I came up with this lineup against lefties1

Miles switch-hits, is defensively versatile, hit .317 in 2008, and the A's have to pay him a couple million this year, so he's worth keeping around, at least in a versatile bench role, and possibly as a platoon second baseman vs RHPs if Ellis' offensive struggles continue to worsen.. All right, so now that we have 13 players, let's take a look at the best options for the A's against right-handed pitchers, by position.Suzuki, Pennington, Davis, Sweeney, and Ellis are clearly holdovers at C, SS, CF, RF, and 2B, respectively. That leaves first base, third base, left field, and DH.Barton is the easy choice for first base, as he's a lefty bat and quality defender.I'm going to give Hairston at least a couple of months as the everyday left fielder to try to get on track. By the end of that time, Michael Taylor or Chris Carter should be ready anyway.That leaves third base and DH. I'm going to get creative and give third base to Patterson, as he's athletic, gives the team a nice shot of speed on the basepaths, and put up a .373 OBP last season.That leaves the DH slot for Chavez, Fox, Miles, Powell, or Everidge. I'm not confident in Everidge's ability to hit righties or Miles' ability to hit anyone. Powell needs to stay healthy so he can back up Suzuki all year.

That narrows it to Chavez or Fox, and I'll go with Chavez because a) he's a lefty and b) we might as well see what he can do.So all of this yields:C: Kurt Suzuki1B: Daric Barton2B: Mark Ellis3B: Eric PattersonSS: Cliff PenningtonLF: Scott HairstonCF: Rajai DavisRF: Ryan SweeneyDH: Eric ChavezThere's a lot of speed and OBP ability here It's like we're becoming the Angels or something. The lack of power in this lineup, however, is conspicuous; can you see any of these guys hitting 25 homers this year. Against lefties, Suzuki, Ellis, Pennington, Hairston, Davis, and Sweeney are pretty obvious starters. All but Hairston are pretty clear everyday players on this roster, and Hairston holds the platoon advantage against lefties, so he's an easy call.That leaves first, third, and DH.You have to get Fox and Everidge into the lineup somehow, so there can be some power somewhere. RHPs lineup.I think this lineup would hit better than the other one. It's worth noting that Suzuki has struggled with lefties throughout his career.Finally, let's take a look at the batting orders... I came up with this batting order against righties:1 3B Patterson2 1B Barton3 C Suzuki4 LF Hairston5 DH Chavez6 2B Ellis7 RF Sweeney8 CF Davis9.

SS PenningtonPatterson and Barton had .373 and .372 OBPs last year, respectively, so they form the top of the order. Suzuki, Hairston, and Chavez are the closest things this lineup has to power guys, so they fill out the middle.I went with Ellis-Sweeney-Davis-Pennington at the bottom, but that order probably isn't much better than any other.. I came up with this lineup against lefties:1. CF Davis2. SS Pennington3. DH Everidge4. 3B Fox5. LF Hairston6. 2B Ellis7. C Suzuki8. 1B Barton9. RF SweeneyEveridge, Fox, and Hairston, as I said, make for a better "heart of the order" than the righties lineup, but the absence of Patterson's nice OBP and my wariness of Barton's ability vs. LHPs (while he's hit them better than righties in the majors, he didn't in the minors) forced me to revamp the top of the order.

Davis and Pennington both provide speed and selectivity, at least. Again, the bottom of the order hitters are somewhat indistinguishable in terms of overall productivity.. The Steelers' playoff hopes have been written off. This is understandable since they have struggled so mightily over the last five games. But it is still premature. They really don't need any miracles to get into the playoffs. If they win out (which might be the biggest miracle required), they'll have a decent shot.They are solely playing for the sixth seed at this point and are competing for that last spot against a bunch of average teams who lose on a regular basis. In fact, all of the teams competing for the final spot lose as often as they win. This is the factor that is too often being overlooked. Not only is it possible that most of the teams competing for the final spot will lose one to two more games, it is likely.And the Steelers have lost a lot of very close games. They are certainly capable of beating the three teams who they still have on their schedule. In fact, now that they think they are out of contention, I expect that they will beat the Packers. Just a hunch.The Steelers will likely benefit from the tougher competition the next three games will deliver. This is a team that seems to shine against better opponents. There isn't a Chiefs, Raiders or Browns in the bunch.If the Steelers win out, they will finish ahead of the Dolphins. It is a mathematical certainty, so they control their own destiny in that case.What else do they need to happenThey need the Jaguars to drop one more. With the Patriots on deck, this seems likely. The Patriots may be struggling a bit, but they are better than the Jaguars and need the win. If the Jags get by the Patriots, the Browns will be the last line of defense. The Browns are improving and are capable of beating the Jags at home.The Steelers need the Jets to lose twice, which sounds more daunting that it is in reality. The Jets finish against Atlanta, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati. While they probably will win one of those, I don't think they'll beat both Atlanta and the Bengals, especially since the Bengals may still be playing for playoff positioning at that point. The Steelers need the Ravens to lose to either the Raiders or the Bears. This is the least likely of the scenarios, but the Ravens are a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde team. They are quite capable of losing to either of those squads. In fact, I'd be mildly surprised if they beat both teams based on their up and down tendencies.The Steelers will not get much help from the tiebreakers unless they finish tied at 9-7 with either the Dolphins or the Broncos, but not both. They own the first tiebreaker against both teams but would lose in a three-way tiebreaker situation.In fact, the Steelers will lose in nearly all three way tiebreaker scenarios. But, the Broncos are not likely to lose out so that probably isn't going to happen.If the above scenarios happen, the Steelers will sneak in. As crazy as it sounds, they actually have an easier road to the playoffs than they did in 2005 following their three game skid that year.Can lightning strike the same team twice Sure, why notSo, it is still too early to talk about resting starters in favor of younger players.Keep the faith, at least until the Steelers lose one more.. Cincinnati was shut out of the BCS National Championship game this year despite having an unblemished 12-0 record.There are a number of reasons for this. One is that they just aren't a "big-time" university and not a "big-time" program. Many would say Cincinnati has no football tradition, that they play in a crappy 35,000 seat hole in the ground.