Not that I dislike the Oakland A's, but it'll be good to see a different team facing the Cubs this afternoon.

A couple of notes: Geovany Soto should be ready to play on Saturday (when the Cubs face the Brewers at Maryvale). That link also mentions that the Cubs renewed all their 0-3 year players (24 of them) on Tuesday; Jeff Samardzija will be the highest-paid at $2.64 million. Starlin Castro will receive $567,000, James Russell $512,000, Travis Wood $505,000 and Darwin Barney $500,000. The other 19 players will get $500,000 or less. Under the new CBA, this year's minimum salary is $480,000.

Matt Garza gets his first spring start this afternoon. Among other Cubs pitchers we should see today: Alberto Cabrera, Esmailin Caridad, Casey Coleman, John Gaub, Trever Miller, James Russell and Andy Sonnanstine. Chris Volstad has been announced as the starter on Thursday (vs. the Mariners) after Samardzija starts Wednesday against the Royals.

The Rockies will counter with Guillermo Moscoso, who they acquired from the A's this past offseason. Rafael Betancourt, Alex White and Chad Bettis will also throw. Keep in mind the inning that Betancourt throws; he's their closer, so probably the third or fourth inning. Betancourt is the slowest working pitcher in the known universe; you could save that inning for bathroom breaks or getting snacks.

Cubs lineup:

DeJesus rf, Byrd cf, DeWitt 2b, Soriano dh, Stewart 3b, Lake ss, Rizzo 1b, Castillo c, Jackson lf

Rockies lineup, in which we see an old friend:

Fowler cf, Pacheco 1b, Cuddyer rf, Hernandez c, Blake 3b, Wood ss, Colvin lf, Nelson 2b, Castillo dh

Once again, no TV today. Here is the MLB.com Mediacenter for today. Today's game is via WGN radio with Pat and Keith.

MLB.com Gameday

Note that for spring training gameday links, you probably will not get pitch-by-pitch as during the regular season; these are unofficial links. Each play will be posted, but might not be updated until after each half-inning.

There will be one overflow thread, which will post at 3:30 pm CT. The "Recent Stories in Game Threads" box on the sidebar is where you'll find it.

Please visit our SB Nation Rockies site Purple Row.

Discuss amongst yourselves.