More Matt Garza and Prince Fielder Rumors and Other Bullets

It wasn’t too many New Year’s Eves ago that I sometimes had trouble remembering the ball drop the next day as I struggled to watch football through a nasty hangoer. This year, the wife, the daughter and I had over friends who have a newborn, and we ate pizza and cookies, and talked about some of the year’s better TV shows. I enjoyed it. And I know I’ll enjoy today much more than in years past…

  • Matt Garza trade rumors continue to swirl. The latest has the Marlins joining the fray (again, not to be “that” guy, but the Marlins were rumored to have interest weeks ago) according to Ken Rosenthal. He describes the interest as “serious,” and says the Cubs might have interest in A-ball outfielder, 20-year-old Christian Yelich. Other players Rosenthal notes as available include third base prospect Matt Dominguez, outfielder Chris Coghlan, first baseman Gaby Sanchez, and relief prospect (and former Cubs farmhand) Jose Ceda. Not a hugely exciting crop of players without a single pitcher or Logan Morrison among them. I think Rosenthal is just picking some names out of a hat. That said, any additional teams that have interest is good news for the Cubs, who don’t have to trade Garza.
  • Buster Olney reported that the Tigers are making their top prospect, pitcher Jacob Turner, available in talks with the Cubs, but, again, that’s been rumored/assumed to be the case for some time now. The same article, from the Detroit News, says it is believed that the Tigers are offering the Cubs multiple prospects, including Turner, for Garza (but are not including number two prospect, third baseman Nick Castellanos). Turner, 20, is probably the best single prospect that has been attached to these Garza trade talks – he was a first round pick out of high school in 2009, and got a telling $5.5 million signing bonus. He’s a big-timer in the prospect world, and is probably no more than a year away from sticking in the Majors.
  • Bruce Levine was on the radio yesterday morning, once again espousing his belief that the Cubs are still pursuing Prince Fielder. Despite conceding that he believes Fielder will land a seven-year deal, Levine says, “The Cubs are very interested in Prince Fielder and are working very hard under the radar to bring him in.” Levine isn’t always right when he’s speculating or making trade suggestions (ok, he’s usually head-scratchingly off in those areas), but when it comes to reporting sourced rumors, few are better than Levine, in my opinion. If he’s saying this as confidently as he’s saying it, I believe it’s true. (h/t CCO.)
  • The Chicago Tribune’s writers reveal their Hall of Fame ballots, and, although they cover a range of selections, they all seem fair to me. Lee Smith makes everyone’s ballot except Mark Gonzalez and … Phil Rogers.
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    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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