Soriano... Maybe if it Were Rafael
The big topic of convo today amongst my nearest and dearest fans of the orange and blue has been the speculation that the Mets might go after Alfonso Soriano, who receently refused to play left field for the Washington Nationals.
Kenny from Camp threw out some hypotheticals to me, notable Soriano for Kaz Matsui and Victor Diaz.
On paper it seems like a great trade. It makes sense both for the present and for the future. This isn't the Knicks getting the best player in the deal but screwing up their future.
Soriano is on a 1 yr deal, for 10 million dollars. The guy's in his walk year and wants to enter free agency as a big hitting second basemen, which has been a decidedly scarce resource in Major League Baseball since Bret Boone got off the juice.
Indeed, as a 2b Soriano's numbers are down right sick, at least offensively. How many 2b hit you 30-35 hr and drive in 100 runs while stealing 20-30 bases? Not too many.
But as an outfielder he has flaws. There are enough 30 HR-100 RBI guys in corner outfield spots to render his numbers, if not pedestrian, then nothing altogether extraordinary. Soriano and his representation must know that, and they know that come contract time he may not be worth 12 mil per season as a leftfielder.
So Soriano to the Mets...My thoughts. In all honesty, I don't want to see it happen.
Before the deal for Delgado and Nady, maybe, but not anymore.
The Mets are getting really close to that perfect fantasy lineup. Everyone on the team can go for 30-100 and all of a sudden we are creaming ourselves.
But that is not what wins baseball. How many World Series have the Yankees won since they put together their murderers row? The answer is 0 (as per the Curse, naturally).
Contrary to popular belief, a baseball team needs chemistry. Sure, it's not like basketball where a set play is affected by all 5 guys on the court. Still, there is more to baseball than just the individual at the plate and the pitcher on the mound.
Little things make a baseball team win. Joe Torre has spent the last 5 years trying to manage the egos of his players, and while he seems to have done an admirable enough job of that, those egos still limit his ability to manage a game. Indeed, he can't well signal for a sac bunt in a certain situation when his 6 hitter, who happens to be a former MVP, is at bat.
He can't call for a hit and run because his 9 hitter, Robinson Cano, can hit the ball out of the park, but doesn't make enough contact.
Bringing in Soriano would no doubt bring the Mets another thunderous bat. Their lineup top to bottom would be devastating.
But the lineup would be a team of individuals. Willie Randolph couldn't manage this team, his players would just have to perform. Soriano is exactly that type of player: the guy can sock dingers and thus drive in runners, but when he's not doing that his .309 batting average suggests he's probably sitting on the pine.
This is not a winning formula for baseball and it never will be. Couple all that with Soriano's shoddy defense at a defensive priority position for the Mets and Soriano seems like less and less of a good idea. (That is, given Delgado's limited range, a slick fielding second baseman would add run-differential value even if he were the team's 8 hitter. No matter how athletic he looks, Soriano is a shitty fielder.)
So Soriano? Sure! If it were the Mariners hard throwing RHP (a few arm surgeries ago) Rafael Soriano, then we'd be talking.
Because right now this bullpen is a huge problem.
Jorge Julio looks about as bad as he could and all of a sudden not 1 (Cameron) but 2 of Wheel and Deal's offseason maneuvers are looking very bad. Although in fairness Nady has been killing the ball in Spring Training so maybe there's hope for that deal yet.
This is the main reason why I'd like to see Heilman in the Pen. More on that though Thursday and Friday.
12 days till opening day!!!
VCD,
SM
Kenny from Camp threw out some hypotheticals to me, notable Soriano for Kaz Matsui and Victor Diaz.
On paper it seems like a great trade. It makes sense both for the present and for the future. This isn't the Knicks getting the best player in the deal but screwing up their future.
Soriano is on a 1 yr deal, for 10 million dollars. The guy's in his walk year and wants to enter free agency as a big hitting second basemen, which has been a decidedly scarce resource in Major League Baseball since Bret Boone got off the juice.
Indeed, as a 2b Soriano's numbers are down right sick, at least offensively. How many 2b hit you 30-35 hr and drive in 100 runs while stealing 20-30 bases? Not too many.
But as an outfielder he has flaws. There are enough 30 HR-100 RBI guys in corner outfield spots to render his numbers, if not pedestrian, then nothing altogether extraordinary. Soriano and his representation must know that, and they know that come contract time he may not be worth 12 mil per season as a leftfielder.
So Soriano to the Mets...My thoughts. In all honesty, I don't want to see it happen.
Before the deal for Delgado and Nady, maybe, but not anymore.
The Mets are getting really close to that perfect fantasy lineup. Everyone on the team can go for 30-100 and all of a sudden we are creaming ourselves.
But that is not what wins baseball. How many World Series have the Yankees won since they put together their murderers row? The answer is 0 (as per the Curse, naturally).
Contrary to popular belief, a baseball team needs chemistry. Sure, it's not like basketball where a set play is affected by all 5 guys on the court. Still, there is more to baseball than just the individual at the plate and the pitcher on the mound.
Little things make a baseball team win. Joe Torre has spent the last 5 years trying to manage the egos of his players, and while he seems to have done an admirable enough job of that, those egos still limit his ability to manage a game. Indeed, he can't well signal for a sac bunt in a certain situation when his 6 hitter, who happens to be a former MVP, is at bat.
He can't call for a hit and run because his 9 hitter, Robinson Cano, can hit the ball out of the park, but doesn't make enough contact.
Bringing in Soriano would no doubt bring the Mets another thunderous bat. Their lineup top to bottom would be devastating.
But the lineup would be a team of individuals. Willie Randolph couldn't manage this team, his players would just have to perform. Soriano is exactly that type of player: the guy can sock dingers and thus drive in runners, but when he's not doing that his .309 batting average suggests he's probably sitting on the pine.
This is not a winning formula for baseball and it never will be. Couple all that with Soriano's shoddy defense at a defensive priority position for the Mets and Soriano seems like less and less of a good idea. (That is, given Delgado's limited range, a slick fielding second baseman would add run-differential value even if he were the team's 8 hitter. No matter how athletic he looks, Soriano is a shitty fielder.)
So Soriano? Sure! If it were the Mariners hard throwing RHP (a few arm surgeries ago) Rafael Soriano, then we'd be talking.
Because right now this bullpen is a huge problem.
Jorge Julio looks about as bad as he could and all of a sudden not 1 (Cameron) but 2 of Wheel and Deal's offseason maneuvers are looking very bad. Although in fairness Nady has been killing the ball in Spring Training so maybe there's hope for that deal yet.
This is the main reason why I'd like to see Heilman in the Pen. More on that though Thursday and Friday.
12 days till opening day!!!
VCD,
SM
posted by Sippy Momo at 2:11 AM
2 Comments:
All apologies to Kenny from Camp, but there is no way the Nationals go for a swap of Alfonso Soriano that involves Kaz Matsui. The problem they have now is that they've got two second basemen, so they can't use him there. As for acquiring him to take over for Christian Guzman, that seems like a long shot. As bad as Guzman was last year (and in fairness, he was absolutely horrible), it doesn't change the fact that Kaz is owed $8 million in spite of the fact that he's a horrible fielder and a bust with the bat. I can't see the Nationals accepting a trade for lesser value unless they stood to net positive dividends payroll-wise or legit prospects in the deal. As it is, this theoretical trade does neither.
I could see a package of Victor Diaz plus someone else (I'm not familiar enough with their needs frankly to know what other piece they would be seeking, but it would probably be pitching), but I just can't see this KazMat/Diaz-for-Soriano deal happening.
fart you're absolutely right in that assessment. in the event that (as WFAN was jizzing about yesterday) diaz/matsui for soriano could actually happen in the real world, however, you would have to be absolutely fucking bonkers to not take it asap. all this diaz is worth more in the trade market than pulling in soriano talk polluting metsblog is mental - if you have the chance to add sori you do. i have to say that i can't see the addition of 10 extra errors a year (compared to anderson hernandez) and 25+ more homeruns and the protection floyd or whoever would now enjoy (assuming sori hit 6ish) as something that would hurt our team's chances... please. but, of course, it won't happen anyways. i'm making my piece with anderson hernandez. let's hope for .265.
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