Lots of notes from the first day of camp, from the Chicago Sun-Times and MLB.com:

Jason Marquis, Jon Lieber, Ryan Dempster, and Sean Marshall are battling for the final two rotation spots, after Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly, and Rich Hill. One gets the impression that the best of the four--Marshall--is the least likely to get a job.

The Cubs won't take any action against Aramis Ramirez for being "dedicated entirely" to his cockfighting roosters when he is home in the Dominican Republic. "It's understanding and respecting what's acceptable in their culture,'' said Oneri Fleita, player development director and head of the Cubs' Latin American operations. ''We tend to think we have all the answers in our country, but there are people in other parts of the world that think their [customs] are better than ours.'' Moral relativism is alive and well in the Cubs front office.

"Piniella said former Notre Dame football star Jeff Samardzija, who pitched his first full season of professional ball last year, will get a longer look in camp this year and could be ready to make his major-league debut this summer if his progress remains on pace." Samardzija pitching for the big league club this summer would be a miracle.

Angel Guzman might be pitching off a mound by July. Guzman almost became the Cubs' closer last May before going down with an elbow injury and having Tommy John surgery.

This is a good sign: "Eric Patterson was one of the early position players in camp. He has spent most of his Minor League career as a second baseman but will get some playing time in the outfield." That's a good sign because the last we heard from Patterson was that he was being demoted to double-A from the big league club for showing up late to the park last September. (That demotion resulted in Sam Fuld's promotion, which resulted in this, and after this, has Fuld fighting for the starting centerfield job this spring.)

Kevin Hart didn't have a job this winter other than working out, so he learned to cook mashed potatoes.

Aramis Ramirez will no longer get, and apparently no longer needs, days off to rest his knee, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. Ramirez has been remarkably consistent the past four seasons, each time posting an adjusted OPS+ between 126 and 136. This year, he and Derrek Lee are tied for the team lead at 131. Ramirez has not played in 28 of the Cubs' games this year.

Additionally, "Alfonso Soriano (quadriceps) ran through a series of trainer-supervised tests before the game, including full batting practice and base-running. He appeared to fare well but is not expected back for a week to 10 days." Soriano's return is important. For whatever reason, Matt Murton has continued to have a disappointing season. He has hit .240/.296/.440 in 54 plate appearances since Soriano went down on August 5.

Aramis Ramirez is unavailable for today's game against the Reds because of a swollen right wrist. He was evaluated today, but we don't know the diagnosis yet.

Apparently it just took getting past the exclusive negotiating window and out in the open market for Aramis Ramirez to realize he wanted to stay a Cub. Ramirez agreed "Sunday to a $73 million, five-year contract with the Chicago Cubs," reports the AP. Adding to the good news, in my estimation, is the re-signing of Kerry Wood. Wood agreed "to a $1.75 million, one-year deal that could be worth up to $6 million." Excellent; it would have been too weird to see him in another uniform. Wood belongs in Wrigley Field, helping the Cubs to its first championship since 1908. Wood's "performance bonuses are based on games pitched, games finished and time on the 25-man roster."

"Third baseman Aramis Ramirez will test free agency, FOXSports.com has learned, creating yet another hole for a team that already had planned to pursue two starting pitchers, an outfield slugger, a center fielder and maybe a second baseman," reports Ken Rosenthal. "The Cubs' period to negotiate exclusively with Ramirez expired at midnight Eastern time on Saturday. They can still re-sign Ramirez, but their chances have grown slim. Ramirez, coming off a 38-homer, 119-RBI season, is certain to attract heavy interest from the Angels and other clubs."

Aramis Ramirez is a free agent, bringing to fruition a favorable contract he received from Jim Hendry allowing him to enter the open market with two years remaining on his contract. I'm skeptical that he will be back. Which means that the National League's 2nd worst offense will have lost major league baseball's 6th best offensive third baseman in 2006. Ramirez has always been a below average defensive third baseman, but that kind of production is going to be difficult to replace, especially when the Cubs already have so many other needs (a centerfielder, a middle infielder, a platoon partner for Jacque Jones, a bench, and 2-3 starting pitchers).

(Courtesy of The Sports Xchange) One of the duties of new Cubs bench coach Alan Trammell is to work with the infield.

The four-time Gold Glove-winning shortstop, who helped turn 1,321 double plays in his career, is looking forward to his duties with an infield that has two Gold Glove players and a pair of question marks.

First baseman Derrek Lee and shortstop Cesar Izturis are former Gold Glove winners whose 2006 seasons were shortened because of injuries.

(Courtesy of The Sports Xchange) Aramis Ramirez is not looking back. He is looking ahead.

Ramirez opened a three-game series at Philadelphia on Monday night with a two-homer, seven-RBI night, bringing his season totals to 35 homers and 110 RBIs.

Those numbers are respectable, and with an "out" clause in his four-year contract this winter, he could find some huge money on the free agent market.