Now that it's clear Corey Patterson won't be the Cubs' starting right fielder, the next question is whether he still has a chance to be on their Opening Day roster. General manager Jim Hendry came as close as he could Tuesday to signaling that a trade is in Patterson's future. "I have a lot of fondness in my heart for Corey,'' Hendry said. "I feel badly at what happened last year. I certainly will try to do what's best for the Cubs first and what's best for Corey second.'' The Cubs did tender Patterson a contract Tuesday before the deadline for arbitration-eligible players. "I'm sure once people see he is being tendered a contract -- after a lot of people thought he wasn't going to be tendered -- we'll see an increase of interest for Corey,'' Hendry said. The Cubs would seem to need a right-handed-hitting reserve outfielder and perhaps a more versatile infielder than Todd Walker, who is third on the depth chart at second base behind Neifi Perez and Jerry Hairston. Patterson and Walker have long been rumored to be on the trade block and remain Hendry's top bargaining chips. The Cubs, meanwhile, denied Internet rumors making the rounds that they are interested in Washington Nationals second baseman Jose Vidro, who is coming off an injury. One report insisted that Kerry Wood was involved in the deal, but the Cubs re-emphasized that Wood has a complete no-trade clause in his contract for 2006. Hendry also has said repeatedly that he has no intention of trading Mark Prior or Carlos Zambrano.