1. RHP Carlos Zambrano

2. RHP Ryan Dempster

3. LHP Ted Lilly

4. RHP Rich Harden

5. LHP Sean Marshall

ROTATION ANALYSIS: This may be the best and deepest rotation in the NL. Zambrano seemed to shrug off concerns about the shoulder problems he had last year as he cruised his way through spring training and earned the Opening Day start. There had been some doubt about that because of Zambrano's inconsistency last year and the emergence of Dempster, who also had a sold spring on the heels of signing a new four-year contract.

Lilly has been a consistent performer, and the Cubs were eager to get him back from the World Baseball Classic. Harden's chronically bad shoulder seemed to hold up well after an offseason conditioning program. Marshall beat out several other candidates by a wide margin to win the fifth starter's job.

BULLPEN:

RHP Kevin Gregg (closer or setup man)

RHP Carlos Marmol (closer or setup man)

RHP Aaron Heilman

LHP Neal Cotts

RHP Chad Gaudin

RHP Luis Vizcaino

RHP Jeff Samardzija or RHP David Patton

BULLPEN ANALYSIS: The bullpen has been overhauled since last season, with the departures of Kerry Wood, Bob Howry, Scott Eyre and Michael Wuertz. The back of the 'pen looks to be in good hands with Gregg and Marmol, whichever way manager Lou Piniella decides to use them. Piniella will settle on one closer, but he says there will be save opportunities for both.

Things get a little iffy in the middle. Cotts will be the lone lefty, and he threw the ball well in the spring, continuing a trend that began late last year. Vizcaino and Gaudin both were inconsistent in spring training, raising red flags. Samardzija didn't help himself in the spring, either. The Cubs have toyed with keeping him a reliever at the big-league level or sending him to Class AAA to start and to work on his second and third pitches.

LINEUP:

1. LF Alfonso Soriano

2. CF Kosuke Fukudome

3. 1B Derrek Lee

4. RF Milton Bradley

5. 3B Aramis Ramirez

6. 2B Mike Fontenot

7. C Geovany Soto

8. SS Ryan Theriot

LINEUP ANALYSIS: The surprise of all surprises was that there was little or no talk of moving Soriano out of the leadoff spot during spring training. That had been all the rage in Chicago after the Cubs' second three-and-out in the playoffs, with Soriano among those failing, and flailing, at the plate. Piniella says Soriano is comfortable in the leadoff spot, and that's pretty much that.

Piniella may be taking a big chance with Fukudome batting second against right-handed pitchers (Reed Johnson will play against lefties and some righties). Fukudome struggled in the second half last year. Piniella may go for this arrangement for a while, but he's likely to have little patience with Fukudome. Theriot hit second much of last year, and Fontenot can hit there, too.

The other player to watch will be Lee. His power numbers have trended downward in recent years, but Piniella has resisted moving him out of the No. 3 spot.

RESERVES:

INF Aaron Miles

C Paul Bako or C Koyie Hill

OF Reed Johnson

OF Joey Gathright

1B/OF Micah Hoffpauir

RESERVES ANALYSIS: GM Jim Hendry seems comfortable with his bench, even though it might be a little thin on the left side of the infield. That will become a concern if 3B Aramis Ramirez comes up with a nagging injury. Miles can play third, but he's best suited in the middle. On top of it, his right shoulder bothered him for much of spring training.

Johnson figures to see a lot of starting time, especially of Kosuke Fukudome falters. Gathright is more of a specialist who will be used for defense and pinch-running. Hoffpauir spent most of spring training leading the majors in RBIs. He's a left-handed batter and an "older" rookie at 29.

ROOKIE WATCH: There was just no keeping 1B/OF Micah Hoffpauir off the team. He hit 25 homers and drove in 100 runs last in year in only 71 games at Class AAA Iowa. He hit two homers and eight doubles with the Cubs in limited action. He's 29, and the Cubs feel he may be able to come off the bench and hit, something that can be tough for rookies to do.

RHP David Patton, a Rule 5 draft pick (from Colorado via a trade with the Reds) impressed the Cubs with his aggressiveness in spring training. The team was pushing a decision whether to keep him to the very end of spring training.

MEDICAL WATCH:

RHP Rich Harden (chronic right shoulder problems) had the double whammy of coming down with a bad case of food poisoning late in camp. The Cubs are looking at a total of four spring starts for Harden, who is slated to start the fourth game of the regular season. The velocity on the fastball was in the low-90s, and both he and the Cubs say the shoulder is healthy.

INF Aaron Miles (sore right shoulder) nursed the injury through the spring. The Cubs want him to fill in at second base, third base and shortstop. But the shoulder limited him mainly to second base for the second half of the Cactus League season.

1B Derrek Lee (sore right quadriceps) was slowed during spring training. He missed nearly a week but said he would have played had it been the regular season.