Change is in the air for Cubs in 2012

Aramis Ramirez put the “hot” into the hot corner this week by all but declaring himself an ex-Cub after this season.

Take a look around the rest of the diamond, too. All four corners will be hot topics of conversation in the coming off-season.

First base, left field and right field will join third base as key areas to watch after the season ends next week in San Diego.

Change could be coming to each corner.

Up the middle, the Cubs will definitely need to add a starting pitcher or two, but they're stable overall with a chance to be spectacular with Starlin Castro at shortstop.

At the four corners, though, there could be four different players manning each of those positions.

Let's take a look at each situation, including the alternatives.

Third base:Ramirez and his agent made things crystal clear this week. The 33-year-old Ramirez wants a multiyear deal, and that's not likely to happen with the Cubs. Things likely will play out with the Cubs picking up Ramirez's $16 million option for 2012. Ramirez will decline it along with the $2 million buyout that's part of the deal. At worst, the Cubs will end up with high-draft-pick compensation, which is in line with ownership's stated desire to build from within. Ramirez's offensive numbers will be tough to replace at third base. The free-agent market is thin (except for Ramirez), so the Cubs may have to trade for a stopgap. In house, DJ LeMahieu will get time at third the rest of this season while Ramirez nurses a strained quadriceps. LeMahieu, a product of LSU, is a polished player for his age (23), but questions remain about his power potential. Josh Vitters, the Cubs' No. 1 pick in 2007, had a decent year at Class AA Tennessee, but he probably needs a full year at Class AAA Iowa. It's taken awhile with Vitters, but the good news for the Cubs is that he just turned 22. First base:Carlos Pena signed the now-famous #8220;pillow contract#8221; (a term coined by agent Scott Boras for the contract's comfort) with the Cubs last December. Pena has provided the Cubs with everything they expected: high power and on-base ability, a low batting average and good defense. His deal is up after this year, and even though Pena professes to love Chicago, he knows the realities of the business. #8220;I'm emotionally attached to the city, to the Cubs,#8221; he said. #8220;That's the way I am. I wouldn't expect anything else from myself. I knew it was going to be that way. Just give your heart and soul to the ballclub you play for. I fell in love with the place immediately.#8221;If Pena, 32, is seeking a long-term deal, the Cubs may balk. They may be intrigued by the low-cost opportunity Bryan LaHair represents. LaHair, who turns 29 in November, led the minor leagues in home runs (38) this year at Iowa, and he has hit safely in 12 of the 14 games in which he's had an at-bat since his Sept. 2 call-up.Left field:The good news is that Alfonso Soriano is completing the fifth year of his contract. The bad news is that three years are left on the eight-year, $136 million deal former general manager Jim Hendry and the Tribune Co. gave Soriano in November 2006. As egregious as that contract is, it may not be the worst the Cubs have given out in recent years. Milton Bradley's three-year, $30 million contract and Carlos Zambrano's five-year, $91.5 million extension cost the Cubs a lot in a lot of different ways. Unlike Bradley or Zambrano, the easygoing Soriano has never been a problem in the clubhouse, and he's produced decent numbers, but not $136 million-type numbers. Soriano's 81 RBI this year are his most as a Cub and the most since he put up 95 for Washington in '06. He has 24 home runs, but he'll be 36 in January, and he's strictly a one-dimensional player. The Cubs no doubt will try to trade Soriano this winter, even if it means eating much of the $54 million still left on the deal. It would be hard to believe, though, that the Cubs would simply release Soriano and eat all of the money. Right field:With the trade of Kosuke Fukudome (another disappointing signing by Hendry) to Cleveland in July, the Cubs ostensibly planned to give most of the playing time there to Tyler Colvin. Colvin played regularly in August, but he has all but disappeared in September, and you have to wonder if he's even in the plans anymore. With 201 at-bats, Colvin has a hitting line of .154/.208/.313 with 6 homers, 20 RBI, 14 walks and 54 strikeouts.The Cubs' top outfield prospect is Brett Jackson, and he progressed well this year, moving up to Iowa after starting the season at Tennessee. Jackson is a center fielder, but the Cubs already have Marlon Byrd under contract for one more year. If they don't trade Byrd, they could get creative by keeping him in center and letting Jackson play right field for one year and then sliding him to center for 2013. #8220;I'll be ready for the 2012 season,#8221; Byrd said. #8220;Hopefully, I'm here. At the same time, if they decide to start over ... that's the business part. I've been around long enough to understand that. My whole thought process going into the off-season is to be a Cub next year.#8221;BBN25921344Chicago Cubs left fielder Alfonso Soriano makes a catch on a sinking fly ball by Milwaukee Brewers' Nyjer Morgan during the eighth inning of a baseball game, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) BBNBBN30002142Chicago Cubs' Carlos Pena, left, is congratulated by teammate Marlon Byrd, right, after hitting a two-run home run off Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Homer Bailey in the first inning of a baseball game on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Al Behrman) BBN