Will Soriano be back this year? 'Doubtful,' Piniella says

Lou says Alfonso Soriano will get a second opinion on his ailing left knee and that his return to the Cubs is not likely this season.

"He's going to go see his own doctor to get a second opinion on this thing," Lou told us in the dugout this morning. "We'll probably know something in the next few days. I would categorize it as doubtful that he'd return. Doubtful. I would think that if he as the procedure done before the end of the year it would be just to clean it out a little bit."

The "procedure" is arthroscopic surgery, which Soriano will have sooner or later.

For more, read Bruce Miles' blog, Chicago's Inside Pitch.