INDIANAPOLIS -- Milton Bradley is not a free agent, but he's being treated like such at the winter meetings.
The Cubs are so eager to find a team for the disgruntled outfielder that they're letting his agents talk to other teams to let them know he's not the ogre that has been portrayed in the media.
Only two teams have reportedly shown enough interest in Bradley to possibly pull the trigger on a deal, and Tampa Bay remains the focus of the Cubs because of manager Joe Maddon, the "Dr. Phil" of baseball manager.
In an interview with the St. Petersburg Times, Maddon said that he got a "totally different perspective" of Bradley after a sitdown lunch with him last winter, and believes they'd "get along pretty well." It's probably the same Bradley that Cubs general manager Jim Hendry saw when he dined with the free agent outfielder last year.
Bradley's charm offensive netted him a three-year, $30 million deal with the Cubs, but he was back to his old self by April, leading to the mess the Cubs are in right now.
Tampa Bay still wants the Cubs to pay the bulk of the $15 million difference in the remaining amounts of the contracts of Bradley and Pat Burrell, the albatross the Cubs would get back in a trade with the hopes of flipping to some other team.
While Texas remains the other big suitor, they also are not willing to acquire Bradley without the Cubs paying most of the freight. The Rangers are up for sale, and one of the potential bidders said Sunday he had "no interest" at all in acquiring Bradley if his group gets the club, even if the Cubs pay the entire amount of the contract.
Who will blink first? Can the Cubs afford to take this into January without a resolution?
One major league manager said: "They should just keep him. He's a good hitter and he'll probably have a better year."
But Cubs sources say that option is not being discussed.
Get our updates on 
I just hope this does not become the sammy sosa situation part 2.Cubs could not trade him for nothing and by the time they did it was february and spring training was opening in a week.Trade this annoying crybaby already I'm sick of hearing his name on a daily basis.Hendry made horrible judgement giving him 3 years,anybody can charm you when they want something.That contract would of been heavily incentive laced to the point he would of had to act normal and reached every performance based incentive just to get a guranteed 2nd year.If he would of did that we would'nt be going thru this right now.
The cubs should keep him and them demote him to Iowa to clean toilets. But we all know the cubs history, they will bungle it.
We should have known he was bad news--not only from history, but the game Trouble is made by Milton Bradley.
I think Milton would do very well on the Southside. I hope Kenny is thinking creatively.
The Cubs should have benched him after the all star break. His contract would have been for 1 additional year rather than 2. Bradley is a waste of time and money. Just unload him.
What a complete waste of time, resources, and peoples' lives. Bradley should never have been sought after in the first place...