25 man roster as of today...

I see the roles of Mike Fontenot and Aaron Miles being flipped. In my view Miles was brought in here to be the primary 2nd baseman with Fontenot being in reserve but getting a good deal of playing time off the bench.

I doubt Micah Hoffpauir will nail down a roster spot. Too big of a swing to think the rookie could operate effectively as a pinch hitter coming off the bench. Cubs will probably scour the market for a proven veteran pinch hitter who happens to also play 1st base. There are Daryl Ward types out there to be had.

Though I don’t agree, it appears Sean Marshall gets first crack at the rotation. If he isn’t up to the task then Chad Gaudin will likely get a shot. Jeff Samardzija lacks the pitching repetoire to be a serious consideration for the rotation. At least at this point in his young career.

by Fukudome would make him an ideal leadoff man. Remember, even with all of his struggles last year he still managed an OBP of .359. I know he only had a .314 OBP in the second half, but he was pretty unlucky in terms of balls in play and his average should rebound accordingly. If his on-base jumps to the .370 range next year he would be a very good leadoff hitter. He’s a singles-doubles type hitter and probably the best base-runner on the team, not counting Gathright.

 but Bruce Levine had some breaking news. Saying that Milton Bradley is now a cub. he says 3/30.

Not what I want, but rather what I am somewhat expecting

C – Geovany Soto
1st – Derrek Lee
2nd – Aaron Miles
SS – Ryan Theriot
3rd – Aramis Ramirez
RF – Milton Bradley
CF – Kosuke Fukudome
LF – Alfonso Soriano

Bench: Paul Bako, Micah Hoffpauir, Mike Fontenot, Reed Johnson, Joey Gathright

Lineup Guess:

1. Soriano
2. Miles or Fontenot
3. Lee
4. Ramirez
5. Bradley
6. Soto
7. Fukudome
8. Theriot or Miles

I think Fontenot will get a lot of playing time, but I think if starters were named, it’d be Miles.
SP – Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Ted Lilly, Rich Harden, Jeff Samardzija

CL – Carlos Marmol
SU – Kevin Gregg
MR – Angel Guzman
MR – Chad Gaudin
MR – David Patton
MR – Neal Cotts
MR – Sean Marshall

The pen is tough to figure, with so many options -

Wuertz – His poor control during Lou’s tenure will, I think, lead to him perhaps getting let go.

Vizcaino – There’s a pen crunch. Wouldn’t surprise me if the Cubs tried peddling his contract off for a bit more savings, but it also wouldn’t surprise me if he found a way to stick.

Hart – Gave Patton the last spot as he has a bit better stuff, but it very well could be Hart.

Sleeper Pen option – If Rich Hill can show any signs of life, he might be the LOOGY. That said, I think Rich Hill gets dealt at some point in the spring, probably for “PTBNL”
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There is still a lot of time to go, and I want to reiterate, that’s not what I want, but rather an attempt to guess what I think will happen. What I want is Soriano out of the leadoff spot and further down, Samardzija in the pen or in AAA starting, and a different 5th starter. I prefer Fontenot at 2nd instead of Miles (takes more pitches than Miles to begin with, and has a bit more offensive versatility). Even in the above configuration, I’d prefer Gaudin as the 5th starter to Samardzija, but I think this is the chance of Hendry to push Samardzija as the 5th guy, and while Lou will make the final call, it wouldn’t surprise me if Lou went that route. That simple exercise does show some things, though -

a) The lineup looks good – but is it? If you have Soriano at the top of the order, you are banking on Fukudome/MI to carry the bottom of the lineup and be productive. If you move Soriano down, then you have huge questions at the top right now. I don’t think anyone would suggest that any 2 of the Fontenot/Miles/Theriot trio at the top of the order would be a great top of the order. It’s a lineup that could be good, no doubt about it, but there are definitely some questions.

b) The bench needs some righty pop. I’d like to find a late game guy that could step in.

c) The 5th starter job is up in the air if we don’t add anyone. I mean, is anyone really comfortable with Samardzija, Gaudin, Atkins, Wells, Caridad in those spots? If the Cubs move Marshall to the rotation, they need to not only find a long man (although that’s not that hard – Randy Wells perhaps), they also need to find another Lefty (particularly considering Cotts isn’t all that good).

d) Is the bullpen that strong entering the year? We’re counting on some odd combination to anchor the 7th inning spot, a spot often tagged into the catchall “middle relief” category, but with baseball more and more a specialization game, you’d ideally like, at least, IMO, 2 “setup” guys to flesh out the 7th and 8th. Personally, I’d like a shutdown 8th inning guy, as I think Gregg is better in the 7th, but in all honesty, Gregg’s gonna get the 8th at the start. The potential is there, no doubt about it, particularly with a guy like Guzman, but Samardzija in the pen would be a big help.

Here’s hoping new ownership is settled quickly and we get a verdict on if we can bump payroll up to the 145 ish, if not 150 ish range.

Cubs need another utility infielder who is also capable of playing 1st base and is proven in the pinch hitting department. Rich Aurilia fits the need to a tee.