It's as good of an excuse as any: "Lou Piniella plans to experiment with the Cubs lineup, dropping leadoff man Alfonso Soriano to No. 2 in an attempt to keep him healthy while inserting Kosuke Fukudome fifth," reports MLB.com. Soriano continues to have difficulties with his quadriceps and the move is designed to have him making fewer steal attempts, apparently. Whether that is a valid reason or not, having his free-swinging ways move down in the order is a move in the right direction.

Unfortunately, this now apparently means that the Cubs' worst hitter in the everyday lineup -- Ryan Theriot -- is going to be leading off instead of hitting second.

So who should be in the leadoff spot? Mark DeRosa appears to be the best option, absent doing something radical like putting Derrek Lee there or moving Fukudome to center and placing Matt Murton in right field and the leadoff spot.

All of this is, of course, subject to change, and to change quickly.

And it may change with a trade. As much as the Cubs like Theriot, I believe they would prefer a better hitter in the leadoff spot. Moving Soriano down may make a trade for Brian Roberts or a center fielder even more likely.

Cubs f/x thinks Soriano and Fukudome should switch in Piniella's experimentation. Perhaps. But the idea that Fukudome is an ideal #2 hitter is based on his Japanese numbers. I would like to see a couple of month's worth of performance before handing him the keys to a table-setting position in the order.

Given the following information, who do you bat second in the lineup?

Good and bad out of the Winter Meetings in Nashville:

Bad: Felix Pie, Sam Fuld, Tyler Colvin, and Jeff Samardzija are "untouchables," according to Jim Hendry. All four are nice prospects, but why would any of them be off-limits in a trade?

Good: Lou Piniella says that Ryan Dempster does not have a starting rotation spot locked up. Kevin Hart, Sean Gallagher, and Sean Marshall will get opportunities as well.

Bad: Ryan Theriot has locked up the starting shortstop spot for 2008, according to Piniella. If Dempster is going to have competition, why won't Theriot? What harm exists in letting Ronny Cedeno compete for the starting job in spring training?

Good: The Cubs are exploring a trade for Baltimore Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts, reports the Baltimore Sun. Roberts just turned 30 and has had .305, .264, .285 EqA's the past three seasons with good defense. Another Cubs Blog has more on Roberts rumors.

Good: A number of teams are interested in Mark Prior, hopefully driving up the asking price.

Who Knows?: The Cubs obtained Twins relief pitcher Tim Lahey in today's Rule 5 draft. Lahey, 25, had a 3.45 ERA in 78.1 innings in double-A last year, with 56 K's and 33 BB's. Another Cubs Blog has more on Lahey. The Cubs lost swingman Randy Wells, who had a 4.52 ERA in 95.2 innings for triple-A Iowa last year, striking out 101 and walking 41.

Derek Smart says that Ryan Theriot should not be an everyday shortstop, but instead should play the super-sub role. And he is right. Barring a trade for Miguel Tejada (for whom the Cubs refused to trade Mark Prior straight up in Winter 2005), Ronny Cedeno should be given an even shot to win the job in spring training.

Following last night's 10-hit, 10-walk, but only 4 runs performance, the Cubs are now 16-22 since moving to a season high 8 games above .500 on August 1. And yet they are still just one game behind the division leading Brewers. During that same time frame, the Los Angeles Dodgers have gone 17-20 and have gone from 1 game back in the NL West to 6 games back. Just another way of confirming the mediocrity of the NL Central.

A few other notes:

That's the Carlos Zambrano we know and love. His 62 Game Score today wasn't his best of the season -- his best was his 66 two starts ago against the Mets -- but this performance seemed even better. That's because his control was excellent. He struck out 8 for the first time this year while walking just one (the last batter he faced, on his 125th pitch of the day). The Dodgers rarely hit the ball hard off him all day, demonstrating the good movement on his pitches. Zambrano won this game with his pitching, not any particularly great defense.

Meanwhile, Ryan Theriot has received two days off in a row, after hitting just .229/.316/.286 in 80 plate appearances over his last 18 games.

The Cubs have starting pitchers hitting better than shortstops Cesar Izturis and Ronny Cedeno. Lou Piniella has apparently had enough. Ryan Theriot is today's starter at short.

The Cubs don't have a home run out of their outfield or their first baseman yet, and as a result, they have an ISO of .101, which is now 15th in the National League, ahead of only the San Francisco Giants, who sit at .094. The league average is .137. Florida leads the NL at .199.

A few other numbers after 11 games:

I think we all need more Ryan Theriot in our lives. Why did the Cubs sign DeRosa??

More indications that Felix Pie has a good chance of leaving spring training this year as the Cubs' starting center fielder. (See also "Is Pie the Man in Center?") MLB.com reports:

The Cubs will have their first full-squad workout in one month. Hendry isn't finished yet.

"In a perfect world, I'd like to tinker with the outfield," Hendry said. "We have a very solid group. We're counting on our young kid, Felix Pie, being a factor, whether it's Opening Day or down the road shortly after. When you get out your wish list, you can't make it all about buying new players. You want to have your own guys develop, too."

Additionally, Player Development Director Oneri Fleita says that Pie "will be given a chance to come in and have some fun. Let's see what happens."

It appears that the Cubs will not expect Pie to hit much. MLB.com also quotes Fleita as saying, "In this lineup, we don't need him to hit, we need his defense."

In his first season of full-time play last year, at age 31, DeRosa hit .296/.357/.456, good for an adjusted OPS 3% above league average. For his career, DeRosa has an adjusted OPS 5% below league average. DeRosa will presumably be the favorite for starting second baseman (career 106 Rate2 in 114 games). But he could also be the shortstop (career 113 Rate2 in 137 games) if Cesar Izturis gets hurt or can't hit. He could also be a platoon partner for Jacque Jones in rightfield (career 106 Rate2 in 90 games). DeRosa has an 876 OPS against lefties the past three seasons. In other words, DeRosa can play a number of positions like Jose Macias and Freddie Bynum, but plays them better and also has some adeptness at the plate. His flexibility provides options should Ryan Theriot prove that September was no fluke.

Three years and into an age 34 season is a long contract for someone like DeRosa, and Jim Hendry has a history of paying above market prices for role players, but DeRosa is useful and can help the Cubs win if used properly.

Elsewhere:

(Courtesy of The Sports Xchange) Cubs manager Dusty Baker is not sure where he will be managing in the next couple of years, but he has plans to get back to postseason action as soon a possible.

(Courtesy of The Sports Xchange) The Cubs figure to activate shortstop Cesar Izturis from the disabled list either Monday or Tuesday, and they need to figure out what to do with rookie infielder Ronny Cedeno.

Cedeno, who has been subbing for Izturis, likely will move back to second base. However, the Cubs have been impressed with Ryan Theriot's play at second in recent weeks.