Watch your backup

Ownership might not be the only change for the Cubs this season.

How about the 13 different faces on the roster since Opening Day a year ago? The fourth closer in as many seasons? The three rookies in the bullpen, the reborn pitcher they got for Milton Bradley and the new kid lurking in the outfield?

All of these might be just the start of the shifts and changes to come for a team that takes a different urgency into this season. Manager Lou Piniella and a handful of players are in the final year of their contracts, and general manager Jim Hendry could gain some job security with a return to the playoffs.

The Cubs set their Opening Day roster earlier than anyone around this team can remember, but don't count on much being finalized.

More than just the usual minor moves every team goes through early in the season because of injuries or poor starts by young guys, keep an eye on potential bigger moves as the first month or so of the season plays out.

The handwriting already is on the wall.

Beyond just the expected additions of Ted Lilly to the rotation when he's stretched out and Jeff Gray to the bullpen when the first reliever stumbles, the Cubs seem in no mood to be patient with underperforming veterans who might have gotten a pass at times last year or even in 2008.

They seem to have the bench and just enough potential depth at Class AAA Iowa to keep some fires lit under the backsides of a few guys with more than a little to prove in 2010 -- even those with a lot more than a little guaranteed money left on their contracts.

''I'm going to go with my veteran players, and I feel confident that they'll get the job done,'' Piniella said, ''but if not, then we can always make some adjustments.''

Piniella already made the move Cubs fans clamored to see for more than two years when he took slumping $136 million left fielder Alfonso Soriano out of the leadoff spot for good last July.

Piniella has Hendry's unqualified blessing to distribute playing time this season without regard for contract length or salaries. Just win, baby.

For starters, that puts Kosuke Fukudome on notice in right field. The Japanese MVP has been a .258-hitting bust in two seasons in the United States since signing a four-year, $48 million deal.

He has $13 million and $13.5 million coming the next two seasons, but he also has Piniella publicly expecting a .285-to-.290 season out of him -- not to mention top outfield prospect Tyler Colvin hovering not so quietly in the wings.

Asked whether he thinks there's more pressure on him this season, Fukudome said through his team interpreter: ''I don't have pressure. Every year I just need to do the best I can do.''

He's not the only one who needs to perform well -- and early -- to keep the heat off.

Catcher Geovany Soto looks Slim-Fast serious about returning to Rookie of the Year form after a terrible sophomore season, but he won't get an especially long leash coming off a .218 season and a lukewarm spring at the plate.

Soto was one of the guys Piniella sent to the video room and batting cage with hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo on Thursday. With capable backup Koyie Hill on the bench, Piniella isn't afraid of making a change.

Hill's 26 consecutive games behind the plate when Soto got hurt last summer were the longest for a Cubs catcher since Jody Davis in 1986. One of Piniella's favorite stats around that time was the Cubs' exceptional record with Hill starting -- 60-36 (.625) over the last three seasons.

To be sure, the Cubs culture has changed on Piniella's watch as significantly as the payroll and expectations have risen. With the options he appears to have in Colvin, Chad Tracy and Xavier Nady, what looked at times in '09 like a culture of job entitlement might be about to change, too.

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Photo: AP Photos / Right fielder Kosuke Fukudome could be challenged by Tyler Colvin (left). Catcher Geovany Soto needs to rebound from a sophomore slump with Koyie Hill (right) waiting in the wings. Photo: AP Photos / (See microfilm for photo description).