The over/under for the Chicago Cubs is 87.5 wins and I like the over on that. The Cubs have one of the best pitching staffs in all of baseball. If Kerry Wood can stay healthy as the closer the bullpen will be awesome with Carlos Marmol and Bobby Howry pitching in front of him. The National League Central is very weak and with the weighted schedule the Cubs should clean up quite a few wins in the division. Take the over with confidence.

The Cubs gave a lot of money to 31-year old lefty swinging Kosuke Fukudome in the off-season to start in RF. He played in 81 games in Japan last season and he was 79 for 269 (.294 avg, .963 OPS) with 64 runs scored, 13 homers and 48 RBIs. Over nine seasons in Japan’s major leagues, Fukudome has a .305 career average and he has averaged 79.2 runs scored, 21.3 homers and 71.9 RBIs per game. Power numbers don’t usually transfer well from Japan so don’t expect big production out of Fukudome. He could hit for a high average with a bundle of doubles however.

Matt Murton will be Fukudome’s backup in RF. He played in 41 games in RF last season for the Cubs and he made 4 errors while showing slightly above average range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: C

23-year old lefty swinging Felix Pie and 31-year old righty swinging Reed Johnson will likely share CF in 2008 for the Cubs. Pie has not lived up to his press clippings thus far in his major league career. He played in 87 games for the Cubs last season and he was 38 for 177 (.215 avg, .604 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 2 homers, 20 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. He was incredible in AAA ball however. He played in 55 games there and he was 83 for 229 (.362 avg, .973 OPS) with 51 runs scored, 9 homers, 43 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. Pie showed slightly below average range in CF last season but he didn’t make a error in 80 games there.

31-year old righty swinging Reed Johnson had his worst season of his major league career last year. He played in 79 games for the Blue Jays last season and he was 65 for 275 (.236 avg, .635 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 2 homers and 14 RBIs. Johnson played in 70 games in LF for the Blue Jays and he didn’t make any errors while showing slightly above average range. Johnson has been a solid hitter over his major league career so the Cubs are hoping he bounces back with them. He played in 610 games for the Blue Jays in his major league career and he is 585 for 2,083 (.281 avg, .752 OPS) with 319 runs scored, 42 homers, 234 RBIs and 28 stolen bases.

25-year old lefty swinging Eric Patterson would likely get the call to the majors if either Pie or Johnson gets injured. Patterson played in 7 games for the Cubs last season and he was 2 for 8 (.250 avg, .625 OPS). He also played in 128 games in AAA last season for the Cubs and he was 153 for 516 (.297 avg, .817 OPS) with 94 runs scored, 14 homers, 65 RBIs and 24 stolen bases.

26-year old lefty swinging Sam Fuld is the #4 guy in line for playing time in CF for the Cubs. He played in 14 games for the Cubs last season and he was 0 for 6 (.000 avg, .333 OPS) with 3 runs scored. He also played in 104 games in AAA last season and he was 111 for 387 (.286 avg) with 69 runs scored, 3 homers, 29 RBIs and 13 stolen bases.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: C-

32-year old righty swinging Alfonso Soriano will man LF this season for the Cubs. He played in 135 games for the Cubs last season and he was 173 for 579 (.299 avg, .897 OPS) with 97 runs scored, 33 homers, 70 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. Look for Soriano to improve on those numbers as he played most of last season with a sore hamstring. Soriano has averaged 102 runs scored, 34.0 homers, 89.4 RBIs and 32.4 stolen bases per season over the last 7 years and those are the type of numbers the Cubs expect from him this season. Soriano made 6 errors in 122 games in LF last season while showing above average range. He also had an amazing 19 assists as runners keep challenging him….you thought they would have learned by now.

26-year old righty swinging Matt Murton will be Soriano’s primary backup in LF this season. He played in 94 games for the Cubs last season and he was 66 for 235 (.281 avg, .790 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 8 homers and 22 RBIs. He is best on defense in LF where he played 28 error-free games in which he showed outstanding range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: A

The Cubs have signed OF Reed Johnson to a 1-year, $1.3 million dollar contract. The 31-year old righty swinging Johnson will likely platoon in CF with Felix Pie this season. Johnson is a career .281 hitter with a .752 OPS in 610 games.