Alfonso Soriano. One of baseball's big mistakes. The Cubs gave him that big deal and he hasn't lived up to it. Now I think we're heading into the fourth consecutive year of the Cubs trying to dump Soriano on someone else. And hey, the Angels were able to do it with Vernon Wells so is this finally the year it gets done with Alfonso? And could it be to the Pirates?
Well, we all know the book on Soriano. Big power, ok average, awful defense, big strikeouts. His power is undeniable and is evidenced by the two homers he crushed today off of Charlie Morton. On the year, Soriano now has a slash of .256/.280/.425 for an OPS of .705 with a now 12 HRs and 43 RBIs after today. The power is there but the whole package isn't. His career average slash is .272/.321/.502 for an OPS of .823. He's still a hitter. Now the big thing I like to look at is production with runners in scoring position, which is the Pirates biggest weakness. Soriano stacks up with a slash of .253/.289/.470 for an OPS of .759 this year and a slash of .259/.329/.476 and OPS of .805 for his career. So he could pick up the OBP a bit but he's not getting that much better in that department. It's not bad but it's not good either. It could be good for a woeful Pirates team with RISP though. The one thing Soriano has going for him though is he is a second half player. He's a lot like Derrek Lee was when we brought him in. Slow start but huge finish. Last year after the All-Star break he dropped his average about .010 but boosted his OPS from .792 to .853 thanks to a huge boost in his slugging percentage. And after the All-Star breaks the past two years, he has combined to hit 27 HRs in that span. So if the Bucs could tap into that second half surge and get runners on base during that time, they could be in business.
When you're dealing with this type of player there are bound to be some issues and I see a few. First is that you're basically buying him for the power and hoping he keeps his second half surges going because he's not going to get on base a lot and he'll strike out a ton. The Pirates did this with Derrek Lee and struck gold so I guess lightning could strike twice. Second thing I don't like is that monster contract. Sure, the Cubs will basically pay all of it but it's only the seventh year if his eight year deal. If he flops, I don't want him hanging around here for another year. Lastly, I have doubts about what he brings to a locker room. I honestly feel that the guy could be a cancer. He has had multiple opportunities to go to a contender (Giants and Pirates both had deals for him last year) and he declined with his veto power (though he said he waived it for San Fran before the Pence trade). His reasoning? He likes Chicago. He doesn't seem to care about winning. Only getting a paycheck and being selfish. I could be totally off base but if I'm right, do you want that around for a year and a half?
The Pirates will have to answer a lot of questions if they're going to go after Soriano. I wouldn't mind if they brought him in because of his cheap price and power bat and I would trust NH, who has done an unbelievable job this season, that all of those question marks are ok. I've wanted the Pirates to consider Soriano for the past two seasons but the market is stronger this year with guys like Schierholtz and Ibañez looking like better fits. But if the Pirates can't get them, Soriano would be a nice consolation prize.
Tomorrow's trade target will be OF Marlon Byrd
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