Alfonso Soriano

every_yard

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2006
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First, I must say that I do agree with everyone that the Soriano's contract with the Cubs is not a good one from the Cubs perspective; however, I do not agree with everyone who thinks Soriano is an awful player for the Cubs. By all accounts, Soriano has been a great leader and hard worker during his time with the Cubs. Not only that, but he has put up solid numbers (although not worthy of his ridiculous paycheck) and has improved his defense (impressive considering he is getting old in baseball terms). Basically, I wish people would rip on the Cubs for the terrible deal they made with Soriano instead of ripping Soriano. Soriano continues to be one of my favorite Cubs and I will miss him when he is gone. I am grateful for his time with the Cubs.
 
I've warmed back up to Soriano. When he has those hot streaks, he is still dominant. That's only for a stretch, but it's really magical to see.

He'll never be a great defender, but he's not awful. The problem is more with the concept of these inflated contracts. I don't blame him for signing. Apparently, that was market value for him, so I don't blame the Cubs either.

Curious to see what the next few days bring. I assume he's moving on, and (if so) I hope that's great for him, and that we get a good deal.
 
I think most people would love Sori if he took a 90% pay cut.
 
Where do Fukudome and Garciapara's rank?
Nomar wasn't a terrible player for the cubs. Fukodome only made like a 4th of what Soriano is. Nomar just had terrible luck injury wise, but was productive when he played.
 
It's a bad contract, but I agree that he can still produce. His numbers last year weren't bad at all.

This regime has shown they will eat some money on a contract. I can think of a couple of knucklehead pitchers that were invited to leave the team. The fact Soriano is still on the squad at all shows he's a good asset to have around
 
$17m per year was an acceptable price for Soriano when the deal was signed. But the mistake was signing a 30 year old player to an 8 year contract at $17m/year. There was no chance he could live up to that contract, and it turned fans against him.

But with no Salary Cap in MLB, the only thing the contract value has to hurt is the owners. His contract never explicitly prevented the acquisition of any free agents.
 
First, I must say that I do agree with everyone that the Soriano's contract with the Cubs is not a good one from the Cubs perspective; however, I do not agree with everyone who thinks Soriano is an awful player for the Cubs. By all accounts, Soriano has been a great leader and hard worker during his time with the Cubs. Not only that, but he has put up solid numbers (although not worthy of his ridiculous paycheck) and has improved his defense (impressive considering he is getting old in baseball terms). Basically, I wish people would rip on the Cubs for the terrible deal they made with Soriano instead of ripping Soriano. Soriano continues to be one of my favorite Cubs and I will miss him when he is gone. I am grateful for his time with the Cubs.


In similar news, Kirk Ferentz also worked really hard for those 4 wins last season for the Hoks. Let's forget the fact that they each cost $950,000+. He's a leader and I am grateful for him.
 
I don't doubt for second Soriano plays hard and is a good teammate. He also has a little pop left in his bat as we have seen in the last few weeks. However, when you sign a contract for 18 million a year you bring on any criticism that comes your way. The Cubs former regime is most culpable in this, having agreed to such a ridiculous contract, but I don't feel sorry for Soriano in any way. He knew when he signed that contract that for that money, he better hit over .300 and better be good for 35-40 homers a year.
 

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