28 year old Aramis Ramirez has been outstanding for the Cubs since arriving from the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 23, 2003.  Last season he played in 157 games and scored 93 runs, whacked 38 homers, drove in 119 runs and had a .912 OPS.  Ramirez has improved a little bit on defense as he only made 13 errors in 156 games at 3B last season.  Look for Ramirez to continue ripping the baseball as he has averaged 88 runs scored, 35 homers, 104.7 RBIs and a .304 batting average in his three full seasons for the Cubs.

33 year old Tomas Perez will likely be the back up 3B for the Cubs this season.  He’s not much of a hitter but he’s a really good defensive third baseman.  He played in 40 games there and only made 2 errors while showing outstanding range.

23 year old lefty swinging Scott Moore will battle for a back up job on the Cubs.  He’ll more than likely start the season at AAA and be insurance for the Cubs in case Ramirez gets injured.  Moore played in 133 games in the minors and he hit .276 with 22 homers, 75 RBIs and 12 steals.  He got a cup of coffee with the Cubs last September as he played in 16 games and hit .263 with 2 homers.  Moore will need to work on his defense as he doesn’t have a lot of range.

Instead of trading Maddux for a prospect the Cubs decided to try to fill a hole on their team and acquired Cesar Izturis from the Dodgers.  Any offense that the 27 year old shortstop can give them will be a bonus as he’s a pretty slick defender.  He won a Gold Glove in 2004 for the Dodgers.  Izturis only made 2 errors in 23 games at shortstop and he showed above average range.  The question is, what will the switch hitting Izturis give the Cubs on offense?  He played in 54 games last season and he hit .245 with one homer, 18 RBIs and a .613 OPS.  I think he will hit in the .250-.260 range and he might steal some bases.  The Cubs would be content with that from him.

24 year old Ronny Cedeno will battle for a reserve infield spot on the Cubs.  He disappointed them big time last season after they handed him a starting job.  He played in 151 games last season and he hit .245 with 6 homers, 41 RBIs, 8 stolen bases and a .610 OPS.  Cedeno didn’t show much range in the field and he made 23 errors which is way too many in 134 games at shortstop.  It’s possible that Cedeno could start the year in the minors.

33 year old Tomas Perez will battle Cedeno for the back up job at shortstop for the Cubs this season.  The switch hitter didn’t have too good of a season for the Devil Rays in 2006 as he hit .212 with 2 homers, 16 RBIs and a .510 OPS in 99 games.  Perez played 36 games at shortstop for the D-Rays and he 5 errors but he showed good range.  He will need to cut down on his errors a little bit and improve his defense to win a job on the Cubs.

Mark DeRosa had a great season for the Rangers last year in his first season as a starting player.  He hit .296 with a .812 OPS, 13 homers and 74 RBIs in 520 at bats.  It did seem as if DeRosa started to wear down late in the season and that’s entirely possible as he had never batted more that 309 times in his 9 year major league career until last season.  The 32 year old’s best defensive position is 2B as he only made 1 error there in 222.2 innings and showed good range.  DeRosa was a nice pick up for the Cubs.

27 year old Ryan Theriot played very well for the Cubs last season as he hit .328 with a .934 OPS in only 134 at bats.  He also stole 13 bases!  Those numbers look great, but, the OPS wouldn’t sustain in the majors as he has exhibited no power in the minors and he’s not a good defensive 2B.  His offense will be the reason he makes the Cubs if he can beat out Ronny Cedeno and Tomas Perez for a bench spot.

The Cubs traded 23 year old starting pitcher Jae Kuk Ryu to the Devil Rays for 23 year old starting pitcher Greg Reinhard and 20 year old outfielder Andy Lopez.  With all the pitchers that the Cubs have brought in plus the fact that they have a lot of pitchers ahead of Ryu on the depth chart, this trade made sense for them to make.  Reinhard was 6-10 with a 4.50 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP last season in A-ball.  Andy Lopez played in rookie ball last season and he hit .256 with 4 homers, 27 RBIs and a .758 OPS in 199 at bats.

31 year old Derrek Lee had a lost season last year.  He broke his wrist in the middle of April and missed a lot of time last year and when he returned he looked rusty both offensively and defensively.  He only batted 175 times last season and hit .286 with 8 homers and 30 RBIs.  He also made 5 errors in only 393.2 innings in the field which isn’t like him.  Look for Lee to rebound big time on offense and get close to his two year average of 2004-2005 with the Cubs.  He hit .306 in those seasons combined and averaged 105 runs, 39 homers, 102.5 RBIs and 13.5 steals.  With the new talent the Cubs have brought in Lee will have no problem putting up numbers like he did in 2004-2005.  Also look for him to return to his Gold Glove caliber defense which will help the whole infield.

If something happens to Lee the Cubs would either play Cliff Floyd or Daryle Ward at first base.  Both can hit, but they would be a huge step down on the defensive side of the field.