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March 21, 2006
Soria — Oh Hell — No!
When the Washington Nationals took the field yesterday afternoon, Alfonso Soriano didn’t go with them. When told it was leftfield or sit at home, Soriano opted for home, leaving Jim Bowden in quite the precarious situation. After trading Brad Wilkerson, Termel Sledge and Armando Galarraga for Soriano, Bowden’s left now with essentially nothing. He has no centerfielder now that Wilkerson is gone, and he has no leftfielder now that Soriano won’t play the position. All Bowden has now is a malcontent who’s trade value is at it’s lowest possible point. And all we can do is hope Omar Minaya doesn’t get tempted by that bargain basement price. Soriano has been intriguing New York media for years. Since coming up as an everyday player for the New York Yankees in 2001, and exhibiting a rare blend of power and speed, many writers have fallen in love with the guy. Calling him anything from the next Hank Aaron to the next Joe Morgan, Soriano’s talents were boasted during his years in pinstripes. And despite his many, many drawbacks, members of the assorted media have been calling for the Mets to trade for him ever since he left town in the A-Rod Deal of 2004. They wanted the Mets to trade Scott Kazmir for him, or Jose Reyes for him, or even David Wright for him. “These guys are unproven prospects!”, they’d say. “Soriano will hit you forty homeruns and steal you forty bases! Will any of those guys do that?” Now Soriano is riding the pine in Washington with the potential to land on the Inactive list, all because of his own ego and conceit. While the Mets have an enormous hole at second base right now, especially with Kazuo Matsui out for who knows how long, trading for Alfonso Soriano seems like a sweet deal to most people who look at baseball from a one-dimensional perspective. But trading for him would be an even bigger mistake then letting Jose Valentin take over the position. Though Soriano will routinely go within the first two rounds of your fantasy draft, don’t let that fool you into thinking the guy’s any kind of elite ballplayer — especially if he would land in Shea. If you can, take a look at Soriano’s seasons with the Rangers — on first glance you’ll see some nice numbers. Over his two years he averaged thirty-two homeruns, ninety runs and ninety-eight RBIs. Though he’s not returned to his days of forty-plus steals, he still manages to swipe a base with regularity and the guy is definitely rarely caught. And Soriano managed to hit .270+, which while not that great, is not a bad average out of a second baseman. But if you were to take a look at his numbers outside of Ameriquest Field, you may be surprised by what you see. In 2004, Soriano hit .244/.291/.444 on the road, though sixteen of his twenty-eight homeruns were hit there as well. In 2005, even his power was sapped however, as he managed to go a paltry .224/.265/.374, while hitting only eleven of his thirty-six homeruns outside the confines of Arlington. For a guy who’s already averaging thirty-three walks to a whopping one-hundred and twenty-three strike outs, those numbers are scary. And not the good kind of scary. Even if Soriano could hit, you have to ask yourself if this is the kind of player you’re willing to take on. Soriano has shown that he’s not willing to put the team first, regardless of how much the move will help both the team and himself. Despite the fact that he’s had since the beginning of December to learn how to play left, he’s opted to continue to play second all spring. Now, with only a handful of days left until the start of the season, Soriano is refusing to move. Though the papers and talk radio will no doubt be demanding a trade for their former glory boy after this latest debacle, this is yet another time the Mets should cover their ears and continue to go about business. With Jeff Keppinger and Anderson Hernandez around, there is no need to panic — especially for an overpaid, impatient, self-centered defensive liability who would need to make the switch from AL to NL pitchers. There’s too much wrong and not enough right for Soriano to make sense. Let the radio talk, let the writers write, and let the kids play ball. And we’ll see who’s playing in October. 117 Responses to “Soria — Oh Hell — No!”Leave a ReplyYou must be logged in to post a comment. |
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It’s a Star Trek reference. I’m not much of a fan, but Vulcans are known as the most logical race in the universe.
I look just like Buddy Holly.
How does everyone account for Soriano’s drastically awful home/road splits in 2004 and 2005? It doesn’t make any sense to me. As bad as he was on the road in 2005, Soriano was that brilliant at home: .315 with a 1.011 OPS and 25 bombs. AmeriQuest is a hitters park, but it’s not THAT much of a hitter’s park.
In 2003, with the Yankees, he had a road OPS of .917 and hit 23 homers on the road. In 2002, he hit .319 with a .934 OPS and 25 home runs on the road. So Yankee Stadium appeared to be hurting rather than helping him, and he put up some pretty sick numbers in those years with the Yankees.
How does this guy all of a sudden stop hitting on the road? I don’t know how to explain it.
I don’t think anyone’s ignoring the fact that he was a very good player with the Yankees. But he’s 30 now, and if you take the general formula that most guys peak at age 27-28 then what does that tell you? If he’s ‘only’ posting a combined .808 & .821 OPS in his last two years in TX, what will be his #s with not only half his games at Shea, but switching leagues? He posted a .639 OPS last year in away games. I would imagine anything over .800 combined in ANY national league park would be a ceiling.
There’s no doubt Sori put up some monster years with the yankees…he also stank in the postseason but I think he did hit that home run vs. arizona that would’ve won it before Mo imploded in the 9th with the throwing error.
“How does this guy all of a sudden stop hitting on the road? I don’t know how to explain it. ”
I don’t know either but honestly I do feel it has something to lack of discipline and effort. I think when he was with the yankees he had more focus because of the different intensity level of playing in new york and even for new york teams on the road.
I think he totally regressed to some degree in texas and became a hacker swinging for the fences but who knows?
It’s just too much to count on to change, our stadium would not be that kind to him, and he would have to switch to the national league which could pose a problem.
If we did get him and started him at 2B…who knows what will happen? Maybe being on the “other” team in NY and playing for Willie would really light a fire under his butt and he would become the player he was before 2003 or so…
I have to admit, it is a little tempting if they take matsui back…just a bit ;-)
Matsui for Soriano makes sense. I wonder if Washington can get a better offer than that anywhere. Matsui would benefit from the change of scenery, plus a chance to play short again would be good.
Sounds good but matsui would reject that deal in 2 seconds.Remember HAZMAT can reject any deal unless he is sent to NY BOSTON or CALI.Anybody wanna guess what Jim D was on the night he gave that contract.
Actually, Matsui for Soriano makes no sense. The Nats already have Cristian Guzman at short, and he makes $4 million a year. You think a team is going to pay $10 million for the two-headed shortstop monster of Kaz Matsui and Cristian Guzman? They’re not going to tie up that much money in two bad shortstops. They need an outfielder for Soriano.
And I’m Mary Tyler Moore?
Kazmat might agree to a Soriano for Matsui trade seeing as he isn’t deaf and has experienced the wrath of us savage fans the past two years. I think that the Nats would make that deal if Soriano remains to not concede in playing left field for another week or two. By then his trade value will be right about the Kazmat range.
This is off-topic and I’m not sure if anyone posted it yet. But I think it’s very cool and it brought out the baseball kid in me again (plus, I’ll be there on April 3 to actually witness it!). From the NY Times:
“When Jesse Orosco and Gary Carter reunite to throw the ceremonial first pitch before the Mets’ opener against the Washington Nationals on April 3, they will re-enact the jubilant scene that followed the final out of Game 7 of the 1986 World Series. Orosco will fling his glove into the air, fall to his knees and point his fists to the heavens. He will not, however, accept the onrushing Carter into his arms; his back has been acting up. So they will adjust.”This time, I’ll let Jesse jump into my arms,” Carter said in a conference call Monday.”
How the heck isn’t what you described the epitome of selfishness? One of the basic tenets of working within a team is that you place personal goals below team goals. It’s part of why we root for sports (or why I do anyway). Sometimes that means you don’t maximize your earning potential. The Expos’ main goal is not to try to maximize Soriano’s earning potential. Their job is to field the team with the best possible chance of winning, which would mean having Vidro in the lineup. Did Reyes whine when he had to move to second for Matsui? Did Trachsel refuse to pitch while the Mets kept him in an extended minor rehab? It’s not Soriano’s decision to make, it’s his job to work as hard as he can and to play as well as he can whichever role he is given. It’s absurd that Soriano thinks that everyone else should cater to his preferences, and it speaks volumes about his character.
I’ll bring this up again in another post, but Soriano is a horrible defender. Not a subpar defender, but an atrocious one. So he can’t argue that he’s actually competent at his job. If you’re lousy at what you do and your role is changed, then you suck it up and try to show that you can do something properly. Comparing his stance with what Miller was trying to do in revoking the reserve clause is heavily flawed IMO. Soriano’s not being picked on. He was a lousy 2bman, and there’s no other way to get Vidro - one of the more senior and (when healthy) better National players - into the lineup.
And how does this not hurt any organization that adds someone like this to into their fold? A team may be able to overcome it, but it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have the potential to piss people off. Let’s say you’re on the Nationals and there may be things about the team or your role that you’re not happy with. Now a newcomer comes in, decides that what the team needs doesn’t suit him, so he refuses to participate. If the team acquiesces, what kind of message does this send? Why should you bust your butt or sacrifice if not everyone else is doing so? Why should you be enthusiastic about someone who doesn’t work towards the same end as the other 24 guys? What does this say about the authority of the management? These are all issues the Mets will have to deal with if they take Soriano on. I’m not saying that Soriano would *definitely* hurt the team chemistry-wise if he comes to NY, but he certainly has the potential to. In my eyes, Soriano is the anti-Wright.
I’m going to not use the easy flaws - his salary and his lack of compliance - and just discuss his on-the-field contributions. I know that there are some defenders of his bat, but I don’t see it. PECOTA seems to have an overly optimistic projection of 2006 if WillieHaze’s number’s are correct. Here’s someone who has been in the majors for 5+ years and still can’t stay away from the breaking pitch in the dirt. His BA and OBP has been on the decline and - if the trend continues - will be sub .260 and sub .300 by this year. Once upon a time, he was a decent hitter, but that was 4 years ago. I would imagine that pitchers have stopped throwing him anything in the strike zone. During his early years, there were debates about how he would develop. No one in the history of the game has been successful with as poor a BB/KK ratio as Soriano, and now that he has gone through his prime, we know that Soriano isn’t going to buck that trend. Essentially, Soriano has gone through the maturing phase of his career still not knowing how to hit. I don’t see how this bodes well for his future.
If the Mets employed him at 2b, then they are putting one of the worst defenders there in a key defensive position. I don’t know how much to weigh defensive vs offensive contributions at 2nd base, but considering how much emphasis there has been historically at having a good glove there, I think there’s a good chance that they can be at least equal in weight. Given that, Soriano would be incompetent enough to decompensate any offensive gains with his defensive shortcomings. According to the recent Fielding Bible, Soriano is the only active 2nd baseman to be among the *worst* at 2b both last year and for the last 3 years. He’s terrible at turning the DP and has lousy range. Going by observation, I can agree with that assessment. So he’s never been a competent 2b and now all the numbers agree with that. If we’re going to raze our middle infield D and give Reyes ulcers, why don’t we go all the way on comedic value and put Diaz at 2b.
wow what a great article. Ok So I can see Shea from my window. each night game for me is like a night at great adventure. The mets is the roller coaster. although This year has a funny feeling to it. you know, with SNY coming out and all this talk about the 86′ mets. Its kinda bringing back that feeling from 86′. If your a true mets fan, I know your feeling it too. Theres a good vibe out here in Queens NY. am I the only mets fan in the world whose feeling it? all I can say is that I feel we have a good team this year with everyone on the roster already. I dont think they should trade for soriano. To me it’ll end up as the worst trade in mlb history next to the babe going to ny. I just hope that we atleast make it to the playoffs this year. I’ll be happy seeing the Mets in a playoff game. wild card or division champs doesnt matter… Just make it to October. good luck guys!
JRRM - kinda like Willie Mays Hayes doing push ups after a pop up!
You can’t put all the blame on Soriano. He never has wanted to play outfield. He doesn’t want to make a fool of himself.
This one goes onto the GM Boeden of the Nationals. Soriano has never wanted to play 2b, the Rangers wouldn’t let him talk to Soriano and in his zeal to make some sort of splash to add a big bat, he makes this stupid trade….when he already has an All-Star 2b on the team. Brilliant!
Soriano is wrong to not play, it’s insubordination. He is getting 10 mil so he should be a bat boy if they ask for that much cash. He will be deactivated and still won’t make free agency, a lose- lose situation. He will eventually have to play left.
Soriano is a lousy fielder. He struggles with pop ups. He will be an even worse left fielder and will get booed out of DC. In reality the Nats traded for a DH.
I don’t really think it is selfish of him in the sense that he doesn’t want to look foolish in the outfield, and he will. I think he figures that as a 2b his bat offsets his fielding woes since there aren’t too many 2b’s who can hit for power. As a left fielder that isn’t the case. He has been consistent all along that he wanted to be a 2b and not an outfielder. Hell, the Rangers had to move their 2b to short to make room for him. What did Bowden expect? Smiles and happiness?
I think on this one everybody has a lot of blame to bear.
Alfonso Soriano is what you call a ME player. He is the Stephon Marbury of baseball. He only cares about himself and his stats not the team trading for him is a BAD idea. Play Jeff Keppinger!
sorry folks this is kind of off topic, responding to a pervious post
Dont even listen to that fat ***hole francessa, he is the biggest anti met around. He makes calls the mets should do just to try and screw the mets up. I certainly hope Omar doesnt take thier advice. Fatcessa is so worried that the best team in NY, the Mets, will make his 250 million dollar yankees look overpaid and foolish. Him and russo are dying now, its rather funny to watch.
SNY needs to get a couple Mets fan sportscasters to do a similar show to the M & MD show on YES. Im thinking Steve Sommers just has to be one of the broadcasters with someone else, what does everyone think? Maybe even Heussler could play no 2 man. A Mets show like this would half the viewers that those two loudmouths over on Yes. There are too many informercials so far the way I see it. I know they generate $$$ for the network but what they need is better Mets content. Also I dont like the way they skip the mets game broadcasts during the day to show them at night. I certainly hope they dont do that during the regular season, nothing is worse then watching a tape delayed game.
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