Busy Day in Cubs Camp....

- According to Cubs.com the Cubs signed 18 year old righty Kin Jin-Yeong with a 1.2 million dollar signing bonus. Kim can hit 92 MPH on his fastball but unfortunately he is rather a mystery.

- The players are "hungry" and "ready to go" according to Sweet Lou.

- Ryan Theriot's arbitration hearing is scheduled for Friday. I fully expect the Cubs to win that case.

- Lou makes it sound like Starlin Castro has no chance to make the team. Sounds like he will be in AAA with Sandberg to start the season. Hence the reason I left him off my 25-man roster.

- Carlos Silva is getting ready the "Mark Prior" way by throwing a towel.

- Thomas Diamond wants to prove to the Cubs he can start, he will likely be doing so in AAA.

- Angel Guzman and Jeff Gray both hit minor setbacks. Guzman hurt his knee and then had it scoped but is expect to be ready on Opening Day. Gray hurt his groin and will take it easy.

- Lou thinks Theriot will hit leadoff with Fukudome hitting 2nd and Lee batting 3rd and Aram 4th.

- Ted Lilly will undergo a MRI on this right knee after feeling discomfort the past couple of days. I hope it is nothing serious, otherwise the Cubs need to find another starter.

Until Next Time...

My Opening Day 25-man Roster

Here is my Opening Day 25-man roster-

Outfielders-
Soriano
Byrd
Nady
Fukudome
Snyder

Infielders-
Ramirez
Lee
Theriot
Baker
Blanco
Tracy
Fontenot

Catchers-
Hill
Soto

Starting Pitchers-
Zambrano
Dempster
Wells
Gorzelanny
Marshall

Bullpen-
Marmol
Grabow
Guzman
Gray
Caridad
Gaub

15 day DL-
Ted Lilly
Carlos Silva

Carlos Silva will be caught in a numbers game and be put on the DL with a mysterious injury unless he really pitches well this Spring. Lilly of course will start the season on the DL but should be ready to pitch by the middle of April.

The Cubs will go with 4 starters and a nice young pen to start the season because they do not need a 5th starter until the 12th of April. Shark will get experience in AAA as a starter he will be there along side a nice young pitching staff consisting of Jeff Stevens, Justin Berg, Blake Parker, David Patton, Andrew Cashner, Thomas Diamond, etc.

Kevin Millar, I would love to make the team but he just does not make sense unless there is an injury to Tracy or Hoffpauir. Sam Fuld will also start the season in AAA because Snyder gives good defense at all three outfield positions, decent speed, but better power bat than that of Fuld. I am sure you will see that in ST from Brad.

The pen is very young but they are what the Cubs need. Caridad, Guzman, Gray, and Grabow all will provide good setup options for Lou and Marshall and Gaub provide nice support as well.

After laying out the Opening Day Roster it does not look that bad on paper. I think if the Cubs hang near the top of the division they are setup up well to add a player or two at the deadline.

Should be fun! Here is the lineup, rotation, pen, and bench laid out by positions.

Opening Day Lineup-
1. Fukudome RF
2. Theriot SS
3. Lee 1st
4. Ramirez 3b
5. Byrd CF
6. Soriano LF
7. Fontenot 2b
8. Soto C
9. Zambrano

Starting Rotation-
1. Zambrano
2. Dempster
3. Wells
4. Gorzelanny
Do not 5th starter until April 12th

Pen-
Marmol CL
Guzman SU
Grabow SU
Gray MR
Caridad MR
Gaub MR
Marshall LR/Spot Starter

Bench-
Nady LF/RF/1st
Snyder LF/RF/CF
Baker IF/OF
Tracy 1st/3rd
Blanco 2b/SS
Hill C


GO CUBS!

Levine's Latest...

Here is the latest from Bruce Levine-

- Levine can only see one of Chad Tracy, Kevin Millar, and Micah Hoffpauir making the Cubs roster. I see either Tracy or Millar making it with Tracy having the upper hand.

- The Cubs are concerned with Felipe Lopez's character. They have concerns about Lopez but had none that got in the way of signing Bradley for 3 years 30 million? Interesting...

- The Cubs are still interested and kicking the tires on Chan Ho Park but they need money to sign him and Theriot's arbitration case could effect whether he is a Cub or not.

More Later....

Cubs Notes....

- The Cubs are comfortable going into the season with Caridad, Guzman, and Grabow as set up men. I like that idea, especially if you throw Jeff Gray into the mix.

- Former Cub Rich Hill impressed Dave Duncan in Cardinals camp. He is competing for the 5th spot in the rotation. I am terrified that Duncan will work his mojo and get Rich Hill back to 2007 form.

- The most heated battle of the Spring will be the backup at corner infield spots. Tracy, Hoff, and Millar will all compete for the position.

More Later....

Some Talk.....

Here is some tidbits from the online world-

- Randy Bush says the Cubs biggest off-season acquisition is Rudy Jaramillo. He feels he will get Mike Fontenot, Soriano, and Soto all back on track.

- 40 players have already reported to ST. That is a good sign for the Cubs and there should be some really good competition for the last spots on the team.

- Randy Bush says that it is not realistic that Starlin Castro makes the big leagues out of Spring because he says he needs more seasoning. Just plain stupid! If the kid hits .350 and is playing Gold Glove defense at SS how are you going tell him he needs more "seasoning"?! Give the kid every chance to win the job because Theriot at SS is brutal.

- Tyler Colvin added 25 pounds this winter working with Tim Buss.

- Bryan LaHair is showing his power but he has a lot of competition.

- Big Z broke a bat over his knee on Friday during BP, some thing never change.

- The Cubs will not add another position player before or during ST via free agency. The Cubs are still looking for a right handed set-up guy.

More Later....