Jim Hendry began the off-season saying he would not make many changes to the Cubs roster, six months later his team has a much-different look. Gone are the likes of Jim Edmonds, Henry Blanco, Bobby Howry, Ronny Cedeno, Kerry Wood, Jason Marquis and Mark DeRosa. In their place are quality players such as Aaron Miles, Milton Bradley, Koyie Hill, Kevin Gregg, Aaron Heilman and Joey Gathright.
However, the biggest changes can easily be seen when comparing the Opening Day Rosters from the past two seasons. Of the 25 players that will be in Houston on Monday, 13 were not in Chicago a year ago....
2009 Chicago Cubs Opening Day Roster
Pitchers
Starting Rotation
- Carlos Zambrano
- Ryan Dempster
- Ted Lilly
- Rich Harden
- Sean Marshall
Bullpen
- Neal Cotts
- Angel Guzman
- David Patton
- Luis Vizcaino
- Aaron Heilman
- Carlos Marmol
- Kevin Gregg
Catchers
- Geovany Soto
- Koyie Hill
Infielders
- Derrek Lee
- Mike Fontenot
- Ryan Theriot
- Aramis Ramirez
- Aaron Miles
- Micah Hoffpauir
Outfielders
- Alfonso Soriano
- Kosuke Fukudome
- Milton Bradley
- Reed Johnson
- Joey Gathright
2008 Chicago Cubs Opening Day Roster
Pitchers
Starting Rotation
- Carlos Zambrano
- Ted Lilly
- Ryan Dempster
- Rich Hill
- Jason Marquis
Bullpen
- Jon Lieber
- Carmen Pignatiello
- Michael Wuertz
- Kevin Hart
- Carlos Marmol
- Bobby Howry
- Kerry Wood
Catchers
- Geovany Soto
- Henry Blanco
Infielders
- Derrek Lee
- Mark DeRosa
- Ryan Theriot
- Aramis Ramirez
- Ronny Cedeno
- Mike Fontenot
- Daryle Ward
Outfielders
- Alfonso Soriano
- Felix Pie
- Kosuke Fukudome
- Reed Johnson
While the Opening Day roster is set, a lot will change from Monday through the end of the season. The Cubs will need contributions from other players along the way such as Jeff Stevens, Jeff Samardzija and Mitch Atkins...just to name a few.
With only 35 players on their 40-man roster after the release of Chad Gaudin, Jim Hendry has five open spots to add players to the big league roster.
It seems like an overhaul but the only guys that we probably miss are:
Wood
DeRosa
with maybe minimal regret:
Pie
I wonder if Hendry's kicking the tires on Wily Mo Pena or Dallas McPherson?
McPherson might get an MLB offer, but he'd sure be nice insurance at AAA for us. Wily Mo has tremendous power. I wonder if he's ready to put it all together at age 27, much like Hoffpauir and others have done?
I worry about Harden. I hope the sale of the team gets completed by the time Halladay becomes available.
The only major worry I have is the bullpen.
Other the Gregg, Marmol, and maybe heilman, who can you realy count on. Usually somebody stands up. So hopefully that happens.