This is how I would bat them.

Soriano
Theriot
Ramirez
Fukudome
Soto
Fontenot
Lee
Johnson

Only reason for Fukudome in the 4 hole is Lou want the righty/lefty thing in the middle. Soto looks bad for the 5 hole now, but he will get it together soon. Lee needs to be 7 or 8.

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Fuck Edwards and Zobrist

i think the time has come for lee to move down. normally i would not mind seeing soriano doing his thing at the top of the lineup, and he has been very good up there so far, but with lee really struggling and bradley gone, i think they have to at least entertain moving soriano down temporarily. i love ramirez being in the 3 hole. i think i would try something like this:

theriot
fuk
ramirez
soriano
lee
fontenot
soto
johnson

the whole lefty-righty-lefty thing is gone without bradley, and fontenot cant bat any higher than 6th. soto looks horrible, i hope he snaps out of it soon. lee needs to move down. on a healthy team, i keep soriano leadoff, the guy is ridiculously productive there, but this team is struggling to score, and ram needs the protection.

When should I start actually caring about this team?

I say you have to wait on Lee. You all will give me shit, but this is who he is. He is cold for the first to third month of the season and then usually breaks out of it. He didnt fully break out last year, which concerns me, but you have to wait a little longer to see if he is really done or not.

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The guy hit 10 homers in April last year. Another 5 in May. Then 5 more the rest of the season.

And schmitty, Fukudome can't hit fourth. He's not a big run producer.

I'm not sure how the lineup will work, but my guess is Fukudome, Ramirez, Lee, and Fontenot will be bunched together. That's probably your 2-5 or 3-6 part of the order.

Soriano
Theriot
Fukodome
Ramirez
Lee
Soto
Fontenot
Johnson

I would leave Soriano #1 for now, Theriot needs to be ahead of Ramirez and if Fukodome can keep getting on base, could give Ramirez runners on base when he bats.

I would put Lee at 5, only because Soto's not done much either, if Soto starts hitting then move Soto up. Bradley would be my #5 hitter when he comes back.

I would start playing Hoffpauir a little more at first base. Lee has been just adequate since May of last year. Mix in Hoffpauir every 4 or 5 days, I like what I have seen so far in his bat. Until Lee shows more at the plate, there is no reason why he should be starting every game. Ramirez and Soriano are the only two players who should be on a pace to play in 150+ games. Lee is no longer part of that group.

he is a very good first baseman, whereas hoffpauir would maybe be adequate.

I think Lee's defense is somewhat overated. He is good, but not great.

I didn't see the game yesterday but I did see a replay of Zambrano's throwing error. I only saw the replay once but was the throw that bad? I thought at first glance maybe Lee could have gotten that ball (again I could be wrong, I only saw the play one time).

But there was the dropped throw in milwaukee where Theriot's throw was high but Lee did get a glove on it. A gold glove first baseman should make that play.

And of course there was that error in game 2 last year against the Dodgers.

Mr Reason mentioned that Lee doesn't go to his right very well, I am inclined to agree.

Maybe hoffpauir is a butcher at first base, I haven't seen enough to make a judgement. But he is a natural first baseman so hopefully he is not that bad.

Lets see what Hoffpauir can do. Not saying he deserves a majority of the playing time, but I don't think Lee's defense or offense warrants him playing 150 games or more.

It doesn't matter what the lineup is without Bradley as long as he's ready for the playoffs, right?

keyser is catching Frank in the "Sox fan who posts more about the cubs than the sox" contest

Yeah, but last year was inconsistent with Lee's previous years. He's usually slow comin' outta the gates, but he added a prevalence of DPs to his repertoire last year to round out his suckiness...

bradley is already hating the chicago media. this signing is going to become a huge regret of jim hendry

bring this guy back:

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."