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Trading Soriano

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dew1679666265 Iowa Cubs

dew1679666265

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
I don't see much of a chance we'll ever be able to actually trade Soriano, unless it's a bad contract swap. First, there's always going to be a bunch of older guys available in FA each year. Because they are only getting one year deals now to begin with. Secondly, Soriano's production hasn't gotten as poor as it probably will. He may very well regress each of the next 3 seasons, for all we know. It's very unlikely though, that he'll do MORE than he has recently however, and even if he did, other team's would look at it as an aberration anyway. We're stuck with him. My guess is he'll be here all of 2012 and we'll finally DFA him midway thru 2013.

 

While I agree it's very unlikely we get any sort of a good return for him, I actually think our best chance to trade him is at the deadline. A team probably would take a resurgence from him as an abberation in the offseason, but it's possible that at the deadline a dumb team might be desperate for a bat and overpay for him. Not likely, but probably our best chance, I think.

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KingCubsFan ACL Cubs

KingCubsFan

Verified Member
Posted
Posted
I don't see much of a chance we'll ever be able to actually trade Soriano, unless it's a bad contract swap. First, there's always going to be a bunch of older guys available in FA each year. Because they are only getting one year deals now to begin with. Secondly, Soriano's production hasn't gotten as poor as it probably will. He may very well regress each of the next 3 seasons, for all we know. It's very unlikely though, that he'll do MORE than he has recently however, and even if he did, other team's would look at it as an aberration anyway. We're stuck with him. My guess is he'll be here all of 2012 and we'll finally DFA him midway thru 2013.

 

The thing is, he's going to get 18 mil/year for the next 3 years regardless of if and where he plays. Chances are, we'll be paying a big chunk of it, if not all, regardless of if and where he plays. As of now, he's just there and not bothering anyone. However, if we were to sign Cespedes, that would signify the end of him, if not immediately, as soone as Brett Jackson is ready to come up. Therefore, the question is, if we're paying the money is it in our best interest to

 

A. Keep him around, even if he's a bat off the bench

B. Set him free

C. Do similar to what we did with Zambrano and try to get the best return possible, no matter how lackluster and hope that the other team is willing to at least chip in a few mil.

 

IMHO, B. shouldn't even be an option. C is probably the best bet. I think that if they didn't have to pay much or any money, teams in need of an extra bat would be willing to send us either a former top prospect who's star is all but faded or even a few guys from the back fourth of their top 20. Teams should be willing to pay the same amount for Soriano that they would for someone like Damon or Matsui, so if we could sell them on paying less money than they would for one of them, we should be able to get something of mild use.

B should absolutely be an option if he's playing horribly and blocking playing time from someone like Cespedes, Jackson or another high ceiling young player. If there ever comes a time when he's not good enough start because we have a young player better than him, and he is taking a bench spot from guys with a future bench role like Campana or Sappelt, you try to do C. However, if nobody is biting, you just have to cut your losses because his vacant roster spot at that point is more valuable then trying to save a couple million in a trade.

Little Slide Rooter MVP

Little Slide Rooter

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
I don't see much of a chance we'll ever be able to actually trade Soriano, unless it's a bad contract swap. First, there's always going to be a bunch of older guys available in FA each year. Because they are only getting one year deals now to begin with. Secondly, Soriano's production hasn't gotten as poor as it probably will. He may very well regress each of the next 3 seasons, for all we know. It's very unlikely though, that he'll do MORE than he has recently however, and even if he did, other team's would look at it as an aberration anyway. We're stuck with him. My guess is he'll be here all of 2012 and we'll finally DFA him midway thru 2013.

 

The thing is, he's going to get 18 mil/year for the next 3 years regardless of if and where he plays. Chances are, we'll be paying a big chunk of it, if not all, regardless of if and where he plays. As of now, he's just there and not bothering anyone. However, if we were to sign Cespedes, that would signify the end of him, if not immediately, as soone as Brett Jackson is ready to come up. Therefore, the question is, if we're paying the money is it in our best interest to

 

A. Keep him around, even if he's a bat off the bench

B. Set him free

C. Do similar to what we did with Zambrano and try to get the best return possible, no matter how lackluster and hope that the other team is willing to at least chip in a few mil.

 

IMHO, B. shouldn't even be an option. C is probably the best bet. I think that if they didn't have to pay much or any money, teams in need of an extra bat would be willing to send us either a former top prospect who's star is all but faded or even a few guys from the back fourth of their top 20. Teams should be willing to pay the same amount for Soriano that they would for someone like Damon or Matsui, so if we could sell them on paying less money than they would for one of them, we should be able to get something of mild use.

B should absolutely be an option if he's playing horribly and blocking playing time from someone like Cespedes, Jackson or another high ceiling young player. If there ever comes a time when he's not good enough start because we have a young player better than him, and he is taking a bench spot from guys with a future bench role like Campana or Sappelt, you try to do C. However, if nobody is biting, you just have to cut your losses because his vacant roster spot at that point is more valuable then trying to save a couple million in a trade.

 

If he was blocking someone with absolutely no takers, it would come to that but the reason I don't think that it should be an option is because it could be wiser to to try for a deal now in which we absorb 98%-100% of the salary and get something back in the form of prospects as opposed to wait until this time next year or even mid season this year and cut him lose for nothing.

  • 2 months later...
Little Slide Rooter MVP

Little Slide Rooter

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
@BleacherNation: Tigers did ask about Soriano in offseason, but were willing to pick up only about $5M total of his remaining $54M over this & next 2 yrs.

 

If it was 5 mil and a respectable prospect or 2 we should have took it and ran. Didn't they say at one point that they'd be willing to eat 90% of the salary?

  • 2 weeks later...
Little Slide Rooter MVP

Little Slide Rooter

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
Would you trade Alf for Beckett?

 

Are you kidding? Beckett's 31 and coming off a CY Young caliber season. Considering the price teams will have to pay for Hamels or Greinke if they hit FA, the Red Sox will get far better offers for him than Soriano.

  • 2 weeks later...
Little Slide Rooter MVP

Little Slide Rooter

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
Don't look now, but in the month of May, Soriano's hitting .310/.365/.569 with 3 HR, and it's 2/3 through the month. That's not going to trick anyone into emptying out their farm system no matter how much salary we pick up, but he's proving that he can still be a productive player and if we were to pick up some 90-95% oh his salary we could get 2-3 decent prospects.
Geech First Round Pick

Geech

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
With Soriano talking about needing surgery, I think we would be pretty fortunate to save 10% of his contract even with no prospects coming back. Nobody is going to want the guy for any role.
Sammy Sofa GOAT

Sammy Sofa

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
No. With the knee issue there's basically no chance (not that there was much of one before) the Cubs could move him to a team looking for OF help.
davell Chicago Cubs

davell

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
Marlins just placed two outfielders on the DL, one will be out a month or two. Think they'd be interested?

I could see the Marlins being interested in Reed or Campana. Someone who can start in a pinch, then go back to being a reserve with no issue in a month or so. That said, I really like Campana and don't want to trade him for scraps, rightly or probably wrongly. He's not a guy I want to see as a starter obviously, but I do see lots of late inning value in him.

  • 2 weeks later...
weis21 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

weis21

Verified Member
Posted
Posted
'Nother dinger by Soriano tonight. 9 on the season. Keep hitting Fonzy...

Sporting a 282/352/600(!) line since May 1st.

Guest

Guest

Guests
Posted
Posted
Yes. If this were slow pitch softball he'd have someone run for him every time he got on base.

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