The Cubs Chronicle

I’m shocked that this happened, despite the many rumors: The Sporting News’s Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Cubs have received Nomar Garciaparra in what appears to be complex trade. Gone are (at least ) Alex Gonzalez, Francis Beltran, and Brendan Harris. Garciaparra hasn’t been the 1999-2000 version of himself since, well, 2000. But, man, he’s still quite good, and this is quite exciting.

UPDATE (4:50pm): The trade ultimately involved four teams. The Cubs also traded away lefty pitching prospect Justin Jones, and received Class A outfielder Matt Murton and cash. This means Matt Clement is staying in a Cub uniform, which previously didn’t seem likely if the Cubs truly wanted Garciaparra.

UPDATE II (10:35pm): Everyone is excited. Really excited. Did I mentioned excited? Alex Ciepley has more on Matt Murton, the outfield prospect the Cubs also received, and also notes that Jim Hendry has “done his job, now the guys on the field just have to do theirs.”

UPDATE III (10:50pm): OK, not everyone’s excited. But the fact they’re not excited should only make us Cubs fans more so.