2010 Player Preview: Non-Roster Invitees

Here at GROTA, we're kicking off a run of preview-type articles, profiling some of the folks you can expect to hear about over the next 30 days as Spring Training gets going. To start, let's talk NRIs. The Cubs have invited 21 non-rostered athletes (a loosely used term in some cases) to compete for major league spots while the team trains in Mesa. The full list, grouped by position, is available at cubs.com. And with the words that follow, that list will now be available here at GROTA -- except I'm going to group it a bit differently. See if you can't keep up...! A) HTPs (highly touted prospects):RHP Andrew Cashner, SS Starlin Castro, 3B Josh Vitters, CF Brett Jackson Vitters and Jackson are too young to make this team. I think management thinks it's good for their development to be exposed to some major leaguers early on, so that maybe they can pick up some habits, or something. The latter statement holds true for Cashner and Castro, but unlike JV and B-Jax,...