Soriano gets 8 years for 136 mil
That's a lot of money, but damn, soriano, lee and ramirez in the same lineup. You're looking at potentially 110-120 HR's. The cubs have spent a buttload of money this offseason, kudos to them for going for it.
i hope for the cubs sake that they're smart enough to let soriano lead off. I'm sure piniella recognizes that soriano batting third is at best a 30-30 guy, but at leadoff his potential skyrockets to 40-40. That was the Rangers' mistake.
Its a waste to bat him leadoff, so much more RBI opportunities batting 3rd.
Terpy Wrote:Its a waste to bat him leadoff, so much more RBI opportunities batting 3rd.
who's he gonna drive in? the cubs don't have a leadoff hitter. of course you once again show your ignorance. everyone knows he's much more valuable batting leadoff. 2004 and 2005 were the only full seasons where he batted anywhere but leadoff, consequently those were his worst two seasons for OPS.
He is going to be horrible for the cubs anyways.
Terpy Wrote:He is going to be horrible for the cubs anyways.
why?
Terpy Wrote:Its a waste to bat him leadoff, so much more RBI opportunities batting 3rd.
I love him in the leadoff role. He'll get on base and steal a ton of bases. The power would be better suited at third or fourth, but it's also a hell of a bonus to have at the top of the order.
Who wants a leadoff hitter who strikes out 160 times a year?
flyingswoosh Wrote:Terpy Wrote:He is going to be horrible for the cubs anyways.
why?
He had a big year because he wanted a big contract, he really is not that good.
Terpy Wrote:Who wants a leadoff hitter who strikes out 160 times a year?
Doesn't matter if he can on base at around a .360 clip.
Terpy Wrote:Who wants a leadoff hitter who strikes out 160 times a year?
as long as he walks at least 50 times and steals 35 bases, it doesn't matter. who wants a QB with a 50% completion percentage? Most people don't, but you said it yourself, michael vick wins games because he's one of the most unique players in the history of sports. Well, right now soriano is one of the most unique players in baseball right now. Conventional wisdom would tell you to bat him in the middle of the order, but the fact is, he's better in the leadoff spot.
Where do you get .360 from? His OBP has never been that high last seasons .350 was an aberration.
He has walked 60+ once in his 8 year career, aberation.
Terpy Wrote:Where do you get .360 from? His OBP has never been that high last seasons .350 was an aberration.
My mistake, I thought it was .360 last year, it was actually .351. I don't think it was an aberration, though. He's a more mature hitter. And when you steal as much as he does, you don't have to apologize for a .350 OBP.
He doesnt hit for average, he doesnt walk and he strikes out a lot. Not a leadoff hitter if you ask me.
Terpy Wrote:He doesnt hit for average, he doesnt walk and he strikes out a lot. Not a leadoff hitter if you ask me.
whaddya mean he doesn't hit for average? he hits at a .280 clip for his career. It's not amazing, but it's good. What you're failing to understand is, if he can steal 40 bases, a lot of those walks become doubles, which i can't quantify, but it's pretty valuable. Again, he's extremely unique.
Bottom line, he scores runs. He scored 119 times last year. We can throw out a lot of different numbers, but the ultimate goal of a leadoff man is to score runs, and Soriano does that.
I dont think he will be able to handle playing for a losing team. He played hard last year but now he has his 135 million guaranteed, when the cubs fall out of contention he is going to sulk and start hacking at anything. He will put up decent numbers but his heart wont be in it.
I think he is a cancer, everyone on the team will hate him. Not Bonds style but close.
Terpy Wrote:I dont think he will be able to handle playing for a losing team. He played hard last year but now he has his 135 million guaranteed, when the cubs fall out of contention he is going to sulk and start hacking at anything.
That's possible. He could have been playing for a huge contract last year, so we'll see if he has the desire to go out and put up big numbers again without money on the line. Good point.
GDawgs88 Wrote:Terpy Wrote:I dont think he will be able to handle playing for a losing team. He played hard last year but now he has his 135 million guaranteed, when the cubs fall out of contention he is going to sulk and start hacking at anything.
That's possible. He could have been playing for a huge contract last year, so we'll see if he has the desire to go out and put up big numbers again without money on the line. Good point.
yeah that makes sense except for the fact that in 2002 and 2003 he put up 39 and 41 and 38 and 35 respectively. He wasn't playing for money in those 2 seasons. As for what Terpy said about him playing for a losing team, well i guess it's possible, but you have nothing that can possibly prove it. He's never shown that in his career.
makes beltran a bargin but maybe he wont look at the last pitch in a 7 game series
