General manager Jim Hendry, who expects to announce Thursday the signing of outfielder Milton Bradley -- the centerpiece of his offseason -- made it clear in the wake of the Marquis trade that he doesn't plan to absorb the loss of a pitcher who averaged 30? starts and 11? victories the last two seasons without trying to replace him.

And those close to Hendry expect him to restart the Peavy talks with the San Diego Padres that broke down a month ago at the winter meetings.

''We're going to continue to look for pitching before we go to camp,'' Hendry said. ''At the same time, we feel good about [Sean] Marshall. And we feel good about [Chad] Gaudin, who made 30-plus starts for Oakland a couple of years ago and filled in for [Rich] Harden a lot when Rich had his problems out there.''

Hendry also has potential starters in the bullpen in Jeff Samardzija, Kevin Hart and Angel Guzman.

''But we'll continue to try to look at other avenues if we can,'' Hendry said. ''Hopefully, we'll still add another pitcher before Opening Day.''

Trading as much of Marquis' $9.875 million salary as possible has been part of the Cubs' plans since shortly after the season ended, and netting a payroll savings of $5 million with the trade helps fit Bradley's three-year, $30 million deal into the 2009 budget.

The Cubs are sending $875,000 to the Rockies as part of the deal and are obligated to $4 million in guaranteed salary for Vizcaino, a former White Sox reliever.

Once Bradley passes his physical and becomes a Cub this week, Peavy might be Hendry's next focus.

The Cubs came close to making a deal for the 2007 National League Cy Young Award winner in December, but the landscape has changed dramatically since then -- in some ways favorable toward a deal, but in other ways suggesting a tougher road.

The biggest payroll obstacle in taking on the $63 million Peavy is guaranteed for the life of his contract remains the Cubs' 2010 projections. None of the payroll-clearing deals of the last week did anything for 2010, and that means the flexibility to add Peavy probably doesn't exist without a nod from the team's new ownership group.

Selection of a winning bid for the club is said to be close -- perhaps by the end of next week -- and that might be just in time for the Cubs' front office to make a deal before spring training.

Also, the Cubs acquired three well-regarded pitching prospects from the Cleveland Indians in the Mark DeRosa trade last week, giving them deeper reserves of young talent to help pull off a trade.

But the biggest impediment to a deal might be the Padres' willingness to trade their ace, considering their own potential sale to Jeff Moorad's group of investors. Under financial pressures related to a divorce, the Padres' owners had ordered payroll cuts that led to aggressive shopping of Peavy. Some have speculated Moorad won't want to trade one of the team's most valuable commodities.

If Hendry can't land Peavy, plenty of free-agent pitchers remain on the market, although Derek Lowe is pricing himself beyond reason. Productive innings-eaters such as Braden Looper and Tim Redding more likely would fit the Cubs' needs.