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Soriano Comes To Washington

TODD

By TODD
in The Tailgate

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TODD

TODD

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http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2251887

DALLAS -- All-Star second baseman Alfonso Soriano was traded by the Texas Rangers to the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night for Brad Wilkerson, Terrmel Sledge and a minor league pitcher.

The deal was pending physicals.

With a rare combination of power and speed, Soriano has been one of the most productive infielders in the majors the past four years. He hit .268 with 36 homers, 104 RBI and 30 stolen bases last season, when he earned $7.5 million.

Eligible for arbitration, he almost certainly will get a substantial raise next year, and he can become a free agent after the 2006 season. He is a .283 career hitter with 162 home runs.

Soriano gives the Nationals the dynamic offensive player they desperately need. Washington finished last in the majors in batting average (.252), slugging percentage (3.86), runs (3.94 per game) and homers (117), along with an NL-low 45 stolen bases.

With Jose Vidro already entrenched at second base, it's believed the Nationals will move Soriano to left field.

It appears the Nationals would want him to move to the outfield after losing two outfielders in the deal. Plus, they already have a past All-Star at second base in Jose Vidro, though he was hampered by leg problems last season.

Soriano has been reluctant in the past to switch positions. When he was acquired by Texas in the February 2004 trade that sent AL MVP Alex Rodriguez to the New York Yankees, Soriano remained at second base and Michael Young moved to shortstop, where he became an All-Star.

Wilkerson was a sandwich pick in the 1998 draft, picked 33rd overall by Montreal.

Forced to bat leadoff because the Nationals decided no one else could do it, Wilkerson struggled last season with a variety of injuries and wound up batting .248 with 11 homers, 57 RBI -- and 147 strikeouts. That came after he had career highs with 32 homers and 39 doubles in 2004.

Wilkerson can play all three outfield positions, and will likely be a starter at one of the corner spots for Texas. He can also play first base, but the Rangers already have All-Star Mark Teixeira there.

Sledge was limited to just 20 games last season after tearing his right hamstring off the bone while chasing a ball in the outfield May 2, and hit .243 with one home run. He had a promising rookie season with the Expos in 2004, recovering from a 1-for-34 start to finish with a .269 average, 15 homers and 62 RBI.

Sledge hit the first homer in Nationals history, a two-run shot against Philadelphia.

The Rangers also get right-hander Armando Galarraga, who went a combined 6-8 with a 3.80 ERA in 27 starts at Class A Potomac and Double-A Harrisburg.

In other news, Washington offered arbitration to pitchers Tony Armas Jr. and Joey Eischen.

Alfonso Soriano

Second Base

Texas Rangers

Profile

2005 SEASON STATISTICS

GM HR RBI R OBP AVG

156 36 104 102 .309 .268

--

Finally, a guy that can hit! And, we didn't have to give up anyone besides Wilk, who struck out way too much for a leadoff hitter anyway.

Too bad we couldn't land Pierre, but this move is great.

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@DCGoldPants

@DCGoldPants

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They needed pitching...and they needed a big name bat.

Look, MLB basically screwed us over by now getting an owner in before Free Agency started.

If they had, we would have landed 1 or 2 of the big name pitchers out there. The new owners would have thrown money all over.

But yes, we need a few pitchers still.

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Heidenreich

Heidenreich

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I heard this when I got up this morning. I think it's a good move for Washington.

I was a big fan of Soriano when he was on the Yankees. I think part of the reason I hate Arod so much (besides choking in playoff games) is what the Yanks gave up to get him.

One thing about Soriano, he strikes out a ton too, but he's a hell of a player.

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Fatty P For The Pulitzer

Fatty P For The Pulitzer

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you can't win without pitching

The Nats were 4th in the NL in Team ERA, and dead last in Runs scored. You can't win games when you don't score. They could have the best staff in the league, but it doesn't matter when they get no run support. I'm not saying to ignore their pitching. They have 2 very good starters, but not much after that, especially with Loiaza leaving, so they do need help. But, with the quality of FA pitching available, their record is not going to improve very much, if at all, if they went into next season with the same lineup. At some point, you need to bring in people who produce runs.

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DB44

DB44

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Fatty P brought up a good point in the other thread. Could they be looking to move Vidro?

Vidro could get you a #3, or #4 pitcher and/or a CF/leadoff hitter. Soriano doesn't seem like a leadoff hitter- high K's/low BB's and a batting average under .300. There is definitely is a hole in CF. Church should play LF, and Guillen in RF.

Good pick up by the Nats, though.

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TheKurp

TheKurp

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I'm a Texas Ranger fan and while I liked Soriano, I'm not that sorry to see him go. It's been mentioned here that he's a legitimate lead-off hitter. Not really. He lacks plate discipline and has struck out at least 125 times in the last 5 seasons. He routinely fails to run out balls he thinks are sure outs, only to allow opponents to recover from an obvious error and throw Soriano out because of his lack of hustle. I've also seen him on more than one occasion go into a home-run trot on balls that have stayed in the park. Oh yeah, he's led 2nd basemen in total errors over the last 4 seasons.

All of this for what is sure to be somewhere in the $10M/year arbitration ruling.

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TODD

TODD

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Fatty P brought up a good point in the other thread. Could they be looking to move Vidro?

Vidro could get you a #3, or #4 pitcher and/or a CF/leadoff hitter. Soriano doesn't seem like a leadoff hitter- high K's/low BB's and a batting average under .300. There is definitely is a hole in CF. Church should play LF, and Guillen in RF.

Good pick up by the Nats, though.

I don't see Vidro moving, although I wouldn't be averse to exploring the option if we could get real good value for him. I wouldn't trade him for a #2 pitcher though, only for a very good leadoff hitter or a legit big bat.

Soriano will play LF, probably bat #3 or #4, and Vidro or even Nick J could lead off if we don't make a play for another CF.

Church played some CF last year, so I like him there with Guillen in RF and Soriano in LF. That gives us some defensive deficiency in center and left, but our infield D is very good and we should be able to offset it a bit.

If we could make a play for a dcent #3/#4 pitcher, and a leadoff hitting SS, it would be a very successful offseason.

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Posse81

Posse81

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You really have to put this trade in context of the team last season. Soriano gives them a much better option in the leadoff slot than they had all of last season. He may strike out a lot, but Wilkerson struck out a lot himself. Point is, this is an upgrade offensively--and a big one at that. Given the resources he has, Bowden pulled off a very nice move.

I would hope that Bowden explores the option of dealing Vidro for some pitching if the price is right. If he can and Soriano plays 2B, Marlon Byrd is your third outfielder. It doesn't sound as if Soriano is going to want to move to the outfield, so the team will have to find a solution there.

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