Soriano would make a great D/H

[larhur]

I say this not because of today's antics, but we were winning at a higher win/loss pct while he was hurt. I know his contract is hugh, but can we trade him?, do we want to?

[CubColtPacer]

Of course if we could trade him for value, we would. Just because of his contract, not because of his production.

 

But I don't understand the winning percentage argument. Last year, the Cubs were 12-16 without him. Most of those games came in August, which happened to be the Cubs only losing month of the last 4 months.

 

And by the way. The Cubs this year had won 6 out of 8 before Soriano went down (not counting the game he got hurt in the first inning). They then won 10 out of 15 with him gone (counting the game he went down in the first).

This had absolutely nothing to do with the people who replaced Soriano. The people who were in the lineup in place of Soriano were absolutely terrible during those 15 days. The Cubs were just hot before Soriano left, and they continued to remain hot. Since then, most of the Cubs bats have cooled down.

 

There's absolutely no evidence to say that Soriano going down had anything to do with the Cubs hot streak. They were hot when he was cold, and they continued to remain hot when his replacements were cold.

Edited May 25, 2008 by CubColtPacer

[bring stone back]

I say this not because of today's antics, but we were winning at a higher win/loss pct while he was hurt. I know his contract is hugh, but can we trade him?, do we want to?

 

I'd say no they can't and no they don't want to, either.

 

Many felt it was a ridiculous contract the day it was announced and he is Cubs property for the foreseeable future - good or bad. The only thing as fans we can do is cheer in awe during his amazing hot streaks and grit your teeth during his inevitable cold streaks/defensive errors.

[sneakypower]

Soriano's a good fielder. He's just in a weird mental slump, and I'm not really worried.

[17 Seconds]

Soriano's a good fielder. He's just in a weird mental slump, and I'm not really worried.

 

Haha, are you serious? He has a good arm, but he has never ever been a good fielder. He's terrible.

[wrigley23]

Soriano's a good fielder. He's just in a weird mental slump, and I'm not really worried.

 

Wow!

[SouthSideRyan]

Soriano was certainly a good fielder last year. He was just total ass on balls to the wall. This year he has been a bad fielder.

[BCVM22]

He was just total ass on balls to the wall.

 

Only time you'll ever see "balls to the wall" mentioned alongside Soriano's defense.

[SouthSideRyan]

Probably the only time I can say "ass on balls" and not get yelled at too.

[Outshined_One]

I say this not because of today's antics, but we were winning at a higher win/loss pct while he was hurt.

 

I have a rock that keeps tigers away from it. While I have owned this rock, I have never been attacked by a tiger.

 

Interested?

[Backtobanks]

Soriano's a good fielder. He's just in a weird mental slump, and I'm not really worried.

 

Soriano's a good fielder compared to Dunn and Burrell.

 

Fixed!

[sneakypower]

he's a good fielder compared to the rest of the players in the league at his position.

 

the last 2 years he was stellar and i'm confident he'll return to that level once he passes this mental phase he's going through.

[Mizzou]

Bob nailed it yesterday during the game. Soriano has a great arm, but outside of that he's a terrible defender.

 

Why did he become an outfielder in the first place? I can't recall.

[Sammy Sofa]

Bob nailed it yesterday during the game. Soriano has a great arm, but outside of that he's a terrible defender.

 

Why did he become an outfielder in the first place? I can't recall.

 

He's an even worse 2nd baseman.

 

I agree that he's looked awful out there, but along the lines of what CM is pointing out, to describe last two seasons as an OFer as being defensively "awful" doesn't seem to match reality.

[CubColtPacer]

Bob nailed it yesterday during the game. Soriano has a great arm, but outside of that he's a terrible defender.

 

Why did he become an outfielder in the first place? I can't recall.

 

Teams had wanted to make him an OF for a long time because of how terrible he was at second.

 

The Nationals finally forced the issue because they already had a second baseman.

 

The problem with Soriano right now is that before, he had good range and rather poor instincts. Combined with that great arm, it made him a well above average fielding left fielder. Since he doesn't trust running on his leg, his range is poor and combined with those poor instincts, makes him really bad out there. He can't even use his arm as much out there because he cannot get to balls fast enough for his arm to become a factor.

[Backtobanks]

Bob nailed it yesterday during the game. Soriano has a great arm, but outside of that he's a terrible defender.

 

Why did he become an outfielder in the first place? I can't recall.

 

Teams had wanted to make him an OF for a long time because of how terrible he was at second.

 

The Nationals finally forced the issue because they already had a second baseman.

 

The problem with Soriano right now is that before, he had good range and rather poor instincts. Combined with that great arm, it made him a well above average fielding left fielder. Since he doesn't trust running on his leg, his range is poor and combined with those poor instincts, makes him really bad out there. He can't even use his arm as much out there because he cannot get to balls fast enough for his arm to become a factor.

 

And don't forget that he's afraid of fences and walls. He either stops or starts flinching when he comes within 25 feet of the fence or wall.

[CubColtPacer]

Bob nailed it yesterday during the game. Soriano has a great arm, but outside of that he's a terrible defender.

 

Why did he become an outfielder in the first place? I can't recall.

 

Teams had wanted to make him an OF for a long time because of how terrible he was at second.

 

The Nationals finally forced the issue because they already had a second baseman.

 

The problem with Soriano right now is that before, he had good range and rather poor instincts. Combined with that great arm, it made him a well above average fielding left fielder. Since he doesn't trust running on his leg, his range is poor and combined with those poor instincts, makes him really bad out there. He can't even use his arm as much out there because he cannot get to balls fast enough for his arm to become a factor.

 

And don't forget that he's afraid of fences and walls. He either stops or starts flinching when he comes within 25 feet of the fence or wall.

 

Yup. I was throwing that in as a big part of his poor instincts, although he has shown other smaller signs of poor instincts as well.

[The Voice of Reason]

Soriano just needs to get a pair of grittier sunglasses.

[frostwyrm]

I've said this before, but if Soriano can't reverse his recent injury history I believe he'll have to go to 1B at some point. He's a lousy defensive OF when his legs aren't 100%, he's shown that clearly. And we can't have someone who's owed 100+ million breaking down from leg injuries. If you tell DLee you're going to have to let him walk in 2 years time to clear 1B for Soriano then Lee might see it as being in his interest to accept a trade to a team that will give him an extension. If Soriano has to move to 1B anyway better to do it sooner rather than later so we can get something back for Lee rather than letting Lee walk and getting nothing for him.

[Sammy Sofa]

I've said this before, but if Soriano can't reverse his recent injury history I believe he'll have to go to 1B at some point. He's a lousy defensive OF when his legs aren't 100%, he's shown that clearly. And we can't have someone who's owed 100+ million breaking down from leg injuries. If you tell DLee you're going to have to let him walk in 2 years time to clear 1B for Soriano then Lee might see it as being in his interest to accept a trade to a team that will give him an extension. If Soriano has to move to 1B anyway better to do it sooner rather than later so we can get something back for Lee rather than letting Lee walk and getting nothing for him.

 

I'm not sure why you think he'll be an acceptable at 1B anymore than people think he's unacceptable anywhere else right now.

 

If his defense/injuries gets worse but he can still hit in a few years, the best option is likely to try and trade him to the AL as a DH and eat a chunk of the salary. I think he'd be a MUCH worse 1st baseman than an OFer.

[frostwyrm]

I've said this before, but if Soriano can't reverse his recent injury history I believe he'll have to go to 1B at some point. He's a lousy defensive OF when his legs aren't 100%, he's shown that clearly. And we can't have someone who's owed 100+ million breaking down from leg injuries. If you tell DLee you're going to have to let him walk in 2 years time to clear 1B for Soriano then Lee might see it as being in his interest to accept a trade to a team that will give him an extension. If Soriano has to move to 1B anyway better to do it sooner rather than later so we can get something back for Lee rather than letting Lee walk and getting nothing for him.

 

I'm not sure why you think he'll be an acceptable at 1B anymore than people think he's unacceptable anywhere else right now.

 

If his defense/injuries gets worse but he can still hit in a few years, the best option is likely to try and trade him to the AL as a DH and eat a chunk of the salary. I think he'd be a MUCH worse 1st baseman than an OFer.

 

What makes you think he couldn't be a decent 1B? He has plenty of experience on the right side of the infield and he's a good athlete when healthy.

[Sammy Sofa]

I've said this before, but if Soriano can't reverse his recent injury history I believe he'll have to go to 1B at some point. He's a lousy defensive OF when his legs aren't 100%, he's shown that clearly. And we can't have someone who's owed 100+ million breaking down from leg injuries. If you tell DLee you're going to have to let him walk in 2 years time to clear 1B for Soriano then Lee might see it as being in his interest to accept a trade to a team that will give him an extension. If Soriano has to move to 1B anyway better to do it sooner rather than later so we can get something back for Lee rather than letting Lee walk and getting nothing for him.

 

I'm not sure why you think he'll be an acceptable at 1B anymore than people think he's unacceptable anywhere else right now.

 

If his defense/injuries gets worse but he can still hit in a few years, the best option is likely to try and trade him to the AL as a DH and eat a chunk of the salary. I think he'd be a MUCH worse 1st baseman than an OFer.

 

What makes you think he couldn't be a decent 1B? He has plenty of experience on the right side of the infield and he's a good athlete when healthy.

 

It doesn't seem like the kind of position for someone with leg issues or apparently trepedation about colliding with something else to thrive.

[Jehrico]

I shudder at the thought of Soriano trying to do a DLee type split at first while picking a ball out of the dirt. I don't think he could make it more than 5 games at first without pulling something on one of those plays.

[frostwyrm]

I shudder at the thought of Soriano trying to do a DLee type split at first while picking a ball out of the dirt. I don't think he could make it more than 5 games at first without pulling something on one of those plays.

 

Those DLee splits are nice but I don't think they're a required skill for the position. A lot of 1B's can't do splits and they're still regarded as adequate defenders. I'd be happy if Soriano could just give us average D and stay healthy. Of course, he could still reverse his injury tendencies, in which case all of this would be moot. But I'm not real optimistic about that.

[cybercub]

Soriano for Sabathia.