Soriano to Hit Second.....What?

Cubs Manager Lou Piniella announced on Wednesday that he plans to drop Alfonso Soriano out of the lead-off spot and into the second spot in the lineup in a move that's going to really test my patience.  Continue Reading

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The reasoning behind Soriano moving down in the lineup is because he's not quite ready to use his legs....or he's not going to be ready to use his legs as much this season. You read the quote and tell me what you think Piniella is saying:

"We want to keep him in the lineup," Piniella said Wednesday. "Last year, he was out a few times with the leg pulls. If you talk to him now, he's 80, 85 percent. Put it this way -- out of the two-hole, it might be easier for him to not have to run as much. We're just going to look at it."......The Cubs medical staff has suggested such a switch as well. Soriano tried to run on his own on Tuesday and was thrown out.

The fact that Soriano's legs are bothering him doesn't bother me as much as the fact that A) he's going to be hitting in a spot in the lineup where he's supposed to be able to take pitches and move runners over, B) that Soriano is going to be a double play threat anytime Theriot is on base because his legs are bad, which leads me to.....C) this means that Ryan Theriot is going to be leading off this season...he of the .326 ob % and fading stamina last season. The silver lining in all of this, if there is one, is that as long as Soriano hits 35+ homers and drives in 100+ runs, his contract still sort of makes sense in the grand scheme of things. Besides that, this really makes no sense at all.

It seems to me that the solution to moving Soriano out of the lead-off spot is to move Kosuke Fukudome to the second spot and move Soriano to fifth in the lineup....or move Derrek Lee to the second spot, have Aramis Ramirez hit third, Fukudome fourth and Soriano fifth. That way you can get the most out of Soriano's power, which seems to be his last offensive asset, while not allowing his patented streakiness to crush any rallies the Cubs might have at the top of the order.

I understand that Sweet Lou wants Fukudome to hit fifth in the lineup so that opposing teams will have to use multiple relievers late in the game but it seems to me that he's putting Soriano in a spot that's best for the Cubs. Piniella has no problem juggling the lineup around, so let's just hope he comes to his senses sooner, rather than later.

Jack Cobra covers the Cubs, Bulls and sports in general on his blog, Cobra Brigade. He also writes for Yay Sports on Fridays.

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