Will Soriano ever be healthy?

[Sammy Sofa]

Well, yeah, obviously. A contract that insane is only "justified" if he duplicates a 40/40 season. It's pretty much impossible to justify that contract, and his injury, to me, does little to make it any worse than it already is. It just means he'll steal fewer bases...he's still above average speed-wise, and would likely still score around the same number of runs whether he's advanced a base through a steal or not.

 

The injury means more than fewer SB, it means missed time, which has already happened and likely will continue to happen.

 

Maybe. Or maybe not attempting to steal as many bases will help avoid significant DL time.

 

Stealing wasn't what hurt him in the first place.

 

Never said it was.

[jersey cubs fan]

nevermind that a 5 year deal probably wouldn't have gotten us Soriano to begin with.

 

That only matters if there was some sort of rule that said they had to sign him in the first place.

 

It was only Jim Hendry's incompetence that put him in a position where he felt so desperate to make the signing.

[seanimal]

nevermind that a 5 year deal probably wouldn't have gotten us Soriano to begin with.

 

That only matters if there was some sort of rule that said they had to sign him in the first place.

 

It was only Jim Hendry's incompetence that put him in a position where he felt so desperate to make the signing.

 

And there it is. Unless we can somehow convince ourselves that how many ever millions we're going to be giving this guy for seasons age 35-40 aren't going to be a waste because our revenue streams rival that of Microsoft, that is A LOT of money that could be going elsewhere. Arguing otherwise is ridiculous.

[Sammy Sofa]

nevermind that a 5 year deal probably wouldn't have gotten us Soriano to begin with.

 

That only matters if there was some sort of rule that said they had to sign him in the first place.

 

It was only Jim Hendry's incompetence that put him in a position where he felt so desperate to make the signing.

 

And there it is. Unless we can somehow convince ourselves that how many ever millions we're going to be giving this guy for seasons age 35-40 aren't going to be a waste because our revenue streams rival that of Microsoft, that is A LOT of money that could be going elsewhere. Arguing otherwise is ridiculous.

 

The chain reaction that made the Cubs "need" to sign Soriano started rolling well before Hendry got here. It's an epic legacy of failure and stupidity and missed chances.

[seanimal]

nevermind that a 5 year deal probably wouldn't have gotten us Soriano to begin with.

 

That only matters if there was some sort of rule that said they had to sign him in the first place.

 

It was only Jim Hendry's incompetence that put him in a position where he felt so desperate to make the signing.

 

And there it is. Unless we can somehow convince ourselves that how many ever millions we're going to be giving this guy for seasons age 35-40 aren't going to be a waste because our revenue streams rival that of Microsoft, that is A LOT of money that could be going elsewhere. Arguing otherwise is ridiculous.

 

The chain reaction that made the Cubs "need" to sign Soriano started rolling well before Hendry got here. It's an epic legacy of failure and stupidity and missed chances.

 

That's a bit too fatalist for my tastes. I could see putting some of the blame on Ed Lynch, Andy MacPhail, et al. But to blame it on the sucky 70's and beyond seems like quite the stretch. His responsibility is to do what's best for the organization, and that's to get the most value out of every dollar he spends. He has unequivocally not fulfilled that responsibility. I mean, yay, we're the best team in the worst division, and at best, the 2nd best team in the inferior league. The fact that the Cleveland Indians, with a fraction of our payroll, could wipe the floor with us more often than not should send alarms up as to how poorly this team has been run.

[Sammy Sofa]

nevermind that a 5 year deal probably wouldn't have gotten us Soriano to begin with.

 

That only matters if there was some sort of rule that said they had to sign him in the first place.

 

It was only Jim Hendry's incompetence that put him in a position where he felt so desperate to make the signing.

 

And there it is. Unless we can somehow convince ourselves that how many ever millions we're going to be giving this guy for seasons age 35-40 aren't going to be a waste because our revenue streams rival that of Microsoft, that is A LOT of money that could be going elsewhere. Arguing otherwise is ridiculous.

 

The chain reaction that made the Cubs "need" to sign Soriano started rolling well before Hendry got here. It's an epic legacy of failure and stupidity and missed chances.

 

That's a bit too fatalist for my tastes. I could see putting some of the blame on Ed Lynch, Andy MacPhail, et al. But to blame it on the sucky 70's and beyond seems like quite the stretch. His responsibility is to do what's best for the organization, and that's to get the most value out of every dollar he spends. He has unequivocally not fulfilled that responsibility. I mean, yay, we're the best team in the worst division, and at best, the 2nd best team in the inferior league. The fact that the Cleveland Indians, with a fraction of our payroll, could wipe the floor with us more often than not should send alarms up as to how poorly this team has been run.

 

When you're run piss-poorly for decades, why should it suddenly turn around so quickly? This organization has shown little idea for the better part of a century as to how to have a winning season, and that did not change under the Tribune. There's not a recent example that can be fallen back on as to what they should be doing more of. Just they fact they went out and overspent for a player Soriao was unprecedented. Hendry is just the latest in a long line of suck.

[jersey cubs fan]

When you're run piss-poorly for decades, why should it suddenly turn around so quickly? This organization has shown little idea for the better part of a century as to how to have a winning season, and that did not change under the Tribune. There's not a recent example that can be fallen back on as to what they should be doing more of. Just they fact they went out and overspent for a player Soriao was unprecedented. Hendry is just the latest in a long line of suck.

 

Quickly? Hendry has been here since 94, and GM for 5 years.

[Sammy Sofa]

When you're run piss-poorly for decades, why should it suddenly turn around so quickly? This organization has shown little idea for the better part of a century as to how to have a winning season, and that did not change under the Tribune. There's not a recent example that can be fallen back on as to what they should be doing more of. Just they fact they went out and overspent for a player Soriao was unprecedented. Hendry is just the latest in a long line of suck.

 

Quickly? Hendry has been here since 94, and GM for 5 years.

 

Right, but the green light to get the big pricey FA names seemingly only showed up in the last year or so. An organization this hapless suddenly deciding to spend big isn't the situation where I expect to see much being done that's thought out right away.

[jersey cubs fan]

When you're run piss-poorly for decades, why should it suddenly turn around so quickly? This organization has shown little idea for the better part of a century as to how to have a winning season, and that did not change under the Tribune. There's not a recent example that can be fallen back on as to what they should be doing more of. Just they fact they went out and overspent for a player Soriao was unprecedented. Hendry is just the latest in a long line of suck.

 

Quickly? Hendry has been here since 94, and GM for 5 years.

 

Right, but the green light to get the big pricey FA names seemingly only showed up in the last year or so. An organization this hapless suddenly deciding to spend big isn't the situation where I expect to see much being done that's thought out right away.

 

What a bunch of nonsense. Hendry was given more than enough resources to field a great team every season he's been at the helm.

[Wheelimus]

Honestly, this could be a good thing. If playing it safe means he's only going to try to steal in high percentage scenarios (pitcher gives him a huge lead, etc.) sign me up. I could easily live with 20 to 25 swipes with a high success rate.

[seanimal]

When you're run piss-poorly for decades, why should it suddenly turn around so quickly? This organization has shown little idea for the better part of a century as to how to have a winning season, and that did not change under the Tribune. There's not a recent example that can be fallen back on as to what they should be doing more of. Just they fact they went out and overspent for a player Soriao was unprecedented. Hendry is just the latest in a long line of suck.

 

Quickly? Hendry has been here since 94, and GM for 5 years.

 

Right, but the green light to get the big pricey FA names seemingly only showed up in the last year or so. An organization this hapless suddenly deciding to spend big isn't the situation where I expect to see much being done that's thought out right away.

 

What a bunch of nonsense. Hendry was given more than enough resources to field a great team every season he's been at the helm.

 

It pains me to break with my avatar blood brother, but this is my sentiment. The "history" of this club has no realistic impact on its operation in the present.

[Sammy Sofa]

When you're run piss-poorly for decades, why should it suddenly turn around so quickly? This organization has shown little idea for the better part of a century as to how to have a winning season, and that did not change under the Tribune. There's not a recent example that can be fallen back on as to what they should be doing more of. Just they fact they went out and overspent for a player Soriao was unprecedented. Hendry is just the latest in a long line of suck.

 

Quickly? Hendry has been here since 94, and GM for 5 years.

 

Right, but the green light to get the big pricey FA names seemingly only showed up in the last year or so. An organization this hapless suddenly deciding to spend big isn't the situation where I expect to see much being done that's thought out right away.

 

What a bunch of nonsense. Hendry was given more than enough resources to field a great team every season he's been at the helm.

 

Hendry did not have the green light to spend that huge on those types of FA's. Either way, stop painting it like I'm defending Hendry...my point is that Henry showed he was incompetent on the relatively smaller spending scale, why would he suddenly be competent spending on the Soriano-scale? It IS all about history...the sloppiness and shortsightedness of the Soriano deal makes total sense when it comes down to who was wrangling it and for what team. This team has shown that again and again its front office focus is on marketing and making money, not fielding a team. This begat crappy GM after GM, a crappy farm system, crappy scouts, crappy managers, crappy coaches...you name it. I don't see how the history of the team, especially under the Tribune, can just be discounted like it doesn't matter. It's a complete history of failure, and it's mapped out by a chain of events that have us where we're at today. None of this just happened out of nowhere. The failures of one year lead to asinine and halfassed attempts to tweek things or repair them the next, further bogging the team down in mediocrity and expanding its flaws. None of it happens in a vacuum...they just keep compounding the probems or making new ones in their sloppy attempts to fix what's already wrong. Henry was given the resources before Soriano to field a decent team, but with the history of no accountability or real interest in doing so from anyone aove him, why was that going to happen? All they've done is open up the money bin, but dumped it all on the same crappy management/scouting system they've maintained variations of for 20 years now.

[CyHawk_Cub]

Keep in mind, financial wise, that as Soriano's contract gets bigger throughout the years, and begins to handcuff us, there are other players making big money whose contracts would likely come off the books. Will people expect Lee to be back in a Cub uniform in 2011? If not, that;s $13 mil off the table. Another $10 mil when Lilly leaves with him. The next year the Cubs might buy out Ramirez's contract at $2 mil and get the $19.25 mil they would owe him that year out of their hands. While the Soriano contract isn't helping much, you gotta keep in mind that as his paycheck grows, a lot of players might be gone opening up money for other players and/or spots in the field for prospects (I would assume Vitters will taker over to A-Ram assuming he doesn't bust, same for Colvin and Kosuke, whatever etc.)

 

That doesn't mean anything. You still have to replace those players, in addition to replacing what you thought you were paying Soriano for in the first place and will never get. Soriano's contract will hurt, there's no point in sugarcoating it. The fact that Lee and Ramirez might not be here for the last couple years does not change that.

 

Yeah... The Cubs will find numerous other ways to waste money well before the end of Sori's contract.

[Derwood]

well, the incompetence could be tied to not going after Guerrero, Beltran, etc., and then settling for Soriano

[JGalt73]

Soriano's current leg issues reminded me of this ominous Will Carroll prophecy from the end of last season:

 

Talks with sources and with some of the doctors, trainers and therapists that advise me on medical issues brought one consistent opinion. All seem to think that the strained quad is worse that let on and that it's a chronic issue. One thought that Soriano's initial injury this season, to his hamstring, might have had some quad involvement. A physical therapist thought that Soriano's legs were too tight and out of balance. "He's always hurt himself running. Maybe he should talk to Jose Reyes' guy." For now, the Cubs have to be careful. While Soriano should be helping his fantasy owners soon, those same owners are going to have to consider his legs strongly when it comes to keeper season.