Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune takes a look at the Milton Bradley situation in an article this morning.
Sullivan, like many, sees the Rangers as the favorite. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News looks at all the factors there.
Giants GM Brian Sabean was quizzed about a possible bad contract swap for Bradley, and shot down the idea. The Mets and Rays appear in the mix to a certain extent, with Omar Minaya even admitting he'll talk to Jim Hendry about it. Luis Castillo figures to be in that discussion, but Sullivan says reports suggest Mets ownership may be anti-Bradley.
ESPN's Bruce Levine adds more detail. He says Hendry spent over an hour Monday with the Rays discussing a Bradley-Pat Burrell swap, with the $12MM salary difference a key. A similar gap exists with Kevin Millwood, who Levine believes the Rangers would "gladly" swap for Bradley. However, Levine says the Rangers will only take about $4MM of Bradley's contract at this point.
A few other notes from Sullivan: the Cubs remain fans of Marlon Byrd, who is now a free agent. That interest suggests that the Cubs' "left-handed bat" obsession from a year ago has gone by the boards. Sullivan also mentions that the Cubs "are in no hurry to open up talks with Derrek Lee on a contract extension." Lee will earn $13MM in 2010 in the last year of his contract.
