Jay Bruce, many of you may not have known this name, but after this weekend it’s been hard not to hear it. Bruce was named baseball’s number one prospect this spring by Baseball America, after destroying minor league pitching last year. It didn’t stop this year, as he was hitting .364 with 10 homers in Triple A before getting the call. In his first six games in the majors, Bruce has hit .591 and is slugging a ridiculous 1000. Not to mention his first career major league home run for a walkoff, not bad for your first. What’s been more impressive is that he was walked six times already, and has only struck out once. This shows that he has the plate discipline to succeed as a major league star.

I picked up on an interesting comment by ESPN’s Peter Gammons on last night’s Mets-Dodgers telecast. Gammons said that he saw Bruce play in the Futures Game last year, and noticed that he would gather around the cage to see the other guys take some cuts and see what he could improve on. Gammons also said that their were some good ones who played in this game, but the ball just came off Bruce’s bat differently.

Along with an already potent Joey Votto, and pitching studs Edinson Volquez, Jonny Cueto, and Homer Bailey, the Reds could be a team to watch next year, ala the Rays this year.

In other words, if Fernando Martinez can be half of what this guy could be, were in for a treat.

MLB.com report Jim Molony reports from the Winter Meetings on his blog, Nashville Confidential.

Molony reports that Cincinnati is interested in Giants RHP Tim Lincecum, however if the Giants insist on Reds outfield prospect Jay Bruce, the Reds will back off.

Bruce, 20, hit a combined .319 with 26 homers and 89 RBIs in 133 games at three Minor League stops in 2007.

There was some rumors earlier this winter that Lincecum was available, this is the first rumor that mentioned his name since. If Lincecum truly was available, I would have to imagine he would draw interest from many more teams along with the Reds.

Considering the landscape of this free agent market, this year could be the biggest off-season of trades in quite some time.

Johan Santana, Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, Scott Rolen, and Miguel Tejada are among those who could be seeing a change in scenery this winter.

In terms of Santana, Jayson Stark on ESPN writes that the Mets might be the team most willing to give up the prospects needed to get him.

One NL executive says: Watch out for the Mets, given the pressure on GM Omar Minaya to win now.

“Omar seems determined to make a huge splash,” the exec says. “And I think that’s the guy they’ve had earmarked all along.”

The Dodgers, Angels, Yankees, and Mets would appear to be the top teams in the running for Santana.

The Yankees don’t appear willing to deal Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy, or Phillip Hughes, which would likely put they out of the running for Santana.

The Dodgers would need to make a choice on who to use their prospects on, Cabrera or Santana. Buster Olney on ESPN cites a NL source who said that the Dodgers and Marlins are ‘pretty far apart’ on Cabrera. Olney writes that ‘there is growing expectation around the game is that the Angels will land Cabrera’.

However Rosenthal believes the Angels no longer are the front-runners for Cabrera.

Rosenthal cites major-league sources who say, if the Dodgers are willing to part with outfielder Matt Kemp along with third baseman Andy LaRoche and Class AA left-hander Clayton Kershaw, they would likely be able to land the Marlins All-Star third baseman.

If the Dodgers fail to land Cabrera, they are rumored to have interest in Scott Rolen as well.

Jayson Stark believes it will take two young players to get Dontrelle Willis. The Mets, Mariners and Diamondbacks are believed to have interest.

The Orioles want to get rid of the $26 million left on Miguel Tejada’s contract which does not leave many suitors. The Dodgers and Angels may use Tejada as plan B if they lose out on Cabrera. The O’s are also rumored to be shopping Erik Bedard.

The Reds may make Ryan Freel or Scott Hamilton available due to the emergence of minor league player of the year Jay Bruce.

The Pirates could offer 26-year old Ian Snell who has more quality starts (22) than Santana or Roy Oswalt and a better strikeout rate (7.66 per 9 innings) than Carlos Zambrano or Ben Sheets.

The Phillies are looking at Randy Wolf, Matt Clement, Kris Benson, Mike Wood, and Japanese free agent Hiroki Kuroda.