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Piniella pulling rug out on switching Soriano in lineup

Rick Morrissey | In the wake of the news

7:09 PM CST, February 21, 2009

Don't do it, Lou.

Don't offer us hope and then cruelly snatch it away.

You said it, Lou Piniella. I have the quote right here. You were talking about what you might do with the middle of the Cubs' order:

"You know, I'm not going to [rule] out the possibility of throwing Soriano in on that mix either. We'll see how it works out."

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That's Alfonso Soriano. He's the bad fit for the leadoff spot who, nonetheless, has led off for the Cubs the last two seasons. The team keeps trying to force the square Soriano into the round hole.

So when Piniella said last week he would consider moving Soriano down in the lineup—oh, sweet hope!—it set off celebrations among those of us who believe the Cubs would be so much better off with Mike Fontenot, Aaron Miles or Ryan Theriot in the leadoff spot.

But now Piniella is waffling and backtracking and indicating people are making a big deal out of what is probably nothing. Oh, the pain!

It's like being told to put down the oversized $10 million Lotto check and to stop smiling for the cameras because there seems to have been a computer error and, well, you can go back to your job at the widget factory now.

All right, it's not that disappointing.

But it is bewildering.

Soriano's career .329 on-base percentage ranks 114th among active major-league players. He ranks 22nd with a career slugging percentage of .518.

And this is the guy you want batting first instead of third or fifth?

I'm no stats freak—I happen to need sunlight—but does this make any sense?

Yes, the Cubs have made the playoffs with Soriano in the leadoff spot, but it doesn't mean they have won because he's there. It's a little like the Rex Grossman situation in 2006. The Bears weren't a good team because Grossman was their quarterback. They were a good team.

Alfonso is Our Leadoff Hitter, and Rex is Our Quarterback. Sorry about that, Sori.

On that wonderful day last week, Piniella floated the possibility of moving Soriano down in the lineup. Up to that point, Soriano had seemed untouchable by virtue of his hefty contract and all-around veteran-ness, to coin a word. Mostly, the Cubs seemed afraid of offending him.

Thus, for those of us in the move-Soriano crowd, there was a bit of satisfaction in Piniella's statements. You might recall the stunned looks on the faces of Cubs coaches and management whenever someone mentioned that the left fielder might be best suited elsewhere in the lineup. When Piniella left open the possibility Soriano might be moved, it signaled the possibility we were not complete idiots.

Idiots, maybe, just not complete idiots.

Piniella's vacillating doesn't change that, but the only goal that matters is to put someone in the leadoff spot who can get on base regularly and allow the big boppers in the lineup to knock in more runs.

The status-quo people argue the leadoff spot isn't that important, that whoever hits first usually matters only in the first inning. It's a flimsy argument. Whoever is in the leadoff spot bats two spots ahead of the No. 3 hitter. It doesn't matter whether he leads off the inning or not. He's just ahead of the RBI guys. That's the important thing.

Soriano went 1-for-14 in the Cubs' three-game playoff debacle against the Dodgers. He certainly wasn't the only Cub to disappear in the postseason. But he is the one who is supposed to set the tone, the table and the stage. As a setter, that makes him 0-for-3. Did his struggles rub off on his teammates in the playoffs? No one possibly can know, just as no one possibly can know whether a hot-hitting Soriano would have inspired Aramis Ramirez to put the bat on the ball.

And no one can know whether Soriano's 2-for-14 effort in the 2007 playoffs affected the rest of the order.

What we do know is it couldn't possibly be worse to have somebody else leading off in the playoffs.

Spring training games start Wednesday, which means we could have a month of breathless updates on the leadoff spot. No matter how much Piniella would like to distance himself from his comments about Soriano's spot in the order, know that the questions about who's batting first drove him crazy last year.

There's no way he would have exposed himself to more questions if he wasn't seriously considering a move.

Why would he put himself through this torture? Maybe because he likes putting us through torture.

rmorrissey@tribune.com