Alfonso Soriano OK with not being leading man

[The Voice of Reason]

"Alfonso Soriano OK with not being leading man"

 

So what play is he trying out for?

[Tyrant]

"Alfonso Soriano OK with not being leading man"

 

So what play is he trying out for?

 

Wicked, in the role of the rocket-armed Fiyero.

[17 Seconds]

Hasn't Soriano said this multiple times since he's been with the Cubs? He says it every offseason. I don't think it's ever been a question of whether or not he'd actually move from the leadoff spot. The question has always been whether or not it's smart

[jersey cubs fan]

Hasn't Soriano said this multiple times since he's been with the Cubs? He says it every offseason. I don't think it's ever been a question of whether or not he'd actually move from the leadoff spot. The question has always been whether or not it's smart

 

He has definitely said in the past that he'd prefer not to move from leadoff.

[Yeti]

Hasn't Soriano said this multiple times since he's been with the Cubs? He says it every offseason. I don't think it's ever been a question of whether or not he'd actually move from the leadoff spot. The question has always been whether or not it's smart

if smart mattered, soriano wouldnt have an 8 year deal worth 136 million

[17 Seconds]

Hasn't Soriano said this multiple times since he's been with the Cubs? He says it every offseason. I don't think it's ever been a question of whether or not he'd actually move from the leadoff spot. The question has always been whether or not it's smart

 

He has definitely said in the past that he'd prefer not to move from leadoff.

 

That's not what I'm talking about. He's said he doesn;t prefer it, but he always has said he would.... which is why they've tried it already since he's been here. It doesn't really matter what he wants. He'll do what he's told

[Mephistopheles]

Soriano should never attempt to steal another base.

Neither should Theriot.

 

This is an incredibly naive rudimentary sabermetric belief. Attempting to steal a base is a good idea in tons of situations - and with the notable exception of the first six weeks last season, Theriot's been incredibly efficient at stealing bases.

 

Didn't you once say that steals are only good in the 9th inning or extra innings? Maybe that was your quote about bunts, but I'm certain you said that steals are pretty much worthless.

 

That's when they're generally a good thing. They're also useful in other situations. If you're down by a run and it's the 9th inning. IIRC the breakeven point falls to somewhere close to 50% success rate, it may even fall lower than that depending on the baserunner, pitcher, batter and batters on-deck and in the hole. It's not completely unheard of for a breakeven point to be 30% or even 25% success rate in some situations.

[SouthSideRyan]

Hasn't Soriano said this multiple times since he's been with the Cubs? He says it every offseason. I don't think it's ever been a question of whether or not he'd actually move from the leadoff spot. The question has always been whether or not it's smart

 

He has definitely said in the past that he'd prefer not to move from leadoff.

 

He has definitely said in the past that he'll hit wherever they tell him to.

 

No word on whether he was saying that while muffing fly ball in front of the under armour sign.

[Soul]

Hasn't Soriano said this multiple times since he's been with the Cubs? He says it every offseason. I don't think it's ever been a question of whether or not he'd actually move from the leadoff spot. The question has always been whether or not it's smart

 

He has definitely said in the past that he'd prefer not to move from leadoff.

 

He has definitely said in the past that he'll hit wherever they tell him to.

 

No word on whether he was saying that while muffing fly ball in front of the under armour sign.

 

He said he'd hit anywhere they asked him to, but then he muffed some flyballs in front of the under armor sign, and he was probably wearing an under armor shirt when he did that, and the irony is too much for me, so he was probably lying when he said that.

[SouthSideRyan]

Hasn't Soriano said this multiple times since he's been with the Cubs? He says it every offseason. I don't think it's ever been a question of whether or not he'd actually move from the leadoff spot. The question has always been whether or not it's smart

 

He has definitely said in the past that he'd prefer not to move from leadoff.

 

He has definitely said in the past that he'll hit wherever they tell him to.

 

No word on whether he was saying that while muffing fly ball in front of the under armour sign.

 

He said he'd hit anywhere they asked him to, but then he muffed some flyballs in front of the under armor sign, and he was probably wearing an under armor shirt when he did that, and the irony is too much for me, so he was probably lying when he said that.

 

And he makes 138M dollars.

[treebird]

Hasn't Soriano said this multiple times since he's been with the Cubs? He says it every offseason. I don't think it's ever been a question of whether or not he'd actually move from the leadoff spot. The question has always been whether or not it's smart

 

He has definitely said in the past that he'd prefer not to move from leadoff.

 

He has definitely said in the past that he'll hit wherever they tell him to.

 

No word on whether he was saying that while muffing fly ball in front of the under armour sign.

 

He said he'd hit anywhere they asked him to, but then he muffed some flyballs in front of the under armor sign, and he was probably wearing an under armor shirt when he did that, and the irony is too much for me, so he was probably lying when he said that.

 

And he makes 138M dollars.

 

he probably just wanted to go home to his mansion

[Andy]

Fonzie is 38/47 in his Cubs career at stealing attempts. By all means, he should continue running.

[17 Seconds]

Fonzie is 38/47 in his Cubs career at stealing attempts. By all means, he should continue running.

 

I don't want him running with the way his legs are breaking down. Honestly I'd tell him to sit his ass on first until he shows he can actually stay healthy

[Brett]

Hasn't Soriano said this multiple times since he's been with the Cubs? He says it every offseason. I don't think it's ever been a question of whether or not he'd actually move from the leadoff spot. The question has always been whether or not it's smart

 

He has definitely said in the past that he'd prefer not to move from leadoff.

 

He has definitely said in the past that he'll hit wherever they tell him to.

 

No word on whether he was saying that while muffing fly ball in front of the under armour sign.

 

He said he'd hit anywhere they asked him to, but then he muffed some flyballs in front of the under armor sign, and he was probably wearing an under armor shirt when he did that, and the irony is too much for me, so he was probably lying when he said that.

 

And he makes 138M dollars.

 

he probably just wanted to go home to his mansion

MansionS.

 

The thing you wouldn't want to see is a discontented, already paid guy batting somewhere he's not happy, and translating that to poor effort. I'm not saying coddle him, but it's a concern.

[GhostRunner]

Fonzie is 38/47 in his Cubs career at stealing attempts. By all means, he should continue running.

 

I don't want him running with the way his legs are breaking down. Honestly I'd tell him to sit his ass on first until he shows he can actually stay healthy

Maybe my memory is distorting things (i.e., just focusing on the negative), but Soriano seems to get picked off a lot, too. I can remember at least a few times when he got caught dozing off at first base.

[SouthSideRyan]

Fonzie is 38/47 in his Cubs career at stealing attempts. By all means, he should continue running.

 

I don't want him running with the way his legs are breaking down. Honestly I'd tell him to sit his ass on first until he shows he can actually stay healthy

Maybe my memory is distorting things (i.e., just focusing on the negative), but Soriano seems to get picked off a lot, too. I can remember at least a few times when he got caught dozing off at first base.

 

Pretty sure that counts towards his CS.

[GhostRunner]

Fonzie is 38/47 in his Cubs career at stealing attempts. By all means, he should continue running.

 

I don't want him running with the way his legs are breaking down. Honestly I'd tell him to sit his ass on first until he shows he can actually stay healthy

Maybe my memory is distorting things (i.e., just focusing on the negative), but Soriano seems to get picked off a lot, too. I can remember at least a few times when he got caught dozing off at first base.

 

Pretty sure that counts towards his CS.

It only counts as a CS if the runner is attempting to advance to the next base, IIRC.

[SouthSideRyan]

Fonzie is 38/47 in his Cubs career at stealing attempts. By all means, he should continue running.

 

I don't want him running with the way his legs are breaking down. Honestly I'd tell him to sit his ass on first until he shows he can actually stay healthy

Maybe my memory is distorting things (i.e., just focusing on the negative), but Soriano seems to get picked off a lot, too. I can remember at least a few times when he got caught dozing off at first base.

 

Pretty sure that counts towards his CS.

It only counts as a CS if the runner is attempting to advance to the next base, IIRC.

 

Doesn't really help, but 2 of his 3 CS last year were pickoffs, 1-3-6.

[TheDude]

Soriano hits 6th. Now we need Lee to accept the #2 spot and the lineup takes shape.

[Sammy Sofa]

Soriano hits 6th.

 

Awful.

 

I could see trying him at #4 or even #5, but #6 is just pissing away AB's.

[SouthSideRyan]

Soriano hits 6th.

 

Awful.

 

I could see trying him at #4 or even #5, but #6 is just pissing away AB's.

 

Theriot/Miles are the prototype 1/2.

[TheDude]

Soriano hits 6th.

 

Awful.

 

I could see trying him at #4 or even #5, but #6 is just pissing away AB's.

 

Lee is natural 2 at his age/skills. Bradley and Ramirez are a natural 3-4. Soto and Soriano are more or less interchangeable at 5-6 (if consider Soriano's natural age 33 decline and Soto's age 25 rise).

 

You're welcome to disagree, but calling it 'awful' is reactionary and discredits your contribution. By stating 'pissing away AB's' your basically saying Soriano is measurably and obviously better than any of Bradley, Ramirez, or Soto at 4 or 5, and that simply isn't true. Soriano likely produces the lowest OPS of the bunch in '09, if only by a small margin (I expect all 4 guys to be in the .860-.900 range).

[wilk]

This is an incredibly naive rudimentary sabermetric belief. Attempting to steal a base is a good idea in tons of situations - and with the notable exception of the first six weeks last season, Theriot's been incredibly efficient at stealing bases.

 

So the 70% after those "6 weeks" is "incredibly efficient?" Ha...

 

...more efficient base stealer than Meph's random ass(not very helpful) cut off point of 6 weeks into Theriot's season.

 

And better yet, if we ignore only the 6 weeks after Meph's 6 weeks, Theriot's SB% last year was 58.5%...

 

But hey, for those 6 weeks May-June, he stole FIVE bases efficiently!

[imb]

Soriano hits 6th.

 

Awful.

 

I could see trying him at #4 or even #5, but #6 is just pissing away AB's.

 

Lee is natural 2 at his age/skills. Bradley and Ramirez are a natural 3-4. Soto and Soriano are more or less interchangeable at 5-6 (if consider Soriano's natural age 33 decline and Soto's age 25 rise).

 

You're welcome to disagree, but calling it 'awful' is reactionary and discredits your contribution. By stating 'pissing away AB's' your basically saying Soriano is measurably and obviously better than any of Bradley, Ramirez, or Soto at 4 or 5, and that simply isn't true. Soriano likely produces the lowest OPS of the bunch in '09, if only by a small margin (I expect all 4 guys to be in the .860-.900 range).

 

soriano is a much better hitter than theriot, so i'd rather get him the extra 60+ at bats at the top of the order

[mcgoobs]

What happened to the theory that batting order doesn't matter, and it's more important to bat your best players higher in the order to get them more PAs? Has that been debunked?