Morning Marquee: All remains quiet on the Hot Stove front

Today, the City of Chicago and the Chicago Cubs will host a memorial service honoring Hall of Famer Ernie Banks, who passed away last weekend just one week shy of his 84th birthday. The funeral is slated for Friday at a church in the city. Meanwhile, the Hot Stove remains on low for the time being.

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Several notable free agents remain available aside from former Kansas City Royals ace James Shields, including Francisco Rodriguez, Brandon Beachy and Alexi Ogando. With less than a month until Spring Training, the rumor mill is bound to pick up though in the coming weeks.

In other baseball news, the New York Yankees are looking to void third baseman Alex Rodriguez‘s milestone bonuses that are written into his contract just one day after the beleaguered slugger met with new MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred in a meeting that the commissioner declined to discuss in an interview with MLB Network Radio Tuesday afternoon.

Here’s more from around the world of Major League Baseball and the Hot Stove.

“Dbacks comfortable with $91.5 million payroll” – MLB.com

“Starlin Castro key to 2015 Cubs’ success” – Cubbies Crib

“Cubs, City of Chicago to host memorial service Wednesday” – Chicago Sun-Times

“Yankees looking to void A-Rod’s milestone bonuses” – ESPN New York

“Jason Motte, Hector Rondon among closing options” – Cubbies Crib