Cubs' manager Piniella quick at sizing up talent

Twelfth in a series

Editor's note: As the countdown continues toward the April 6 opener for the Cubs, Daily Herald Sports Writer Bruce Miles will offer his analysis of each position on the team and the key issues facing the club this season.

Q. What book would you have recommended Lou Piniella read over the winter?

Miles: Oh, I don't know. The new one by Tim Dorsey, "Nuclear Jellyfish," looks fun. Dorsey worked in Tampa, Lou's neck of the woods, for a long time. Maybe they could get together and swap stories.

Or maybe "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff." Hey, I think Lou's overanalyzing all this not-able-to-win-in-the-postseason stuff. He ought to take his own advice and, "Let 'em play."

So read something to take your mind off all this stuff.

Q. Ozzie Guillen says when he sees a Lou news conference on TV he stops everything and watches. You've experienced hundreds of these. Are they must-see TV?

Miles: Yes, and then some. We had "Chief Wahoo" and "Heidelman" during spring training. When the team is going bad is when Lou is at his best.

One of his postgame news conferences lasted 24 seconds, with no reporter being able to get off a question before Lou's shot clock expired.

Q. From what you've seen, what exactly are Lou's strengths and weaknesses?

Miles: His biggest strength, in my mind, is the ability to quickly size up who can play and who can't.

It didn't take him long in '07 to see that Cesar Izturis couldn't play and that maybe, just maybe, Ryan Theriot could. Michael Barrett met the same conclusion from Lou.

He also uses his roster in ways other managers only talk about. Theriot got those much-needed days off last year. He found a good role for Sean Marshall.

Lou also knows hitting like no other manager I've talked with. He can tell you why a guy is grounding into double plays while being fast, and he seems to know why guys fall into slumps.

As much as players roll their eyes at some of Lou's public proclamations, he can be loyal to a fault, and that can become a weakness. Maybe he should have moved Derrek Lee down in the order last year, but Lou stuck with him.

As I mentioned above, Lou also might overthink it at times. Maybe pulling Zambrano early in Game 1 of the 2007 NLDS was an example. Lou got to thinking ahead to games that were never played.

On balance, though, he's the best I've been around.

Q. How do the players view/coexist with Lou?

Miles: Most of the time, they take what he says with a grain of salt, knowing full well that tomorrow will bring a different, and sometimes opposite, answer.

Lou, like Dusty Baker and Don Baylor before him, came up to the big leagues in the '60s. Although he's not like Earl Weaver or Billy Martin in the way he treats his players, he still says what he thinks and doesn't mind whose feathers it ruffles.

But he's also not above apologizing to a player, as he did with Jason Marquis last spring.

Q. How important is it for Lou's legacy that he win a playoff game/series? How much longer do you expect him to be the Cubs' skipper?

Miles: Guiding the Cubs to a World Series title would be a sure-fire ticket to the Hall of Fame for Lou. His '90 Reds upset the A's in the Series, but he hasn't been able to get over the hump since, despite some outstanding regular reasons.

The Cubs picked up Lou's 2010 option last fall, and I expect him to be around to finish the contract. I also believe Lou when he says the Cubs will be his last managerial stop.

• Got a question about the Cubs for Bruce Miles? Visit his blog, Chicago's Inside Pitch, to share your questions and comments.