MESA, Ariz. -- The Cubs agreed to contract terms with 20 players on their roster with less than three years experience.

Signings include right-handed pitchers Jose Ascanio, Mitch Atkins, Justin Berg, Angel Guzman, Kevin Hart, Carlos Marmol, Marcos Mateo, David Patton, Jeff Stevens and Randy Wells.

Left-handed pitcher Sean Marshall.

Catchers Koyie Hill and Geovany Soto.

Infielders Mike Fontenot, Micah Hoffpauir and Ryan Theriot.

Outfielders Jake Fox, Sam Fuld, Richie Robnett and Brad Snyder.

By Paul Sullivan

MESA, Ariz. -- Here we go again.

The Cubs begin their Cactus League schedule against the Los Angeles Dodgers this afternoon in a game that will be aired on WGN-AM 720.

Jeff Samardzija will start for the Cubs, facing Claudio Vargas. It's a cloudless sky with temps in the low 80s. HoHoKam Park is spruced up and ready to go.

By Paul Sullivan

MESA, Ariz. -- It wasn't quite as newsworthy as Alex Rodriguez's admission he used performance-enhancing drugs, but Lou Piniella's confession on Tuesday was just as shocking.

"I flunked square-dancing," Piniella told reporters at HoHoKam Park.

Piniella was talking about how good Alfonso Soriano has looked after working out all off-season in the Dominican Republic. He then conceded that he didn't work hard in the off-season when he was a player.

"When I played, I worked during the winter," he said. "I had a regular job."

What did Piniella do?

"I worked selling [municipal] bonds one time, sold Chrissie Evert sportswear," he said. "I was actually doing something to train myself, just in case my baseball career was over, I'd have something to go to. I worked at E.F. Hutton. ... I did different things. I had a landscape company. I wasn't very good at it. But I used to work and I went to school to try and get my degree."

Piniella said he wasn't close to getting a degree, and then revealed his story about having two left feet.

"I flunked square-dancing, and I said to heck with it," he said.

How does one flunk square-dancing?

"I didn't show up for the final, that's what happened," he said. "I studied too hard for the Biology exam. I did OK in Biology exam, but I didn't get to the square-dancing part afterwards. ... They shouldn't have (flunked me). They should've given me a D. So you're not going to see me doing the hoe-downs at the ballpark."

Piniella's wife, Anita, makes him watch "Dancing With the Stars" with her, and has tried to convince him to get on the show.

"She said it would be nice for you to be on 'Dancing With the Stars,' " he said. "I said 'No, I wouldn't.' "

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By Paul Sullivan

MESA, Ariz. -- Carlos Zambrano won't pitch in Cactus League games until the second go-around of the rotation, taking it slow in his first spring since experiencing shoulder problems.

Zambrano pitched to minor leaguers on Saturday, but refused to talk after his session, raising eyebrows.

The Cubs insist there's nothing wrong with Zambrano, and that they're just being cautious.

"The last couple years I've watched him pretty much, knowing the innings he has under his belt," pitching coach Larry Rothschild said. "Over the last 7-8 years, he's pitched a lot of innings and thrown a lot of pitches. So you start to be aware of that, but I don't know if (this spring) is a whole lot different. What's different right now is there haven't been that many quotes that put the spotlight on him."

Zambrano has made no predictions this year about winning the Cy Young award or the World Series, as he did in 2007.

Rothschild said the shoulder issue is really not a concern. Zambrano went on the disabled list for the first time in his career last June with a right shoulder strain, and posted an earned-run average of 7.43 in August, 7.08 in September.

"He bounced back from that pretty well, stuff-wise especially," Rothschild said. "The outings weren't as consistent, but arm slot-wise, stuff-wise, and velocity-wise (it was good). He just didn't make good pitches, and that could be something that was caused by (the shoulder injury). But his arm was pretty free and easy after the initial setbacks. He threw the ball pretty well. He threw the ball well in the playoff game."

Rothschild said Zambrano concentrated on keeping his shoulder strong while conditioning over the winter. Zambrano looks like he'll weigh in above his listed 255 pounds of last year. The added weight appears to be muscle, not belly fat.

"He always comes into spring training in good shape," Rothschild said.

By Paul Sullivan

MESA, Ariz.- One of the great mysteries in Cubs history, other than why they’ve gone 101 years without a championship, is who smashed Sammy Sosa’s boom box.

For those who don’t remember, Sosa played the same salsa CD almost every day in the summer of 2004, annoying his teammates to no end. The giant boom box rested in a corner an era of the clubhouse that was close to the lockers generally assigned to the catchers, and had been getting on the nerves of backstops like Joe Girardi, Scott Servais, Michael Barrett and Paul Bako.

The boom box was destroyed by an anonymous player after the slugger walked out on the team on the final day of the ’04 season, and word leaked out in a Tribune story a couple days later. Bako immediately became one of the primary suspects, along with Kerry Wood, who was also not a fan of salsa music.

The next spring, Wood angrily denied any involvement, after a radio station had accused him of being the destroyer. The story settled down over the years, turning into one of those Wrigley Field legends that get hazier as time marches on.

Five years later, Bako is back.

During an interview on Friday at Fitch Park, I asked the always blunt Bako whether he smashed the boom box, as had been rumored. Bako didn’t mention Sosa by name, but denied having anything to do with it.

“One thing I can tell you is I didn’t see it happen, but I was still in the clubhouse when stuff was going on,” Bako said. “But I didn’t have any ill will to that area. I thought (the music) was too heavy, superstitious-wise, but that certain area, so to speak, treated me well and treated me with respect.

”I can tell you 100 percent it was not me, but as far as who it was, I’d be speculating.”

For the uninitiated, “that area” refers to the space occupied by Sosa and the boom box, which basically had its own locker.

So the mystery remains unsolved, though one suspicious ex-Cub catcher has yet to be interrogated.

Stay tuned.

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By Paul Sullivan

MESA, Ariz.-- While the baseball world anxiously awaited Alex Rodriguez's first day at Yankees camp, Aramis Ramirez said it's time to reveal the full list of 104 players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003.

"I think so, because (if not) then everybody is going to be looking over your shoulder, saying, 'They might have did it, they might have did it,' " he said. "Let's just get it over with."

Without being asked, Ramirez volunteered he has never done steroids or any performance-enhancing drugs. He doesn't accept Rodriguez's recent statement during an interview with ESPN that taking steroids was simply part of baseball's "culture."

"People say it was the culture, but it wasn't," Ramirez said. "Not everybody used it. I didn't do it. I know a lot of guys I'm pretty sure didn't do it. Whoever did it, they made that choice and did it. But not everybody did it."

Ramirez also said fans shouldn't distrust all players because A-Rod was using steroids.

"You can't judge everybody by one guy," he said. "In every sport, people cheat, and people try to get the edge over the other players. I don't think that's right, but everybody's got a different mentality.

"I guess he quit doing it in '03, and you just go from there. I can't say much about it, because I don't really know A-Rod. But the fans, they can't lose trust in everybody just because of one guy."

Ramirez said the other 103 players who tested positive in the "anonymous" testing period in 2003 have to be concerned their names will eventually come out.

"Whoever did it has got to be worried," he said. "If you didn't do it back then -- in '01, '02, '03 -- you don't have to worry about it. Whoever did that, they always do it quietly. I guarantee you, nobody knew A-Rod did it. The players, I mean. No players knew A-Rod did it. When they do it, they do it in the hotel, or in the house.

"They aren't going to do it in the clubhouse in front of everybody."

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By Paul Sullivan

MESA, Ariz. -- Alfonso Soriano reiterated he doesn't care where Lou Piniella puts him in the lineup, though he added one caveat.

Wherever he goes, Soriano wants to stay in that spot.

"That's what I'd like to do," he said. "If they want to move me to the leadoff, I'd like to stay in one spot and not switch. I'd like to concentrate on just one spot."

Soriano said he had one year in Texas where he spent the first half in the leadoff spot and the second half in the No. 5 hole. He still doesn't understand all the commotion in Chicago about where he bats.

"I don't know why every year that kind of question comes up," he said. "I'd like for people to think I can bat in different spots in the order, because if they say that, they think I can put up better numbers in different spots."

Derrek Lee added that he doesn't care if Piniella moves him out of the No. 3 hole he's inhabited the last five years in Chicago.

"I'll bat leadoff," he said. "I don't care. I really don't."

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By Paul Sullivan

MESA, Ariz. -- Derrek Lee has been around long enough to understand the psyche of Cubs fans.

So when he reported to camp with the rest of the position players on Tuesday and heard the theory that Cubs fans won't get excited until they prove themselves in the playoffs, he wholeheartedly agreed.

"They're probably not going to trust us too much, no matter how well we do in the regular season," Lee said. "But that's good. It'll make it interesting. We know we have a good team. We'll just take it day by day this year and see what happens."

The revamped Cubs are back, minus Kerry Wood, Mark DeRosa and several other players from the 97-win team of 2008. Manager Lou Piniella said at the Cubs Convention that everyone told him last year's team had too many "nice guys," so it will be interesting to see if the addition of an edgy player like Milton Bradley changes the dynamic.

"I don't know about having too many nice guys," Lee said. "I think nice guys can win. But I think there are just days where it's a long season, and some days you have that guy who is playing out there with a little bit of an edge, and if everyone else are kind of dragging, and it just picks you up.

"I think (Bradley) will help us. He's such a competitor. It will rub off on guys. He's obviously out there trying to win and doing whatever it takes, and that can rub off on guys."

Aramis Ramirez agreed, though he hopes Bradley can stay on the field and out of trouble.

"We need some fire and he can bring that," Ramirez said. "But at the same time, we don't want anybody to get in trouble with nobody. Hopefully he stays calm, and I think he will."