No surprise here, but the Cubs have declined to offer salary arbitration to Nomar Garciaparra, reports Dave van Dyk of the Chicago Tribune. Their deadline for doing so was today.

"The Cubs were close to a deal late Tuesday for Florida Marlins center fielder Juan Pierre, but they couldn't finalize the details by midnight," reports the Sun-Times' Mike Kiley. According to the Chicago Tribune's Dave van Dyk, "The Marlins were thought to be trying to find a better proposal for Pierre than what the Cubs were offering, rumored to be pitcher Sergio Mitre and Double-A pitchers Ricky Nolasco and Reynel Pinto." I have to believe the rumor is wrong. That is an awful lot to give up for Pierre.

Jim Hendry also has another trade offer out to an unspecified team for an unspecified player.

Meanwhile: "The Pirates are close to acquiring first baseman Sean Casey from the Reds for left-hander Dave Williams," reports Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. This is significant for the Cubs because it means the Reds will move Adam Dunn to first base, greatly lessening any chance the Cubs might have had of acquiring Austin Kearns in a trade.

UPDATE (9:25am CT): ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reports that the Pierre for Mitre, Nolasco, and Pinto deal is done, pending physicals.