LAS VEGAS -- Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry expects to meet Sunday with agent Adam Katz in hopes of reaching an agreement on a new contract with third baseman Aramis Ramirez.

"Obviously, I think the player loves being here and we'd love to keep him," Hendry said Saturday. "It's just a matter of can you balance the two out and make both sides comfortable with the length and the terms. Hopefully we can work something out. It's something we'd like to do and hopefully he'd like to do."

Ramirez has said he'd like to resolve the matter before the regular season begins on Monday.

"If we don't get it done by Monday, then hopefully after the season," Ramirez said.

"I think both sides will agree to try to get something done by Opening Day or table it until a later date," Hendry said.

Ducks in order: Chad Fox will likely take over the late-inning setup role this season.

"Fox is more accustomed to that," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "Last year, was [Michael] Wuertz's first time relieving. We're still trying to determine what he can do because he usually wasn't as good on the second or third day as the first day. It looks like he's learned to adjust to that. He's come along and done a good job for us."

Fox is more experienced in the setup role.

"We'll use him sometime late in the game," Baker said of the right-hander. "Plus, over his career, he's been excellent against left-handers. I didn't have a clue he was that good against them. That's great when you don't have to necessarily get a left-hander if you have a right-hander who can get left-handers out."

Left-handers have batted .200 off Fox in his career, while right-handers have hit .249.

Brotherly love: Cubs shortstop Nomar Garciaparra grabbed the lineup card from Friday's game as a souvenir for his younger brother Michael, who got the game-winning hit.

Michael, who celebrated his 22nd birthday Saturday, hit an RBI single in the 10th inning during Seattle's 5-4 win over the Cubs. He played for the Mariners' Class A team last year.

"He's proud of his little brother," Baker said. "I don't blame him. I don't like to lose but if you're going to get beat, I might as well get beat by my brother."

Michael Garciaparra has a lot of the same mannerisms as his big brother.

"He's probably seen Nomar hit a few years," Baker said.

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Nomar has had a solid spring, batting .433 (26-for-60) with a team-high six home runs and 17 RBIs.

"This guy hits good pitching," Baker said of the older Garciaparra. "He can hit, he can really hit. [Bench coach] Dick Pole told me what we saw last year was about 70 percent Nomar. Anybody who hits .370, that's no joke.

"This guy makes the best contact, the most solid contact on the barrel of the bat as well as anybody I've ever seen. He and Barry Bonds," Baker said.

Extra bases: The Cubs will work out Sunday at Bank One Ballpark to prepare for the regular season. ... Baker was happy with Ryan Dempster's outing on Friday. Dempster will start Wednesday against Arizona. "The thing that I'm impressed with is that his control is good," Baker said. "If your control is good and you're around the strike zone, now you can tweak it a little bit and sooner or later you'll find the outside part vs. the heart, or the inside part vs. the heart or high or low." ... Baker was asked if it was possible to move Jerry Hairston Jr. to third base. "It's mighty quick [at third]. It's not called the hot corner because it's cold," Baker said. ... Greg Maddux was able to do his side work early Saturday, then leave to watch his son Chase's baseball game. "It's Opening Day for him," Maddux said. ... The Cubs finished the Cactus League season 15-17. ... Baker said it was tough to send pitcher Sergio Mitre down to Triple-A Iowa. "The best he's thrown down here was today," Baker said of Mitre's one-inning against Seattle on Saturday.