I'm not always in agreement with Phil here... but I'd be willing to take a chance with Soriano too...
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Talent makes Soriano little risk
Cubs need to expand payroll to snare him from Nationals, writes Phil Rogers
Published March 22, 2006
MESA, Ariz. -- Alfonso Soriano is not a jerk. He is not a malingerer or the second coming of Dennis Rodman. He's just a stubborn kid with some pride who won't be treated like cattle.
He also can hit like crazy and run like he's late for dinner. He would be a dynamic force in a Cubs lineup that is unlikely to get the attention of the St. Louis Cardinals or anyone else.
Let's see, Soriano or Jerry Hairston? Soriano or Todd Walker? Soriano or Neifi Perez?
This one isn't that complicated, fellas.
Soriano has gone to two World Series in seven seasons in the major leagues and never caused problems for managers Joe Torre or Buck Showalter. The only time he ever has balked at a request is when his team wanted him to change positions, and would you want to move when you are an All-Star every year at your position?
Soriano has been one four years in a row.
Jim Hendry ought to find a way to get him to HoHoKam Park by the weekend. The Cubs' general manager was clever enough to orchestrate the four-team deal for Nomar Garciaparra at the deadline in 2004. He should be able to use the Washington Nationals' current discomfort to lower the price for Soriano to reasonable, or at least palatable.
Oh, you can find a dozen reasons to let Nationals GM Jim Bowden stew in the juices of the ludicrous decision he made to trade for Soriano without his agreeing to move to left field. It might be just to punish Bowden and Soriano for their roles in a debacle that is making Soriano look as selfish as it makes Bowden look foolish. But baseball in the era of the $100 million payroll isn't about fairness.
It's about winning. It's about greed. It's about power.
And thus it would be perfectly fitting—and downright exciting, from the point of view of the guys in the $60 bleacher seats—for the Cubs to throw the weight of their ownership and newly expanded ballpark behind obtaining Soriano from the ownerless Nationals, who somehow have remained the responsibility of Major League Baseball (although an ownership deal could be announced by the end of spring training).
The Nationals are desperate to move Soriano. The Cubs should be just as desperate to get him. Second basemen who hit .290 with 40 homers and 100-plus RBIs don't come around too often.
Jeff Kent hit .334 with 33 homers and 125 RBIs in 2000 and was named most valuable player. Soriano is capable of delivering that kind of impact hitting in tandem with Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez and Juan Pierre.
There's a perception Soriano could be a clubhouse problem, but he never was in New York or Texas. If Dusty Baker could keep Kent and Barry Bonds working together in San Francisco, he should be able to handle Soriano and anyone who might be ruffled.
"Sorey's really a good kid, a good person," one of his former coaches said. "He's never a problem. He works hard. This is his free-agent year coming up, and I think he's ready to have a big, big year."
Hendry declined to discuss Soriano before Tuesday's rain-shortened 4-4 tie with Milwaukee, correctly explaining Soriano remains the Nationals' property. While it's clear the Cubs are one of the top targets for Bowden in any trade, it's unclear how aggressive Hendry will be.
Soriano's pattern of committing almost an error a week worries Hendry, who wants to play quality fielders behind Greg Maddux, Glendon Rusch and Jerome Williams. But the thing that scares Hendry the most is trading for another team's $10 million problem.
That's a big salary to add. It would be better to have the Nationals pay as much of it as possible to buy their way out of the dilemma they created when the added Soriano to a team that already had Jose Vidro. But the more the Nationals pay, the better talent they will have to get in return.
Based on the promise of 6-foot-7-inch left-hander Sean Marshall, who threw three scoreless innings against Milwaukee and has 61/3 scoreless innings this spring, the Cubs might be willing to include formerly untouchable lefty Rich Hill and Walker in a package for Soriano. But they should hang on to as much talent as they can and instead increase the payroll.
The Cubs have about $90 million committed to 20 players (not counting reachable incentives), which is more than $10 million less than they paid a year ago, including the hit they took with Sammy Sosa. Club President Andy MacPhail has said all along that revenue from any ballpark improvements would go back into payroll, which makes you wonder what happens to revenue from the attendance increase of almost 150,000 they should get from the bigger bleachers.
Maybe they are planning on a wild spending spree at the trade deadline. But when you open the season with Mark Prior, Kerry Wood and Wade Miller on the disabled list, the focus should be April and May, not August and September.
Besides, when you already have given up three good young pitchers for an outfielder in his walk year (Pierre), when the manager and general manager are in the last years of their contracts and, yes, when you haven't won a World Series since 1908, it's time to put the hammer down.
The Nationals say they will put Soriano on the disqualified list if he doesn't play left field Wednesday. The Cubs ought to offer them a way out before an ugly story gets even uglier.
progers@tribune.com
`How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.
