Soriano has pretty much proven that he can't hit in the middle of the order because he isn't disciplined enough. Soriano's value decreases once he is put in the middle of the order because people in the middle of the order are pitched differently. So his discipline isn't a problem at leadoff? Not as much. He is pitched differently; he isn't given as many fastballs. This is the reason why he has failed to put up a good average when Lou, or anyone else, has slid him down in the order. Granted, we don't have a large sample size, but I am not sure we need one.