NL Central

The Cubs have agreed to acquire right-handed pitcher Matt Garza from the Tampa Bay Rays for a package of prospects on Friday. The Cubs will send Chris Archer, Brandon Guyer, Robinson Chirinos, Hak Ju-Lee and Sam Fuld to the Rays for Garza and a minor-league pitcher and a minor-league outfielder, according to Bruce Levine.

Garza is only 27, so he is a young pitcher who will be under club control for three years. So why would the Rays trade him? For one, they are trading from a position of strength. They already have a solid rotation  penciled in for 2011. 

Rickie Weeks is coming off the best season of his career in 2010. He's also entering his final year before hitting the free agent market after the 2011 season. With the team having traded top prospect and second baseman Brett Lawrie to the Blue Jays for Shaun Marcum, it's now more imperative than ever for them to sign Weeks to a long-term deal.

Chris Johnson burst onto the fantasy baseball scene in 2010 for the Houston Astros.  Playing 3B, among the shallowest positions, he caught fire in the second half helping to carry many to fantasy glory.  Overall, he had the following line:

362 At Bats
.308 Batting Average (105 Hits)
11 Home Runs
52 RBI
40 Runs
3 Stolen Bases
.337 On Base Percentage
.481 Slugging Percentage
.387 Batting Average on Balls in Play

On January 4th, Baseball America released its top 10 prospect rankings for all 30 MLB teams for the upcoming season.

For the Cubs, only four players from last year's list returned to the list in 2011, with Starlin Castro and Andrew Cashner now members of the MLB team.

Not only does the list have a different look, it also has a new No. 1 prospect, and it is someone who did not even crack the top 10 last season.

So here is a little closer look at the Cubs' top 10 prospects for the 2011 season, according to Baseball America.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Baseball Hall of Fame announced the induction of Bert Blyleven (among others) after a 14-year wait.  Blyleven's election comes on the heels of the elections of Jim Rice (class of '09) and Andre "Hawk" Dawson ('10) after comparably long waits.  With these three men all in, we can now turn our sights to other players who have spent many years (five or more for the sake of this article) on the ballot and are still waiting for the all-important call from Cooperstown.  I took each player who will be

I tend not to put up a ton of pieces like this, but this is my favorite day of the baseball year outside of Opening Day. Every year, two friends and I make the trek to the Hall of Fame for induction weekend. A truly great four days. This year, I would certainly be voting for Roberto Alomar, and he should get in. Four others would be on my ballot as well. I ended up leaving Jack Morris off. Just couldn't make the cut with him.

With a greatly improved starting rotation, the Milwaukee Brewers have become contenders in 2011. But do not mistake that for “division winners.”

In 2010, the Brewers ran out a consistently strong offense, while the pitching kept them in the trenches. This coming season, expect the offense to be more or less the same, but the additions of Shaun Marcum and Zack Grienke may not completely change the Brewers’ recent fortune.

One of the most popular topics to debate over the past two seasons for Milwaukee Brewer fans has been if and when first baseman Prince Fielder would be traded.

Fielder is slated to become a free agent after the 2011 season, and no one expects him to sign a long-term contract with the Brewers. 

Many, myself included, felt that Fielder would be traded this winter in order for the Brewers to get some sort of a decent return for the impending free agent.

Was the Reds success of last season an aberration or a trend?  They were 43-24 against the Astros, Brewers, Cubs and Pirates, and 48-47 against everyone else.

1--Who among the Reds' young stable of starting pitchers will take it to the next level?

Homer Bailey: 4-3, 4.46 ERA, 19 starts, 109 innings

Johnny Cueto: 12-7, 3.64 ERA, 31 starts, 185 innings

Mike Leake: 8-4, 4.23 ERA, 22 starts, 136 innings

Edinson Volquez:  4-3, 4.31 ERA,  12 Starts, 62 innings