More of B.A.'s wiseassin'

MESA, Ariz. – Second was always home for Alfonso Soriano. Only grudgingly did he give it up.

Now, the issue is second again. But this time it’s not about relinquishing his defensive position – which he did two years ago after much grumbling as a Washington National – it’s about sliding down in the Chicago Cubs’ batting order from first to second.

Well, if you're a fan of any team he plays for, you would prefer not to have a second baseman who' put up -41 FRAA and usually bottom of the league zone rating at second base.

As far as him moving from leadoff to second...it still sucks, but it's an improvement. Like going from dry heaves to actually puking. By batting a true leadoff hitter in front of him, he'd still be a waste, but at least some of those previously solo home runs would become 2 run homers.

“Every year it’s something,” Soriano said after three hitless at-bats from the two-hole Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals. “But the most important thing is that I love this game, and I’ll do whatever they say.”

In weaker moments Soriano has admitted he’d rather be leading off, and third baseman Aramis Ramirez might have been speaking on his teammate’s behalf when he reminded reporters, “We made the playoffs with him batting leadoff.”

And the 2000 Yankees won the World Series with David Cone's 6.91 ERA.

Manager Lou Piniella continues to wrestle with the move, which would entail bumping Ryan Theriot from second to leadoff. This is the same Piniella who greeted the long-term signing of Soriano before the 2007 season by saying, “We are talking about the best leadoff hitter in all of baseball.”

Piniella's quote was taken out of context. He prefaced that by saying, "In my opinion, leadoff hitters should have lots of power, swing at everything, and strike out all the time." As my teacher wrote for every problem she graded on my tests, "wrong but consistent".