Cubs closer? Howry asks why not him?

Bob Howry joked that the media will create a "closer controversy" on the Cubs one of these days.

With erstwhile closer Ryan Dempster getting a shot at making the starting rotation, Howry appears to be the front-runner to take over as the ninth-inning man.

Hard-throwing Carlos Marmol emerged as one of the National League's best setup men last year, and veteran Kerry Wood also figures to get his shot in the late innings.

As far as Howry goes, he likes his own chances.

"I'm not going to say that I should be looked at first, but I've got more experience doing it," Howry said. "Why not?"

Howry, a former White Sox closer, has 65 saves in his career, including 8 last year, when he filled in when Dempster was injured.

One problem that plagued Howry was a lack of velocity early in the season. He revealed during Friday's Cubs convention that he's working on remedying that.

"I've gotten on the mound already," he said. "I started getting on the mound about a week ago, where normally, I might get up twice before spring training starts. We'll see if that helps."

Big Z fesses up: Ace starter Carlos Zambrano admitted it wasn't the best idea to predict a Cy Young award for himself last spring. After getting off to a slow start, Zambrano recovered to go 18-13 with a 3.95 ERA.

After struggling in a Labor Day start, Zambrano criticized Cubs fans for booing him at Wrigley Field. He heard a few boos during Friday's opening ceremonies, but he seemed to be playing everything low-key.

"No predictions," he said. "Last year was the only one that I predicted something. It was a mistake. I think everybody can make a mistake. I think every human being can make a mistake. You learn from the mistake."

Zambrano said he got caught looking at the season instead of each individual start last year. He joked in April that he no longer wanted to pitch on Opening Day because he gets too keyed up and struggles.

"I will talk with (Ted) Lilly, and I will give him the way to pitch Opening Day," Zambrano said.

No guarantees: With the signing of free-agent starter Jon Lieber, the man facing a fight for a spot could be Jason Marquis, who faded down the stretch last year and found himself out of favor with Lou Piniella.

"Bringing Lieber into the equation sort of makes it a little wide open, and there's going to be some competition," Piniella said. "I don't see any reason why Marquis can't come to camp and pitch well and do the same things he did last year and even go further and finish stronger.

"I really don't know what happened. The little disturbing thing about it is it happened the year before in St. Louis. We've got to figure out how we can help him finish up a season stronger."

Liking leadoff: Alfonso Soriano said he'd know in spring training if his troublesome right quadriceps was fully recovered from the injury he suffered Aug. 5, putting him on the disabled list for the first time in his career.

He said he'd bat anywhere in the lineup but expressed his preference for leading off.

"I know how they want to pitch me when I lead off," he said. "When I'm batting third or five, I don't know how they want to pitch me. If I have to make that adjustment, I'll do it."

Shingo time: The Cubs have signed former White Sox closer Shingo Takatsu to a minor-league deal. The 39-year-old Takatsu spent the last two seasons with the Yakult Swallows of the Japan Central League.

He has 313 saves between Japan and the big leagues. He was with the White Sox in 2004 and part of 2005.