Make it official...

I have never said it in print, but aloud many many times, so let's make it official -

Soriano is the only choice for leadoff.

Soriano is a leadoff hitter and here's why - he sucks donkey a-holes anywhere else in the lineup. I dont have, nor do I know where to get, his splits for batting elsewhere in the lineup, but it's been reported time and again, his numbers really really suck when he bats elsewhere. I'll see if i can find those numbers somewhere... Is he a baby? Maybe. Is he being coddled? Maybe. But here's the thing. Everyone in the world says he needs to be moved down in the order to maximize his run production. Ok, fine. Let's examine that argument. So if Soriano bats, say 5th in the order, his production will go up. Really? It was recently reported, the #8 spot in the batting order has an OBP of over .350 or so. The #7 slot has been taken up recently by Fukudome, whose OBP is above .350 as well. The Cubs also have two of the better hitting pitchers in baseball in Zambrano (batting .350) and Marquis.

Whereas Derrek Lee is leading the NL in GIDP, and Ramirez is currently the RBI leader for the Cubs. So if Lee is grounding into more double plays than the entire Marlins Roster (this is not true 0- just an over-dramatization) and Ramirez is driving in all these runs, who's going to be3 left for Soriano to drive in? What was that? Nobody? ok. This is assuming that Soriano keeps his leadoff numbers when he goes to the 5 hole, which history has dictated won't happen.

There's more to be said about this, but I'm over my minute....It'll have to be a roll-over minute...