Perhaps Converted

In about 100 minutes, Alfonso Soriano and his Blutarsky batting average will move out of the second spot in the Cubs' batting order and into the leadoff spot. One guesses that two days were enough for Lou Piniella to see that A Sor, for whatever reason, is significantly less effective when hitting anywhere but leadoff.

Now, everyone knows that Soriano's skills are ill-suited for the leadoff spot. He doesn't get on base a lot, his power goes often unused due to few men on base, and he can't run anymore.

But, if you are locked into playing a guy, and $14 million this year followed by $18 million for the next 5 years is as much of a lock as a Rod Blagojevitch indictment, then you better put him somewhere where he can be mildly productive.

And leadoff may be the only place to do that.

Yeah, A Sor is an irregular polygon being forced into a round hole, but it's that or a huge gap in a lineup.

Lou's stuck playing him and we're stuck watching him. At least, at leadoff, there may be a reason to watch.