"The Nod" from Lou Piniella

There's still tons of time this spring.
If I counted right, and that's not in my basic skill set, there are 19 days left til the Cubs open in Houston on April 6th.
19 days for Lou to make nods.
Lately there's been a big flap about Derrek Lee's bat, how he's not hitting this spring and had a bad 2nd half last year.
But trust me, Micah Hoffpauir is not going to get the nod as the starting first baseman.
That nod will stick with D, while Micah can realistically hope for the nod to make the bench because Lou has pretty much given the nod to Micahs' bat.
Big Z gets the nod to be the opening day starter.
It sounds like Sean Marshall will get the nod as the 5th starter, while Jeff Samardzija won't.
And now Jeff has got to work to get the nod to make the bullpen, or maybe he gets the nod to go start in Iowa.
It's up in the air about who gets the nod as closer - either Carlos Marmol or Kevin Gregg.
Mike Fontenot, we're all pretty sure, gets the nod at 2nd.
Aaron Miles probably gets the nod as the all around infield backup, and perhaps spelling Ryan Theriot (the guy who got the nod real early 2 years ago) a little more so Theriot doesn't fade at the end.
Then there's this guy Corey Koskie who used to be a starting 3rd baseman mostly for the Twins and a guy who could probably have more power backing up Aramis Ramirez.
But he's also coming back from a wicked case of post concussion syndrome.
So he gets the nod as this year's Chad Fox, who was the guy (and still is, I think) trying to come back from all those Tommy John surgeries.
Tommy John Surgery, of course, got the nod as the go-to surgery for pitchers with elbow problems after Tommy had that surgery way back.
The nod to start behind the plate goes to all-star Geo Soto, while backups Koyie Hill and Paul Bako battle for the backup nod.
Reed Johnson wants really badly to get the nod as the everyday center fielder, but he bats righty.
Mostly, Lou gives the nod to those who bat lefty, like Kosuke Fukudome.
It sounds like a rare case of the double nod here.
Alfonso Soriano gets the nod as the leadoff guy, Aramis of course got the nod at third long ago.
And this year we have a triple nod winner: Milton Bradley gets the nod as this year's crazy pot-stirrer, most scrutinized injury watch, and yes, biggest new hope.
And as you all know, about 101 years ago hope got the nod as the Cubs official mascot.
So there you go.
Lots of nodding for Lou to do.