Poster extraordinaire, John Hill (who if he continues to correct my mistakes in comments is going to work himself into an ad hoc proofreading gig), wrote this in the previous thread:

Bruce Levine and Dave Kaplan are reporting with extreme confidence that Nomar Garciaparra is very close to signing with the Cubs, and they're expecting major developments within the next 48 hours. A one-year deal with a vesting option is apparently on the table. I don't know about the reliability of those sources, but I hope it's true.

I don’t know anything about the reliability of their sources either, but there’s also a piece by Bruce Miles in today’s Daily Herald about the Cubs working toward a deal with Nomar, and contained therein is this quote from Jim Hendry:

I'm definitely going to have some serious talks [with Garciaparra’s agent, Art Tellem] this week and try to come to a conclusion either way before the 7th.

Nothing is solid here, but having spent a lot of time overanalyzing stuff like this during his tenure, I’d say that this degree of press leakage accompanied by an actual quote from Hendry about his intentions implies very strongly that what’s going down is for real. Obviously, anything can still happen as long as names aren’t signed on dotted lines, but this sort of talk, direct or through leaks, generally doesn’t come out of the Cubs’ front office unless all parties are near certain that a deal is in the offing.

I’ll hold off on analyzing any further until something is actually completed and there are some numbers to throw around – although if jinxing were possible I imagine I’ve already done my worst - but as I’ve said before, the shortstop with the potential to provide the most production per dollar is Garciaparra, and if/when this signing happens, I’ll be one happy and relieved fella. Keep those fingers crossed, folks!