Congratulations to the 2008 Chicago Cubs on being back to back NL Central Division Regular Season Champions. Now after the bubbly is gone and it is the aftermath of the celebration, certain players are going to be battling hard to get on that 25 man roster. Here is my 25 man playoff roster-
1. Zambrano
2. Dempster
3. Harden
4. Lilly
5. Marquis
6. Soriano
7. Theriot
8. Lee
9. Aram
10. Soto
11. Edmonds
12. Fukudome
13. Derosa
14. Johnson
15. Cedeno
16. Font
17. Blanco
18. Ward
19. Hoffpauir
20. Wood
21. Marmol
22. Marshall
23. Cotts
24. Gaudin
25. Samardzija
Players that just miss the list are Angel Guzman, Kevin Hart, Weurtz, Howry, and Pie. Howry has been awful all year. The only reason I see him being on the roster is that maybe his "veteran presence" helps the Cubs, yeah right!!! With Guzman, Weurtz, Hart, and Pie they just do not have enough consistency to stay on the 25 man roster.
With this 25 man roster it gives you 11 pitchers, in which Z, Demp, and Harden will be used as starters in the playoffs and Lilly possibly getting a start in a 7 game series. Marquis and Gaudin will be used for a safety net in case of injury or a pitcher imploding. You have two situational lefties in Cotts or Marshall. 3 power pitchers in Samardzija, Wood, and Marmol which should help in the late innings. The Cubs might go with 12 pitchers but I would go with 11.
With having only 11 pitchers you can stock up on bench players and your normal starters. This way Lou can really tinker with the lineup and do a lot of late innings defensive replacements like he has been doing with the extended roster. Hoffpauier gets my final spot on the team. You run the risk of two players that are basically identical but he deserves to be on this team in the post season. The rest of the position players are a give in because they have been on the roster for most of the year. Nothing too shocking on this roster.
Next Wednesday the rosters go to 25, so it should be interesting on what Lou and Jim come up with.
