I'm not going to take the bat out of his hands like I did last year. He gave himself up once or twice a game, and that's why I want to drop him down in the lineup. He is a great RBI man and this will give him a chance to hit more home runs.

It depends on how they swing the bat. Whoever swings the bat better will move up. I can wiggle and play with my lineup. If A.J. swings well, I want A.J. to protect Dye. If not, I want Iguchi to do it.

It was the right guy at that particular time. I say whoever swings the bat better, that's when he will move up.

He swings the bat real good at the right moment, especially when we need it.

We have a better bench, a better rotation, and having Thome swing the bat the way he is now, he'll really help our team. But when you win the world championship, you can't say this team is better. That's not fair.

I feel that we have a better lineup than we're showing. But we have been really struggling the last week and a half. No one in our lineup is swinging the bat well right now. I think some of the guys are trying too hard and good things are just not happening for us right now.