Opening Day Roster Predictions: 12-26-11

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! The Cubs have been very active as of late. Today, they added several new players. RHP Andy Sonnanstine has signed a non-guaranteed, split contract for 2012. The deal signed by Manny Corpas last week is also believed to be non-guaranteed. In addition, the Cubs are believed to be close to signing switch hitting catcher Jason Jaramillo to a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training. Jaramillo will compete with Welington Castillo for the backup catcher's job.

At the start of the offseason, I made my Opening Day Roster predictions- click here to check them out! With the Cubs flurry of moves over the last two months, here are my updated predictions. If the season started tomorrow, this is what I think the roster would look like! I will continue to post updates throughout the rest of the winter as the Cubs continue to make moves. New to roster from my last prediction= italics, change in role= *

Starting Rotation
1. Matt Garza
2. Ryan Dempster
3. Randy Wells
4. Travis Wood
5. Carlos Zambrano
Also in the mix: Andrew Cashner, Casey Coleman, Jeff Samardzija and Chris Carpenter

Bullpen
Closer- Carlos Marmol
LH Setup Man- James Russell*
RH Setup Man- Jeff Samardzija
LH Middle Relief- Scott Maine
RH Middle Relief- Chris Carpenter
Long Relief- Manny Corpes
Long Relief- Andy Sonnanstine
Also in the mix- Coleman, Marcos Mateo, John Gaub, Casey Weathers and Jeff Beliveau

Starting Lineup
C- Geovany Soto
1B- Bryan LaHair
2B- Darwin Barney
SS- Starlin Castro
3B- Ian Stewart
LF- Alfonso Soriano
CF- Marlon Byrd
RF- David DeJesus

Bench
Welington Castillo
Jeff Baker
Blake DeWitt
Dave Sappelt
Reed Johnson
Also in the mix: Jason Jaramillo, Matt Szczur, Tony Campana, Brett Jackson, Lou Montanez, Jeff Bianchi, Josh Vitters and Junior Lake

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted!