C  -  soto                 Blanco
1B - dlee                 Hoffpauir
2B - fontenot
SS - theriot             cedeno
3B - ramirez
LF - soriano
CF - edmonds       johnson
RF - derosa            fukudome

SP1 - zambrano
SP2 - harden
SP3 - dempster
SP4 - lilly

LM - marquis
RP - marshall
RP - gaudin
RP - cotts
SU - samardija
SU - marmol
CL - wood

my opinion (which i suspect wont be shared by most) is that hoffpauir should get that lefty bat spot before ward. he has been clearly the better hitter compared to ward. i know hes a rook, but theres no arguing the numbers (traditional and LD%, though to be fair his babip is unconsciously high at .472.

what about the starters? i think everyone agrees that lilly is the 4th starter on this years team, but as much as zambrano is the ace, harden has been hands down the best cub pitcher by the numbers. dempster is better than zambrano too, statistically speaking. but lou isnt giving zambrano a game 3 start. and he shouldnt.

i also couldnt come to a conclusion for that 14th position player? carry both hoffpauir and ward? pie? its probably 2 of those 3.

what should happen? also, what will happen? feel free to rip me apart.

I thought it was clearly established that OBP was a key component to success at the top of the lineup. So I dont understand why its a good idea to put 2 of our 3 worst onbase guys at the 1 and 2 spots.

I stole these numbers from the ZIPS projections at baseballthinkfactory.com (good place, and only place for free projections!) and granted these are projections, but they have some obvious things here.

1.Soriano is a high slugging, low on base guy. probably not great for leadoff?
2. Theriot is just not cut out for the top of the lineup. numbers dont lie.
3. Generous projections for soto,eh? hope that works out.

as constructed currently, i would say that it would make sense to put the line up as above. but if we got roberts, we could slot him up at the top and bump everyone down. thoughts?

on another note, is it just me or does aramis look like he is a dead pull homerun hitter right now? it looked like he was swinging way too hard.

anyone check out the new chat option for MLB.com? theres a link on the gameday 08 version. we should get people to sit at a section for BCB members. im thinking section 94, since its right about the dugout. sound good to anyone else?