For what it's worth I think...

Theriot
Fukudome
Soriano
Ramirez
Lee
DeRosa
Pie
Soto

Fukodome
DeRosa
Lee
Ramirez
Soriano
Soto
Pie
Theriot

_________________
"Tubby? Oh yes, Tubby."

In a perfect world Soriano should bat in the middle of the lineup given his power. But this is not a perfect world and after watching Soriano the past year or so I am starting to think that maybe Soriano does need to bat leadoff.

I don't know what Soriano's career numbers are when he bats leadoff vs any other spot in the lineup but I know last year his numbers were better when he was leading off vs hitting down in the lineup. Yes, a guy making 19 million a year should be able to bat anywhere in the lineup, but Soriano seems to me to be a guy that is more comfortable batting leadoff and if he is not batting leadoff, his performace suffers. So instead of putting a square peg in a round hole, just let Soriano bat where he feels the best.

Soriano is not a classic leadoff hitter but I don't think the Cubs have any desirable options at this point. Theriot OBP last year lower than Soriano's and while Fukodome has the skills to be a pretty good leadoff hitter, I like him better in the middle of the lineup. The Cubs have had problems in the past scoring runs when they don't hit homeruns, having a patient hitter like Fukodome in the middle of the lineup might help in that regard.

Of course if you have a Brian Roberts then yes, move Soriano down, but at this point maybe Soriano is your best option.

The bigger problem is that the team as constructed is a bit disfunctional. You don't have a classic leadoff man and you only have one big left handed hitter (and the jury is still out on Fukodome).

theriot
fukudome
lee
ramirez
soriano
soto
derosa
pie

the only other option in my opinion at the top is fukudome, and it is a good option, but then who is batting second? soriano has NO business being above 5th in this lineup, UNLESS you try Lee - Soriano - Ramirez. ramirez could give him the protection he needs to see pitches. how about this:

fukudome
lee
soriano
ramirez
soto
derosa
pie
theriot

that could be a pretty potent top of the order. i like my first one best.