Sore at Soriano

Fact one: The Mets are last in the National League in OBP at .320 (the Phillies and Marlins are first at .346 each).
Fact two: Since his arrival in Texas, Alfonso Soriano’s batting line on the road is as follows:

G AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI BB K SB AVG SLG OBP
119 501 121 21 1 23 63 64 27 120 18 .242 .425 .280

Conclusion: Yes, I’d take Soriano; his power and speed would still be an upgrade on Miguel Cairo, and I’d expect him to hit a little better than the numbers above. But I wouldn’t give up much of value for him – nothing on the order of, say, Lenny Dykstra, Roger McDowell and Tom Edens or Jeff Kent and Jose Vizcaino.

8 thoughts on “Sore at Soriano”

  1. Word on the web is that the Rangers want Reyes in the deal. I say no way in h___ to that.

  2. Tom Grieve (Rangers announcer/former GM) about 15 minutes ago during the Orioles game:
    “Entertaining offers is not the same as shopping your ballplayer.”
    It’s going to take more than an even trade to make it happen.

  3. In my gut, I really don’t want Soriano. I don’t think the Mets need another fundamentally unsound, low-OBP player, even with all the obvious skills he brings to the table. I’d have to take him if it’s a bargain, but it doesn’t sound like they’re selling at that price, and I’d pass at what Texas probably thinks is market value.

  4. Soriano can’t hit good pitching. He feasts on pitchers that are B- grade or worse. When he faces Grade A guys he sucks. So, if you make it to the playoffs, well, the Yanks benched him (a 39 HR guy) in the World Series.

  5. Another point is that as a high-strikeout guy, Shea stadium is probably the worst match for him as a hitter (the flip side of how beneficial it is for Pedro). And his defense is bad enough that it’s unlikely he’ll be able to stay at 2B much longer (remember Bill James’ comment on Hornsby from the new Historical Abstract about how 2Bs that aren’t great defensively rarely have long careers at the position). So what you’re looking at is someone not too off from Mike Cameron – a good-power, high strikeout guy: Soriano will likely have a higher batting average but many fewer walks, and the chance of his defense in the outfield being as good as Cameron is pretty slim. I’d be wary of giving up too much.

  6. Hey if Soriano can hit B pitching, great. That’s certainly something the rest of the Mets have yet to figure out. A- or C pitching, no problem. But they can’t hit teams B pitchers at all.

  7. Soriano is no where near the player he is made out to be and to give up top prospects for him would be an epic blunder.

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