per espn.com

11/19/2006 3:16:49 PM

Hell yeah!

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2668465

Quote :

"CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs' ownership is showing new manager Lou Piniella that they are serious about winning. Alfonso Soriano Left Field Washington Nationals Profile 2006 SEASON STATISTICS GM HR RBI R OBP AVG 159 46 95 119 .351 .277 Chicago radio station ESPN 1000 reported Sunday that the Cubs have agreed to an eight-year contract worth approximately $136 million with outfielder Alfonso Soriano. The move would clearly mark the highlight in an already busy offseason for the Cubs, who have signed free-agent infielder Mark DeRosa and have re-signed third baseman Aramis Ramirez and righthander Kerry Wood. But the biggest prize is Soriano, who is coming off an outstanding all-around season for the Washington Nationals in which he hit .277 with 46 home runs and 95 RBI. The 30-year-old ranked third in the National League in homers and also stole 41 bases -- the sixth-highest total in the circuit. After complaining in spring training about having to move from second base to left field, Soriano blossomed in his new surroundings. He led the league with 22 outfield assists, six more than his closest competitor, and displayed respectable range for a converted infielder. Soriano became the first player in baseball history with 40 home runs, 40 stolen bases and 20 outfield assists in a single season. He also became the first member of the 40-40-40 club, which encapsulates homers, stolen bases and doubles. An All-Star in each of the last five years, Soriano owns a .280 average with 208 home runs and 560 RBI in eight seasons with the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers and the Nationals. Soriano won the AL Rookie of the Year award with the Yankees in 2001, when he hit .268 with 18 homers and 73 RBI. He finished third in MVP voting the following season, when he increased his average to .300 and collected 39 homers and 102 RBI."

11/19/2006 3:19:16 PM

^soriano did NOT win the rookie of the year in 2001. A player named Ichiro Suzuki did. they fucked up.

11/19/2006 3:40:09 PM

they're still the cubs

11/19/2006 3:49:06 PM

I'm glad.

I like when the CUbs are in a race since they're on tv all the time

11/19/2006 4:00:04 PM

this will not make them contenders, but it will make them a bit better and will give hope to their fans

11/19/2006 4:02:01 PM

soriano will be a beast in that park. As a Yankee fan, I am glad to see him stay in the NL so we dotn have to face him anymore.

11/19/2006 4:03:46 PM

woo hoo

11/19/2006 5:59:41 PM

DAMN those yankees for spending all that money each year to buy their teams!!!! OOPS wait so far this year they haven't spent a bunch of money. Wait they spent 51 million just to talk to a prospective player. Thats crazy how is major league baseball letting them get away, OOOPS yeah that was Boston, who says the Yankees buy their teams and spend to much money. Well you know they are still a evil team that should be hated right?? or maybe not they did trade a starting pitcher for 3 minor league pitchers.

11/19/2006 7:43:35 PM

their pitching still sucks (cubs)


^ it's early dumbass

[Edited on November 19, 2006 at 7:44 PM. Reason : .]

11/19/2006 7:44:13 PM

Wonderful!

11/19/2006 7:55:02 PM

^^^ There's a BIT of truth do your post, but don't start spewing that shit until any other team in baseball comes even close to the yearly salary of the Yankees, no matter what might be happening in the market right this second.

11/19/2006 7:56:51 PM

iirc, the yankers still put in around 31 mil to talk to that pitcher, so their hands aren't completely clean

11/19/2006 9:54:16 PM

i hate the cubs, and i hate their fans worse

and piniella is not going to take you to the promised land, sorry

11/19/2006 9:55:21 PM

^^and so did 2-3 other teams, yahoo.

11/19/2006 11:07:53 PM

that is a lot of cash money

11/19/2006 11:15:46 PM

im sure its on here somewhere but dont feel like looking around.. where does that money they paid just to "negotiate a contract" go to? his team in Japan?

11/19/2006 11:54:13 PM

Yup. If Boston signs him, that'll function kind of like a buy-out. If they don't sign him, they get their $51.1 million back.

11/20/2006 10:15:32 AM

The idea of signing Soriano to 8 years was dumb IMO, but atleast the Cubs are trying. They are following the Texas Rangers blue print of mediocrity (i.e. spend a ton on hitters and pin all of your pitching hopes on aging and over-injured pitchers).

11/20/2006 10:19:35 AM

yeah, its crazy that hes already 31... I could see a 4-6 year contract, but 8?? Well, good luck Cubs, I have always had a softspot for them, poor team

11/20/2006 10:43:57 AM

two years from now the Cubs will be complaining about being tied up by this huge, untradeable contract. then they'll eat half the salary when they ship Soriano to Orioles for 3 minor league pitchers.

i think the move is a stretch, but at least they didn't lay down big bucks for Carlos Lee.

11/20/2006 11:14:38 AM

Quote :

"^^and so did 2-3 other teams, yahoo."

Red Sox: 52MM
Mets: 38MM
Yankees: 31MM

--------------------

Anyhow, on to Soriano. What the FUCK are the Cubs thinking? Jesus christ, way to completely fuck up the market for everyone else and probably piss off Aramis Ramirez in the process. Soriano hits with a ton of power and scores a lot of runs but also is questionable in the field, strikes out a TON, and is a horrible hitter in clutch situations. He'll be making $17MM+ at 39. How ridiculous is that? He is making more than Beltran and isn't near the all around player.. I'm so glad the Mets stayed away from this.

Give me Alou for one year at 7.5-8MM and then let of the super prospects take over anyday of the week over this contract mess. I guess there is a reason the Cubs are always baseball's bitch.

11/20/2006 11:17:42 AM

You guys are crazy

he's 30, not 31

yeah its a big deal, but they can worry about that in 6 years if need-be

11/20/2006 11:27:09 AM

I guess if Soriano gets on the juice like Bonds, he can be productive at 38. Most baseball players, especially power hitters, begin to really slow down around age 35 so the Cubs are going to be stuck for ~3-4 years with a guy making $17 million and not able to hit his age in HRs.



[Edited on November 20, 2006 at 11:57 AM. Reason : r]

11/20/2006 11:49:28 AM

^^ off by a year faggot, and I think he will be 31 by the time the season starts

11/20/2006 11:51:24 AM

Anyone who mentions Soriano's "poor" fielding ability needs to shut the fuck up. He's not bad, both anecdotally and statistically. Bring something a little bit better than your pathetic sophomoric analysis.

11/20/2006 11:53:57 AM

Overreact any? I said he was 'questionable' in the field and he is. I didn't say poor. I don't care what this article says, he led in OF assists because people ran on him more simply because they thought he was going to be god awful. He takes bad routes and he gets bad jumps. Compared to most natural outfielders he is below average at both.

[Edited on November 20, 2006 at 12:02 PM. Reason : Soriano turns 31 in 1.5 months]

11/20/2006 11:58:32 AM

He's not a liability in the field, plain and simple. Sure, he's not a five tool player but this guy can chase both the HR and SB titles. He's a better version of Carlos Beltran. He is the epitome of someone you'd overpay. The Cubs, as much as I hate them, are going to be an 80+ win team this year as long as they pick up a decent SP.



[Edited on November 20, 2006 at 12:05 PM. Reason : .]

11/20/2006 12:04:15 PM

^ Soriano is not better than Beltran. Beltran can hit for an average and doesn't strike out once per game. Plus Beltran can take a walk unlike Soriano who just swings at everything. I'll take a high OPS guy like Beltran over Soriano every time.

11/20/2006 12:08:04 PM

Beltran is a gold glove center fielder. If he was an average to mediocre defensive corner OFer I'd agree with you. You simply don't get that kind of production out of CF that Beltran gives you. There are MAYBE 2 other center fielders in baseball that have EVEN CLOSE to what Beltran has, Andruw Jones and Vernon Wells (though Wells needs to do it consistently). If Soriano bats 3rd or 4th then he won't have near 40 SB. Beltran could have that many but it makes no sense running when you have Delgado and Wright behind you.

** I think Soriano is an exceptional offensive player. He probably has more power than Beltran from year to year but he is doing it in a position where that isn't all that out of the ordinary. Think about the power hitting corner outfielders -- Dye, Manny, Vlad, Soriano, etc, etc.

^ Beltran isn't really a high average guy. .280-.290 generally, but he'll get on base at a very high clip; especially with the protection he gets

[Edited on November 20, 2006 at 12:12 PM. Reason : x]

11/20/2006 12:09:28 PM

Quote :

"I'll take a high OPS guy like Beltran over Soriano every time."

[insert NLCS bat-on-the-shoulder joke here]

seriously though, as a fan of the 2006 braves i can tell you the cubs could sign 25 soriano's and it wouldn't matter a bit if their pitching is still shit

and by resigning wood, even if he's in the pen, their pitching staff is on the road to shittytown

11/20/2006 12:10:25 PM

Soriano came into 2006 with these exact same complaints and completely shattered previous records. And yet it's going to be 2007 with these exact same complaints.

Beltran is a solid CF, but he's no Griffey Jr. at his prime. Personally, I think he's overrated. He had a good postseason and took it to the bank. Soriano had a sick SEASON even after starting pretty awful in 2006.

11/20/2006 12:12:13 PM

BELTRAN ISN'T MICKEY MANTLE SO SORIANO IS BETTER

wtf is crede saying

11/20/2006 12:13:50 PM

Quote :

"Personally, I think he's overrated. He had a good postseason and took it to the bank."

You should know better than that. He played against your team 19 times a year as a young player.

He is the only player in major league history to have 100 RBIs, 100 runs scored, 20 HRs, and 25 SB in each of his first 5 full major league seasons (he was injured in, I believe, his 3rd season and only played ~90 games). That was before he was fully developed and in his prime.

He is really just now entering his primes years and his power his further developing and he has ALWAYS been a clutch hitter, both in average and timing. Oh, not to mention he plays a gold glove centerfield, where offense isn't the premium generally.

V One AB doesnt chage that. Oh yeah, he smacks around the Braves like no one else too.

[Edited on November 20, 2006 at 12:20 PM. Reason : x]

11/20/2006 12:18:46 PM

Quote :

"he has ALWAYS been a clutch hitter, both in average and timing."

ahahahahahahahaahhahahahaha

i disagree

11/20/2006 12:19:58 PM

Don't you think Beltran has failed to live up to expectations in NY? I do.

I would take Soriano over Beltran in a heartbeat. He made the Montreal Expos at least halfway competitive in the NL East.

11/20/2006 12:47:01 PM

hey crede

take a look at the calendar, it's 2006

beltran set career marks in HR, RBI, OBP, and SLG

i can't believe i'm arguing for carlos beltran

--

also, the natspos finished dead last in the east, TWENTY SIX GAMES BEHIND THE CARLOS BETRANS

go back the AL, homie

[Edited on November 20, 2006 at 12:59 PM. Reason : ]

11/20/2006 12:52:49 PM

Take a look at 2005.

11 more games played, 16 HR, 78 RBI, .266/.330/.744.

Consistency. Soriano has been solid in all categories since 2002.

11/20/2006 12:59:09 PM

ha

that's some dumb logic

mo vaughn was awesome in 1998, he must be awesome now

11/20/2006 1:00:34 PM

On the surface 2005 probably seemed like a disappointment but that's only if you have no idea what happened that year. He tore his quad in late April (at a fucking game i was at) playing on the worst field I've ever seen. There were literally puddles of water on the infield and the warning track looked like a river. He caught a ball on the track in the gap and just buckled. He was playing on one leg for 2.5 months after that. Then he broke his face colliding with Cameron in the OF ... and only missed 2 weeks but was no where near 100%.

Last year is the Beltran I'd expect to see going forward.

[Edited on November 20, 2006 at 1:02 PM. Reason : x]

11/20/2006 1:02:05 PM

Quote :

"11 more games played"

11/20/2006 1:05:39 PM

Quote :

" tore his quad"

Quote :

" broke his face"

11/20/2006 1:06:23 PM

Apologists. He felt the NY pressure and buckled. He needed a solid team like the 2006 Mets to relieve this pressure.

Quote :

"He was playing on one leg for 2.5 months after that."

There is absolutely NO WAY a sound MLB GM would let this happen, especially right after drafting a multi-year multi-million contract. C'mon.

[Edited on November 20, 2006 at 1:13 PM. Reason : .]

11/20/2006 1:07:06 PM

regardless he fucking it lit it up

11/20/2006 1:08:08 PM

I'm not saying Beltran is bad. He's in the top 5% of all MLB players. His gold glove winnings have proven he's an all-around player. He's also a standup guy, from what I've read. I just don't think he's on the top tier with A-Rod, Man-ram, Ortiz, etc. in terms of offensive production. Soriano, I beleive, is closer to that tier than Beltran... and the market has paid for it.

11/20/2006 1:14:41 PM