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Mother Nature decided to ruin every Cub fan's plans to watch baseball yesterday by washing out both split squad games. So, as you might imagine, there's a dearth of information to provide. The first big story is that Starlin Castro won't be starting the year on the 25-man roster.

The natural question led straight to ''The Natural'' when Andres Blanco, the team's one true backup shortstop with big-league experience, got hurt:

Would the Cubs make phenom Starlin Castro the starting shortstop and move Ryan Theriot to second base?

''No, no,'' manager Lou Piniella insisted. ''I like the kid, I really do. But I'm happy with 'The Riot.'

''You guys [writers] are starting trouble already,'' he added with a laugh, ''and it's only four games into spring training.''

For now, Piniella said, the plan is for Castro to start the season at Class AAA Iowa and play every day. But Piniella reiterated his belief that if something happened to Theriot -- ''and we don't want that'' -- he could see plugging Castro into Theriot's spot if Castro keeps up his strong play.

And prepare for short white guys to be the backup options if Blanco doesn't head north with the Big League team.

Piniella said second baseman Mike Fontenot will get more time at shortstop. If Blanco isn't ready and Fontenot doesn't fit at shortstop, Darwin Barney would be next in line, Piniella said.

In case you're not familiar with Darwin Barney, Bruce Miles provided a description:

The Cubs already have a backup candidate in infielder Darwin Barney, who had a line of .317/.368/.401 last year at Tennessee (AA) before going .264/.304/.330 in 63 games at Iowa. The 24-year-old Barney is a 5-foot-10 scrapper in the mold of Ryan Theriot. He was a fourth-round draft pick of Tim Wilken out of Oregon State in 2007.

Read more: Monday Cubs Headlines: Whole Lotta Nuthin'

(Photoshop by @plamorte)

The time? 2:00 pm CT

The link? This one

The place? In front of your tv. With your computer.

The call-in number for questions/comments? 347-884-8570 .

The event? Adam, Tim and Julie do their best to make you laugh during the first hour of the Cubs game. It will either be really, really funny, or something we will never speak of again.

But before we get to the FIRST TELEVISED GAME OF THE SEASON, we have to get to the headlines.

Did you miss the game yesterday? Oh right, we all did. Good thing the AP is here to tell us all about it:

Read more: Cubs Live Game Thread (Now With Headlines!)

(Photo courtesy Chicago Tribune/Phil Velasquez)

Well whadddya know, it turns out, we're going to be awesome this year! Bruce Miles, tell us about yesterday's game!

Marlon Byrd homered in his Cubs debut, 1 of 5 home runs in a 16-hit attack that helped open the exhibition season with a 9-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics.

"Marlon's a professional," manager Lou Piniella said. "He's a hard worker. He's got a good way about him. The players like him."

Signing Byrd to play center field also let Kosuke Fukudome return to right. That's where moody Milton Bradley played last season as part of an experiment gone bad.

The absence of Bradley has made camp more mellow - as have downsized expectations after last season's disappointing second-place finish.

"Not much going on, and that's the way we like it," said Derrek Lee, whose first-inning homer got the offense going. "Everyone's pretty healthy. It has been quiet. It's nice. Just going about our business."

The beneficiary of the businesslike hitting approach was Randy Wells, who didn't allow the ball out of the infield in 2 perfect innings.

Read more: Friday Cubs Headlines: Un-De-feated!! (clap! clap! clap!clap!clap!)

"Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows..."

With Sweet Lou playing rover between Marlon Byrd and Alfonso Soriano, the Cubs outfield defense should be much better this year. If they're not better, you can blame Mesa, or maybe you can't.

'I remember the 10 years I spent here with Seattle, we had wonderful fields,'' Piniella said, listing the six full fields the Peoria, Ariz., complex has available to the Mariners.

''It's more limited [in Mesa]. But it's a workable thing. Put it this way: We haven't not won because of the facilities here.''

The funding for a proposed new complex in Mesa is still facing stiff opposition from the other Cactus League teams, who are now acting like children. I wonder if they stuck out their bottom lips while skipping this meeting?

The proposed ''Cubs tax'' on all Cactus League games has been met with strongly worded opposition from several teams and resulted in a boycott by four teams (including the White Sox) of a Mesa-sponsored spring kickoff event Tuesday.

Read more: Cubs Thursday Headlines: There's Baseball Today!

(Trib Photo by Phil Velasquez, slightly modified by abe frohman)

Did you know tomorrow's the first spring training game? Did you hear that Lou was putting Starlin Castro in the starting lineup for the opener? Did you know he changed his mind?

No Starlin Castro in the first Cubs Cactus League lineup. Lou Piniella announced his lineup for Thursday's opener vs. the Athletics:

SS Ryan Theriot

RF Kosuke Fukudome

1B Derrek Lee

3B Aramis Ramirez

CF Marlon Byrd

LF Tyler Colvin

2B Mike Fontenot

C Geovany Soto

P Randy Wells

Castro will likely sub for Theriot after three or four innings in the game. The Cubs moved to HoHoKam Park after Tuesday's workout.

Read more: Cubs Wednesday Headlines (Updated!): Now With More Cuba?

We are living in seriously exciting times these days, kids.

Not only do Spring Training games officially kick off in little more than 48 hours; and

Not only will Tim McGinnis (of the fabulous Tales from Aisle 424) and I be doing our own MST3K-ish play-by-play for the first televised game on Saturday; but

It's looking increasingly like Lou really wants to get a good look at uber-hyped teenage shortstop Starlin Castro this Spring. This is good news for all of us.

Well, except for Ryan Theriot.

Read more: Tuesday Cubs Headlines: Everything's Coming Up Castro!

It's not the Cubs, but it is HoHoKam (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

As we look forward to the actual playing of baseball, Mr. Miles reminds us of what a wreck the outfield was last year:

With Milton Bradley moping, Alfonso Soriano limping and Kosuke Fukudome whiffing, the 2009 Chicago Cubs were done in by their $214 million outfield.

Bobby Scales was called up after 10½ years in the minors and asked to save the day. Jake Fox was all-hit, no field. Sam Fuld was all-field, no-power. First baseman Micah Hoffpauir, thrown into the outfield to supply offense, batted .239.

What a mess.

So things can only be better from there, right?

One year later, the song remains the same: As the outfield goes, so goes the Cubs' offense. And this season, hitting will be even more important because the pitching is unsettled.

Bradley has been replaced by Marlon Byrd, who is being asked to be the stud center fielder the Cubs have lacked for decades. The signing of Byrd - coming off a career year of 20 homers and 89 RBIs for Texas - lets Fukudome move from center to right, where he is more comfortable.

Left fielder Soriano, limited to 116 games, 20 homers and 55 RBIs in his worst season ever, says his surgically repaired left knee feels so good he no longer has to ice it.

If I knew how, I'd change the Soriano knee meter from 85% to "no longer has to ice it".

The Cubs got encouraging news on Angel Guzman's shoulder - it's slated to blow up in June, not in Spring Training.

Angel Guzman's sore shoulder got its first test Sunday since he was shut down earlier in the week, and reports were positive. The Cubs reliever threw 25-30 ''pitches'' from 45 feet and fared well enough to be scheduled for a full bullpen session today.

''He said the shoulder felt better, and that's good news,'' manager Lou Piniella said. ''That's encouraging. [Today] he'll get on a mound and let it go.''

Speaking of Cubs players whose names start with "A", Aramis Ramirez's mom didn't raise a dummy.

Third baseman Aramis Ramirez hasn't lasted 12 seasons in the big leagues for nothing. He hit in the cage and off coaches throwing batting practice Saturday, but he kept his distance when it was his group's turn for live BP against Carlos Marmol.

''I'll get my live BP Thursday in the game, not against Marmol,'' said Ramirez, who sagely has avoided the sometimes erratic but traditional spring-training practice throughout his career.

Marmol hit prospect Starlin Castro in the butt Saturday, two days after prospect Rafael Dolis knocked shortstop Ryan Theriot down with a pitch that grazed Theriot's hand.

''I'm afraid of that,'' Ramirez said. ''I'll find my way to get ready, but it won't be doing live BP, I guarantee you that.''

Said Piniella: ''I don't blame him. Would you want to hit against Marmol? Ramirez is a crafty veteran.''

And I jumped the gun on Soriano's knee watch. We have a new numerical update:

''I say it's 90 percent, but I've had no problems at all,'' he said. ''But we have to wait and see in a game to know for sure because practice isn't the same.''

Carl is a featured blogger on 312Sports.com and Julie DiCaro's "A League of Her Own."

It's not the Cubs, but it is HoHoKam (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

As we look forward to the actual playing of baseball, Mr. Miles reminds us of what a wreck the outfield was last year:

With Milton Bradley moping, Alfonso Soriano limping and Kosuke Fukudome whiffing, the 2009 Chicago Cubs were done in by their $214 million outfield.

Bobby Scales was called up after 10½ years in the minors and asked to save the day. Jake Fox was all-hit, no field. Sam Fuld was all-field, no-power. First baseman Micah Hoffpauir, thrown into the outfield to supply offense, batted .239.

What a mess.

Read more: Monday Cubs Headlines: Headlines as We Go!