Mariotti on Soriano......

[Larry Horse]

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/mariotti/973638,mariotti052808.article

 

Can't stand Mariotti, but he brings up some good points.

[Cubfanintheknow]

Re: Mariotti

 

If you throw enough @#&%, some of it's bound to stick.

[daske17]

Can we get Mariotti and Rosenblum in a lead-lined case and dump it in the lake?

[wrigley23]

why? This article is spot on & many of the same points I've been saying since the playoff sweep a year ago. Soriano is being pampered & judged differently than the rest. His performance is abysmal take away a few days here & there. It is clear Lou is either softening in his twilight age or simply saving face for Jim Hendry. Soriano clearly has lost his legs & they evidently are not coming back. The fact he is still leading off is a joke & only hurts the team. His play in LF speaks for itself. The contract is an albatross & will be for years to come. I thought the Hundley contract was one of the worst I'd seen. Then it was Sosa. Soriano's makes those look like a non-issue by comparison.

[RynoRules]

why? This article is spot on & many of the same points I've been saying since the playoff sweep a year ago. Soriano is being pampered & judged differently than the rest. His performance is abysmal take away a few days here & there. It is clear Lou is either softening in his twilight age or simply saving face for Jim Hendry. Soriano clearly has lost his legs & they evidently are not coming back. The fact he is still leading off is a joke & only hurts the team. His play in LF speaks for itself. The contract is an albatross & will be for years to come. I thought the Hundley contract was one of the worst I'd seen. Then it was Sosa. Soriano's makes those look like a non-issue by comparison.

 

Please explain how Sosa's last contract was a bad idea.

[Sammy Sofa]

His performance is abysmal take away a few days here & there.

 

So the month of May is now just "a few days?" So I guess when he ends the season with 30ish HR's and a .290ish average, it'll have become just "a few weeks," right?

 

And stop with the "his legs are gone" gnashing and wailing. You sound like a histronic old woman.

[Soul]

About the only thing I can agree with is that Sori should be pulled in the 9th inning in a close game for better defense. Other than that, Sori needs to be playing because his bat is bombastic.

 

I can disagree with Lou on something without concluding that he's a total idiot in every area. I wish a few more people in Chicago were willing to make that distinction.

 

As for Sori himself, his defense is what it is. Hendry knew exactly what he was getting -- he got paid because of his bat. Few players command big dollars because of their glove. The contract isn't great. But Sori's proven every bit his worth at the plate IMO. This comes down to some better management of him as a ballplayer, fitting him better into the team.

 

The one thing I'm really worried about is exactly what Lou implied a few days ago: that Sori might be hiding another injury. If that's the case, then I really want to hear the Sori bashers who are calling him "lazy" back up their statements when he's going out there every day with a bad wheel.

[BigbadB]

The fact he is still leading off is a joke & only hurts the team.

 

Yes. Because having the best record in the NL only hurts the team. Please give it up already. If Soriano hadn't missed two weeks, he might be the team leader in just about every offensive category except OBP and AVG.

 

He is just fine in the lead of spot. (Please note that the Cubs are STILL #1 in the run scoring department with your buddy hitting lead off). Now if we could just get Theriot out of the top half of the order, maybe Lee and Ramirez could have more RBI opportunities.

[jersey cubs fan]

Hendry knew exactly what he was getting -- he got paid because of his bat.

 

I disagree, especially for the bolded part. Hendry thought he was getting a 40/40 guy who still had room to improve, because Hendry doesn't understand the concept of prime years and past your prime decline. Hendry thought he was getting a leadoff hitter who could justify his spot at leadoff with a bunch of stolen bases because Hendry had been looking for a base stealing leadoff hitter for years. He also thought he was getting a great athlete who was going to get better and better in LF over time.

[gflore34]

Using a defensive replacement for Soriano gives the Cubs the best chance to win, not doing so is a dis-service to Cubs and their fans.

[CubColtPacer]

Using a defensive replacement for Soriano gives the Cubs the best chance to win, not doing so is a dis-service to Cubs and their fans.

 

That is a debatable point on if it actually does give the Cubs the best chance to win. It's almost certainly not an easy enough decision either way to call it a dis-service if they decide to do it the other way.

[Soul]

Hendry knew exactly what he was getting -- he got paid because of his bat.

 

I disagree, especially for the bolded part. Hendry thought he was getting a 40/40 guy who still had room to improve, because Hendry doesn't understand the concept of prime years and past your prime decline. Hendry thought he was getting a leadoff hitter who could justify his spot at leadoff with a bunch of stolen bases because Hendry had been looking for a base stealing leadoff hitter for years. He also thought he was getting a great athlete who was going to get better and better in LF over time.

 

But if he was just a basestealer he wouldn't have commanded that kind of money. Even a basestealer + defensively good wouldn't have put the price in that league. It was the first '40' that made him ridiculously expensive.

[gflore34]

Using a defensive replacement for Soriano gives the Cubs the best chance to win, not doing so is a dis-service to Cubs and their fans.

 

That is a debatable point on if it actually does give the Cubs the best chance to win. It's almost certainly not an easy enough decision either way to call it a dis-service if they decide to do it the other way.

 

 

Because of his bad wheels we've seen him whiff on pop flies (in St. Louis) that, Reed Johnson, for example would have caught. Granted it wasn't in the bottom of the ninth, but, its going to happen again and with the Cubs luck, its going to cost them the game.

[jersey cubs fan]

Hendry knew exactly what he was getting -- he got paid because of his bat.

 

I disagree, especially for the bolded part. Hendry thought he was getting a 40/40 guy who still had room to improve, because Hendry doesn't understand the concept of prime years and past your prime decline. Hendry thought he was getting a leadoff hitter who could justify his spot at leadoff with a bunch of stolen bases because Hendry had been looking for a base stealing leadoff hitter for years. He also thought he was getting a great athlete who was going to get better and better in LF over time.

 

But if he was just a basestealer he wouldn't have commanded that kind of money. Even a basestealer + defensively good wouldn't have put the price in that league. It was the first '40' that made him ridiculously expensive.

 

Where did I say he was just a basestealer? It was the 40/40 thing, the combination of speed and power, and what Hendry envisioned to be ever improving defense.

[abuck1220]

disservice to their fans? that's a new one.

[CubColtPacer]

Using a defensive replacement for Soriano gives the Cubs the best chance to win, not doing so is a dis-service to Cubs and their fans.

 

That is a debatable point on if it actually does give the Cubs the best chance to win. It's almost certainly not an easy enough decision either way to call it a dis-service if they decide to do it the other way.

 

 

Because of his bad wheels we've seen him whiff on pop flies (in St. Louis) that, Reed Johnson, for example would have caught. Granted it wasn't in the bottom of the ninth, but, its going to happen again and with the Cubs luck, its going to cost them the game.

 

True, but it's the same situation as Milwaukee had with Ryan Braun last year. If you take him out, and then the opposition hits a home run to tie the game, now one of your best hitters is out of the ballgame, and both Reed Johnson and Jim Edmonds are in your lineup. That doesn't spell good things for winning the ballgame in extra innings.

 

It's close to decide if the glove now is more important than the bat later. I'd probably keep Soriano in, but I could see why somebody would take him out right now for a defensive replacement as well. I think it really is close enough to be based on how he is hitting/fielding that day, and to decide on a game to game basis.

[abuck1220]

also, besides losing one ball in the sun and having one bad game in st. louis, what exactly has soriano done so horribly defensively? he's not exactly graceful out there, but come on. people are acting like he's made 11 errors and the cubs are in fourth place because of it.

[Chocolate Milk]

His performance is abysmal take away a few days here & there.

Do you really believe this trash? Wow.

[Chocolate Milk]

also, besides losing one ball in the sun and having one bad game in st. louis, what exactly has soriano done so horribly defensively? he's not exactly graceful out there, but come on. people are acting like he's made 11 errors and the cubs are in fourth place because of it.

According to BP, he was an abysmal +18 LFer last year.

[Soul]

Using a defensive replacement for Soriano gives the Cubs the best chance to win, not doing so is a dis-service to Cubs and their fans.

 

That is a debatable point on if it actually does give the Cubs the best chance to win. It's almost certainly not an easy enough decision either way to call it a dis-service if they decide to do it the other way.

 

 

Because of his bad wheels we've seen him whiff on pop flies (in St. Louis) that, Reed Johnson, for example would have caught. Granted it wasn't in the bottom of the ninth, but, its going to happen again and with the Cubs luck, its going to cost them the game.

 

True, but it's the same situation as Milwaukee had with Ryan Braun last year. If you take him out, and then the opposition hits a home run to tie the game, now one of your best hitters is out of the ballgame, and both Reed Johnson and Jim Edmonds are in your lineup. That doesn't spell good things for winning the ballgame in extra innings.

 

It's close to decide if the glove now is more important than the bat later. I'd probably keep Soriano in, but I could see why somebody would take him out right now for a defensive replacement as well. I think it really is close enough to be based on how he is hitting/fielding that day, and to decide on a game to game basis.

 

According to Lou though, he's not doing that. He said he simply won't do a late-inning replacement for Soriano. He even jumped down a reporter's throat for asking about it.

 

I can see the other side of the argument though. If you pull him out, and the save is blown, you've just taken out one of your biggest bats and best chances to get the lead back. No question about that.

[Soul]

Hendry knew exactly what he was getting -- he got paid because of his bat.

 

I disagree, especially for the bolded part. Hendry thought he was getting a 40/40 guy who still had room to improve, because Hendry doesn't understand the concept of prime years and past your prime decline. Hendry thought he was getting a leadoff hitter who could justify his spot at leadoff with a bunch of stolen bases because Hendry had been looking for a base stealing leadoff hitter for years. He also thought he was getting a great athlete who was going to get better and better in LF over time.

 

But if he was just a basestealer he wouldn't have commanded that kind of money. Even a basestealer + defensively good wouldn't have put the price in that league. It was the first '40' that made him ridiculously expensive.

 

Where did I say he was just a basestealer? It was the 40/40 thing, the combination of speed and power, and what Hendry envisioned to be ever improving defense.

 

I'm not trying to get in your grill about it. I just think the power bat was a much bigger factor, that's all. I probably didn't word my original statement in the best way.

[jersey cubs fan]

His performance is abysmal take away a few days here & there.

Do you really believe this trash? Wow.

 

It's probably technically true. If you take away the back to back 2 HR games against Pittsburgh, and the 4-5 day against Arizona, his numbers probably are pretty bad. Rough estimate is .229/.286/.429.

[Sammy Sofa]

Fine, then we can also subtract his worst performances so far this season in evaluating him.

[Sammy Sofa]

also, besides losing one ball in the sun and having one bad game in st. louis, what exactly has soriano done so horribly defensively? he's not exactly graceful out there, but come on. people are acting like he's made 11 errors and the cubs are in fourth place because of it.

 

No kidding. It bugs me that the tipping point for this is him losing a ball in the sun, something that can happen to any fielder out there. The St. Louis game was rough, and he definitely gave up on the faux-HR in Pittsburgh...he also had that crappy outing when Wood had one of his blown saves against the Brewers. Nothing to brag about, obviously, but I'm just not seeing this defensive butcher that people seem to be worried about.

[jersey cubs fan]

Fine, then we can also subtract his worst performances so far this season in evaluating him.

 

I'm not a big fan of throwing out the outlier games, your numbers are what they are. I was just pointing out that it's true that if you throw out his best games, his performance has been really bad. Soriano, as streaky as he is, has a couple ridiculous games, but a whole heck of a lot more bad games.