Gordon Wittenmyer noticed something will be different when the Cubs open the 2010 season:

With Lilly sidelined, only five pitchers who opened last season with the Cubs are projected to be on the active Opening Day roster this year (Zambrano, Marmol, Ryan Dempster, Sean Marshall and Angel Guzman).

That includes the veteran reliever (San Diego's Heath Bell?) general manager Jim Hendry wants to acquire by spring training.

''It's a lot [of turnover],'' Rothschild said. ''There are changes, but if Teddy comes back, which I think he will, it's not that much different than a lot of teams. We're going to need to get a couple guys to come out of nowhere and pitch well. Or a guy like [Carlos] Silva to come back and pitch well. I think every team has guys they need to do that. We're no different.''

Scapegoat alert!  Any success, he writes, will largely be up to one person:

Marlon Byrd isn't going to make or break the Cubs' season. But Carlos Zambrano might.

That was the way it was set up when the big right-hander's $91.5 million contract was drawn up in 2007, and it never has been more true than now, with the Cubs looking at starting a potential crossroads season with one All-Star lefty tied behind their backs. ...

And:

But Zambrano might be the key to good things for the Cubs -- and not just early in the season -- if he finally pitches all year like the ace he's paid to be.

None of this is entirely untrue, though Z only pitches every fifth game. It just feels like Gordo is feeding into the emerging Sullivan- and Rogers-led jihad to send Zambrano the way of Milton Bradley.