lagged badly behind, and if you had asked most fans then who the favorite would be when next spring training rolled around, the vote would likely have gone narrowly to the Cubs over St. Louis, with little consideration for also-rans Milwaukee and Houston.

Now, on Wednesday night, the smart choice is probably Milwaukee. St. Louis and Houston are also in the conversation. Barring an unforeseen change of fortunes from this point onward, however, the Cubs are a safe bet to finish no higher than third in 2010.

There is one simple reason this is true, and here it is: Cubs GM Jim Hendry cannot sell a lemon. It has been true since the days of Sammy Sosa, and it remains true today. In three days of (one hopes, at least) desperate searching, Hendry has failed to find any acceptable suitor for Milton Bradley.

This is primarily because Hendry refuses to give up Bradley for nothing, a foolish sort of valor that will backfire when he eventually has to anyway, and has no remaining options thereafter.

In the meantime, Curtis Granderson (who would have been a perfect fit on the North Side) went to the Yankees in a three-team deal. Milwaukee added a new starting catcher (Gregg Zaun), a new second starter (Randy Wolf) and a solid set-up man (LaTroy Hawkins).

St. Louis beefed up their rotation by signing free agent Brad Penny. Houston, who let their two best relievers go to free agency in Hawkins and Jose Valverde, traded for Marlins closer Matt Lindstrom and signed free-agent set-up man Brandon Lyon.

All of those moves will make the teams who made them better (if only, in the cases of Hawkins and Zaun, by default). The Cubs still have a chance to improve themselves over the balance of the winter, too, but it seems suddenly diminished.

To obtain a serviceable center fielder (either Mike Cameron or Marlon Byrd would work), Hendry would need to unload some meaningful portion of the $21 million the Cubs owe Bradley, and that appears unlikely. There are other avenues to improvement, but before the Cubs can explore any, they will need to move the immovable object.

If they don't do so quickly, it is time to prepare for rebuilding in 2010. Perhaps, depending on what remains of the outfield market by the time Bradley leaves, the team would be best served to pocket their money for a lost season and start Sam Fuld in center next year, with an eye toward making their next move in 2011.

Whatever the choice, however, the Cubs must decide at some point to commit to one or another winter philosophy. Hendry didn't do that this week in Indianapolis, and it hurt the Cubs badly.