Cubs exercised manager Lou Piniella's club option for 2010. The 65-year-old Piniella is finishing up the second season of a three-year, $10 million contract. He'll make $4 million in 2010 under the terms of the option.

Alfonso Soriano and the Cubs take on the Mets and pitcher Pedro Martinez Thursday, which has historically been a bad thing for Soriano. In his career, he his hitting a lowly .163 (7-for-43) with no walks and 15 strikeouts against the wiry right-hander.Granted, a lot of this took place when Martinez was with Boston and Soriano was with the Rangers or Yankees, but the numbers are startling nonetheless.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports Seattle Mariners 2B Jose Lopez's RBI double in the first inning Wednesday, Sept. 24, was his career-best 40th double of the season. With it, he becomes just the seventh second baseman in American League history with 40 doubles, 15 homers and 80 RBIs in the same season. Others to reach the plateau include Charlie Gehringer, Dustin Pedroia, Robinson Cano, Jorge Cantu, Alfonso Soriano and Roberto Alomar.

News: Cubs OF Alfonso Soriano went 1-for-4 on Saturday as Chicago defeated the Cardinals to clinch the NL Central title. Soriano singled and drove in two runs. He's batting .289.

Analysis: Soriano has hits in seven of his last eight games with two homers in that span. He isn't crushing the ball lately but remains a must-start Fantasy OF during the final week of the Fantasy season

Alfonso Soriano drove in two runs with a single in the second inning to help the Cubs jump out to an early lead and clinch the NL Central with a 5-4 victory over the Cardinals on Saturday. Soriano's drive scored Jim Edmonds and Mark De Rosa. DeRosa then doubled in a run in the fourth and then scored on a fielder's choice as the Cubs picked up a 5-0 lead heading into the fifth. The Cards countered with a four-run attack in the sixth, but the Cubs' bullpen held things together late. Soriano is hitting .289 with 74 RBI in 103 games this season.

Alfonso Soriano led the Cubs to a 5-4 win over the Cardinals Saturday as he went 1-for-4 with two RBI.He remains one homer away from 30 and one steal away from 20 with eight games to go.

Alfonso Soriano drove in two runs with a single in the second inning to help the Cubs jump out to an early lead and clinch the NL Central with a 5-4 victory over the Cardinals on Saturday. Soriano's drive scored Jim Edmonds and Mark De Rosa. DeRosa then doubled in a run in the fourth and then scored on a fielder's choice as the Cubs picked up a 5-0 lead heading into the fifth. The Cards countered with a four-run attack in the sixth, but the Cubs' bullpen held things together late. Soriano is hitting .289 with 74 RBI this season.

According to the Chicago Sun Times, the Cubs "appear poised to offer manager Lou Piniella a contract extension." The newspaper reports that "the team already has had preliminary talks with him, but the issue has been tabled until the offseason." Piniella is in season two of a three-year, $10 million deal, but the Cubs also have an option for 2010.Source: Chicago Sun-Times

That's 29 homers on the year for Soriano, who's hitting .313 (15-for-48) with six jacks, nine RBIs and 10 runs scored over a fruitful September.

Rick Gano, of The Associated Press, reports Chicago Cubs OF Alfonso Soriano hit his 29th home run of the season Tuesday, Sept. 16.

Alfonso Soriano collected his 29th homer and his 26th double to help the Cubs edge the Brewers 5-4 on Tuesday. Ryan Dempster got the win despite some sloppy bullpen work. Both Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood gave up runs in relief, but the Cubs held on 5-4, sending the Brewers to their 12th loss in 15 games. Soriano has six homers in 12 games during September.

Surprisingly, it could be a tough day for Brewers pitcher CC Sabathia against the Chicago Cubs. Players on Chicago's roster who have faced the beefy lefty have combined for a career .337 average, .413 on-base percentage and .526 slugging percentage against him. Leading the way for the Cubs is Alfonso Soriano, who has a .345 average and four home runs in his career off Sabathia.By no means does this mean fantasy owners should remove Sabathia from their lineups. It is simply a caution that he may not be his usual dominating self Tuesday. Of course, it would surprise no one if he went out and threw a complete game shutout either.

News: Alfonso Soriano led off Sunday's game with a home run, his 28th of the year.

Analysis: Soriano hasn't really been great of late, but he is heating up and a must-start outfielder in all leagues for Fantasy Week 25 (Sept. 15-21). Keep him active

The Associated Press’ Chris Jenkins reports Chicago Cubs OF Alfonso Soriano hit a leadoff homer Sunday, Sept. 14. It was his 28th homer of the year.

Soriano's solo shot to begin the game on Sunday was his first long ball since going deep three times in a Sept. 6 contest. This was Soriano's fifth homer in September, so he has some work to do to come close to the 14 homers he hit last September.

Alfonso Soriano went deep for the 28th time this season on Sunday as he went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Cubs.Soriano is still one steal short of yet another 20/20 season, and he is just two home runs from another 30 home run campaign, a total he has reached in each of the past three seasons and five of the past six seasons.

News: Cubs OF Alfonso Soriano went 2-for-4 on Wednesday night against the Cardinals. He scored a run, drove in a run and walked in the game.

Analysis: Soriano went 0-for-8 in the two games following his 3-homer game against the Reds last Saturday. You knew he wouldn't be in a slump. He should be active in all Fantasy leagues at all times

Nice to see Soriano get off the schneid, as he'd gone hitless in eight straight at-bats since blasting a trio of homers against the Reds on Sept. 6. Expect a strong finish from the stud outfielder, who's racked up a healthy .548 slugging percentage and compiled a fiery .754 mark in 122 at-bats last September.

Matthew Leach, of MLB.com, reports Chicago Cubs OF Alfonso Soriano, SS Ryan Theriot, 3B Aramis Ramirez and 1B Derrek Lee all have at least 12 at-bats and at least a .400 average against St. Louis Cardinals SP Kyle Lohse.

Chicago Cubs OF Alfonso Soriano went 4-for-5, with three home runs and five RBIs Saturday, Sept. 6, against the Cincinnati Reds, according to The Associated Press. It was the 23rd multihomer game of his career, and his first three-homer game since June 8, 2007, against the Atlanta Braves. It was the 36th time in Cubs history a player has hit three homers in the same game, and the four runs Soriano scored matched a career high.

News: Something about September gets Cubs OF Alfonso Soriano going. Soriano homered three times at the top of Chicago's retooled batting order Saturday at Cincinnati, finishing 4-for-5 with four runs scored and five RBI. Soriano was the Cubs' Mr. September last season, leading their final surge toward the NL Central title by hitting a club-record 14 homers in the month. He's been in a slump -- along with much of the lineup -- this time around. No longer. "I remember last September I hit 14 home runs, but that's in the past," said Soriano, who has 27 for the season. "It's a new September." It's starting to look a lot like the last one. "It's amazing," manager Lou Piniella said. "When he hits, our team seems to really respond and do well. I hope he gets another big September because we need it."

Analysis: Soriano had only four hits in his last six games, but he hadn't really struggled that much. Still, a game like Saturday's instantly classifies him as hot again, so make sure you have him active (like you even would have benched him)

Alfonso Soriano had his third career three-homer game Saturday as the Cubs beat the Reds 14-9. Soriano flied out in the first and then homered in his next three at-bats. The Cubs later got homers from Mark DeRosa and Jason Marquis to make it an 11-1 game. Soriano singled in his fifth at-bat and could have gotten one more try at a fourth homer in the ninth. However, he was replaced on defense in the bottom of the eighth. The Reds actually threatened to make a game of it by getting four runs in the eighth and four more in the ninth. However, Carlos Marmol was able to shut the team down after giving up a grand slam to Jolbert Cabrera.

Alfonso Soriano hit three home runs for the Cubs against the Reds on Saturday night. He finished the night 4-for-5 with four runs and five RBI.We should all know by now that Soriano is a streaky hitter and this is just the type of game to get him going. Look for a strong September from the left fielder.

Soriano has four homers in five September games, although it'll take quite a power surge to match last September. Soriano cranked 14 home runs, contributing to a 1.108 OPS, in September 2007. His 47.9 percent fly ball percentage is just barely above his 46.3 figure from last season, so he is putting enough balls in the air to make 14 home runs a possible, if not still doubtful, figure.

Carrie Muskat, of MLB.com, reports Chicago Cubs OF Alfonso Soriano is 8-for-36 (.222) in his career against Cincinnati Reds SP Bronson Arroyo.

News: Jim Edmonds snapped a 1-for-14 slump with a solo homer in the seventh to tie it at 7 Tuesday. The Cubs had gone three games without an extra-base hit. Alfonso Soriano reversed that trend in the first with his fourth leadoff home run of the season, and the Cubs added three solo blasts and three doubles. "We had a very good offense today," Soriano said. "I hope we come back with more energy tomorrow."

Analysis: Soriano remains a must-start outfielder in all leagues down the stretch. He is on your team at a very high cost, so you might as well let him determine your fate in Fantasy crunch time

Soriano's hit safely in seven of his last eight games, lacing three doubles and two homers with seven runs scored in that span. The stud outfielder is coming off a typically solid August in which he posted a .283 average with 10 two-baggers, five jacks and 16 RBIs in 120 at-bats. Expect similarly impressive figures from Soriano as he seeks to lift the Cubs to a National League Central title in the weeks ahead.

The Associated Press reports Chicago Cubs OF Alfonso Soriano hit his fourth leadoff home run of the season Tuesday, Sept. 2.