Mariotti on Soriano......

[jersey cubs fan]

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.

 

You can start listing off a few really bad instances. It's not just the sun. But the sun game directly blew a win, and it followed another bad play.

 

Soriano's been bad out there, no reason to gloss over it.

[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.

 

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.

 

You can start listing off a few really bad instances. It's not just the sun. But the sun game directly blew a win, and it followed another bad play.

 

Soriano's been bad out there, no reason to gloss over it.

 

but he hasn't been that bad. not so bad that articles need to be written about it or that wrigley23 needs to literally cry tears about it.

[jersey cubs fan]

but he hasn't been that bad. not so bad that articles need to be written about it or that wrigley23 needs to literally cry tears about it.

 

He just lost a game 2 days ago. Why can't an article be written about it? He's been bad. Marquis has been bad, not so bad that it's indefensible for him to have a job pitching in the major leagues, but bad enough to justify writing articles about how bad he's been. It's a 162 game season that requires stories to be written for 9 months. Soriano's poor showing is deserving of an article. The tears, well, that's another issue.

[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.

 

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.

 

The one thing that I didn't mention though is that with Soriano it's not ability. It's either confidence, or an injury. He proved last year that he has enough ability to not need a defensive replacement out there. If it's confidence, like he's saying, then Lou has to keep sticking him back out there. It's already a close decision either way for the short-term, and only by playing through it will this decision not have to be made anymore. If Lou starts pulling him from games, then Soriano is more likely to continue this behavior for longer.

 

So the short-term is close either way, but for the long-term the Cubs need to have him out there so that he shapes up and starts trusting his running ability again.

[abuck1220]

but he hasn't been that bad. not so bad that articles need to be written about it or that wrigley23 needs to literally cry tears about it.

 

He just lost a game 2 days ago. Why can't an article be written about it? He's been bad. Marquis has been bad, not so bad that it's indefensible for him to have a job pitching in the major leagues, but bad enough to justify writing articles about how bad he's been. It's a 162 game season that requires stories to be written for 9 months. Soriano's poor showing is deserving of an article. The tears, well, that's another issue.

 

tough to say he "lost" the game. i mean, he did hit a 2-run homer that game too. and yeah, articles can be written about it, i suppose...they have to write about something. i just think his defensive problems have been overblown because of their timing.

[SouthSideRyan]

The amoutn of marginal out fly balls out to LF in the 9th inning are not worth the potential of losing his bat when Reed Johnson/Edmonds is the replacement.

[fromthestretch]

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.

 

You will never get an answer.

[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.

 

You can start listing off a few really bad instances. It's not just the sun. But the sun game directly blew a win, and it followed another bad play.

 

Soriano's been bad out there, no reason to gloss over it.

 

but he hasn't been that bad. not so bad that articles need to be written about it or that wrigley23 needs to literally cry tears about it.

 

Nevermind that he lost the game...DUE TO THE SUN. There's absolutely no way to know that anyone else being out there would have been able to catch it instead, especially since the main factor for the missed catch WAS THE GIGANTIC FIREY STAR IN THE SKY WE CALL THE SUN.

 

Did I mention that he missed the catch because of THE SUN?

 

People are talking about him like he's almost as likely to not make a catch than he is to get it done.

[SouthSideRyan]

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.

 

You will never get an answer.

 

Sure he will. The answer is that Soriano isn't a good leadoff man.

[Larry Horse]

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.

 

You will never get an answer.

 

Is he referring to the fact that the Cubs had to pay 16 million to Baltimore when they traded him?

[wrigley23]

what larry said. when you have to pay other teams a lot of money to take your player from you...that's your first sign it's a bad contract. It's what we'll be doing w/ soriano in another couple yrs w/ 4 more yrs left. Also, to blame sori's horrible play in left on the sun...wow.

[Chocolate Milk]

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

Do you really believe this trash? Wow.

 

It's probably technically true.

 

Not really.

[abuck1220]

soriano's only had four hitless games (not counting games in which he had one ab) all may. can we quit pretending he's been worthless outside of that one week yet?

[Soul]

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

Do you really believe this trash? Wow.

 

It's probably technically true.

 

Not really.

 

Winning the game tonight for us doesn't count of course.

[badger1679666666]

Soriano sucks. Just like Wood is a sham closer. Dump them both.

[CubColtPacer]

what larry said. when you have to pay other teams a lot of money to take your player from you...that's your first sign it's a bad contract. It's what we'll be doing w/ soriano in another couple yrs w/ 4 more yrs left. Also, to blame sori's horrible play in left on the sun...wow.

 

Sosa was overpaid at the end of his deal, but he was also way, way underpaid from 1998-2002. It evened out.

[Sammy Sofa]

Also, to blame sori's horrible play in left on the sun...wow.

 

Are you kidding me? Then what the hell happened? He was there, under it...do you honestly think he just had a mental collapse and couldn't handle it? It was obviously lost in the sun.

[abuck1220]

Also, to blame sori's horrible play in left on the sun...wow.

 

Are you kidding me? Then what the hell happened? He was there, under it...do you honestly think he just had a mental collapse and couldn't handle it? It was obviously lost in the sun.

 

oh my.

[Sammy Sofa]

Also, to blame sori's horrible play in left on the sun...wow.

 

Are you kidding me? Then what the hell happened? He was there, under it...do you honestly think he just had a mental collapse and couldn't handle it? It was obviously lost in the sun.

 

oh my.

 

Oh my, what?

[abuck1220]

Also, to blame sori's horrible play in left on the sun...wow.

 

Are you kidding me? Then what the hell happened? He was there, under it...do you honestly think he just had a mental collapse and couldn't handle it? It was obviously lost in the sun.

 

oh my.

 

Oh my, what?

 

oh my, wrigley23 thinks it's crazy to blame the sun for the flyball soriano lost in the sun.

 

come to think of it, add soriano's failure to be immune from the sun's rays as another reason to move him to 1b.

[Sammy Sofa]

Also, to blame sori's horrible play in left on the sun...wow.

 

Are you kidding me? Then what the hell happened? He was there, under it...do you honestly think he just had a mental collapse and couldn't handle it? It was obviously lost in the sun.

 

oh my.

 

Oh my, what?

 

oh my, wrigley23 thinks it's crazy to blame the sun for the flyball soriano lost in the sun.

 

come to think of it, add soriano's failure to be immune from the sun's rays as another reason to move him to 1b.

 

Sorry, I thought it was at me.

 

Yeah, it's pretty incredible to blame that missed catch on anything but the sun. What could he possibly think happened instead?

Edited May 29, 2008 by Sammy Sofa

[Rob]

Coming into tonight, Soriano had a higher VORP than Fukudome, despite having significantly fewer PA.

 

Granted, that doesn't cover the difference in their defensive value... but damn.

[ChiCubsFan]

Soriano is good at baseball. Overpaid? Of course. Are the final few years of his contract gonna be brutal? Most likely. But the Soriano haters need to lay off him. He had a rough start, but has been very solid the past month.

[Garwilly]

How could a Dominican lose the ball in the sun?

[Balsa]

Soriano gives a :P to everyone who wanted him off the team tonight.