The Cubs are making it clear to some of the incumbents on the pitching staff that there will be no free rides at the end of the starting rotation. If anything, it might be closer to a thrill ride at spring training to determine the fourth and fifth starting jobs.

If an already long list of potential starting candidates - including the intriguing candidacy of second-year Andrew Cashner -- didn't send that message to the likes of ``too big for my britches'' Randy Wells and Carlos Silva, then the minor-league contracts and spring training invitations to back-end-rotation veterans Braden Looper and Todd Wellemeyer made it crystal clear.

Looper and Wellemeyer were among 21 non-roster players invited to spring traiing by the Cubs.

Among Saturday's highlights from Cubs Convention were reactions by players to former teammate Ryan Theriot's comments on a St. Louis radio show after being traded to the Cardinals in early December.

Theriot, a fan favorite with the Cubs, wasted no time embracing Cardinal Nation with comments that included that he felt he was ``finally on the right side of'' the Cubs-Cards rivalry.

``I'm not going to lie. I was a little pissed,'' catcher Geovany Soto said during a fan Q-and-A session, drawing applause from the crowd.

Added Koyie Hill: ``I'm probably not being as PC as I could, but there's probably a decent chance he's going to feel how hard the dirt is around the batter's box at last once. Maybe once an at-bat, I don't know.''

Manager Mike Quade said he takes Theriot's comments ``with a large grain of salt'' but added, ``Hopefully, we can make him pay.''

COOLER HEADS

The intriguing session of the day promised to be the ``battery talk'' session that included a pair of catchers and a pair of pitchers - including Carlos Zambrano - talking about working together and the pitcher-catcher relationship.

Despite the conspicuous absence of any mention of Zambrano's beatdown of former batterymate Michael Barrett, one fan did ask Zambrano if he had any plans ``to open a rehab center for Gatorade coolers.''

Said Zambrano: ``Maybe. Maybe. I'll think about it.''