Simple Questions No One's Bothered to Answer
There's been plenty of gab about Alfonso Soriano this week. And, in typical media fashion, most of it has been pointless and inane. Some shorter versions:
Jay Mariotti (Sun-Times): Jim Spendry! Ha! Get it? Spendry? I crack myself up sometimes.
Carol Slezak (Sun-Times): Yeah, they’re spending money and stuff. But they still don’t care about winning. Or the fans.
Yahoo’s Jeff Passan: I’m writing a humorous bit of satire about the Ghosts of Wrigley Pasts playing poker and talking about Soriano. It works great if you ignore the fact that there are several living people included among the “ghosts.”
Mike Imrem (Daily Herald): If the season started today, they'd still have no starting pitching, so Soriano won't help. I make a great point if you ignore the fact that the season doesn't start today.
Rick Morrissey (Tribune): This proves they're serious about winning!
Dave van Dyck (Tribune): He's dreamy!
Dr. Phil (Tribune): The Cubs are spending so much money that they must be for sale!
All this is...ummm...interesting...for lack of a better word. But none of this answers the question the pundits should have asked: does signing Soriano make the Cubs a better team?
There's been gab about where Soriano will play. Probably center, but perhaps one of the corner spots. No matter where in the outfield he is, he's essentially taking Juan Pierre's place in the lineup.
Defensively, it's a downgrade. To say Soriano is still a work in progress in the outfield is being generous (although some reports say he isn't too bad). And center is a lot different than left, so that transition could be a bit rocky. Soriano has a better arm than Pierre. Then again, 90% of the world's population has a better arm than Pierre.
Offensively, their OBAs are pretty much a wash. But Soriano blows Pierre out of the water in the slugging department. That's the big positive in this move.
Overall, I think Soriano is a plus for the Cubs. He's not an ideal leadoff hitter (L-Pin should think about sticking Orange Guy at the top of the lineup and Soriano fourth or fifth...), but I think he's enough of an offensive upgrade over Pierre to make up for the lowered defense. Or perhaps I should say I hope he is...
The contract is another thing altogether. I don't like contracts longer than one year, usually. Anything longer than two years and an option and you're begging for heartache. So eight year deals really set my teeth on edge. And sinking that much dough into one guy is never a good thing.
But flags fly forever, right? If things work out, Hendry will look like a genius.
Oh, who the hell am I kidding? Even if things work out perfectly, anything that happens this year will be long-forgotten seven years after. It's part of that famous media bias we keep hearing about...
Jay Mariotti (Sun-Times): Jim Spendry! Ha! Get it? Spendry? I crack myself up sometimes.
Carol Slezak (Sun-Times): Yeah, they’re spending money and stuff. But they still don’t care about winning. Or the fans.
Yahoo’s Jeff Passan: I’m writing a humorous bit of satire about the Ghosts of Wrigley Pasts playing poker and talking about Soriano. It works great if you ignore the fact that there are several living people included among the “ghosts.”
Mike Imrem (Daily Herald): If the season started today, they'd still have no starting pitching, so Soriano won't help. I make a great point if you ignore the fact that the season doesn't start today.
Rick Morrissey (Tribune): This proves they're serious about winning!
Dave van Dyck (Tribune): He's dreamy!
Dr. Phil (Tribune): The Cubs are spending so much money that they must be for sale!
All this is...ummm...interesting...for lack of a better word. But none of this answers the question the pundits should have asked: does signing Soriano make the Cubs a better team?
There's been gab about where Soriano will play. Probably center, but perhaps one of the corner spots. No matter where in the outfield he is, he's essentially taking Juan Pierre's place in the lineup.
Defensively, it's a downgrade. To say Soriano is still a work in progress in the outfield is being generous (although some reports say he isn't too bad). And center is a lot different than left, so that transition could be a bit rocky. Soriano has a better arm than Pierre. Then again, 90% of the world's population has a better arm than Pierre.
Offensively, their OBAs are pretty much a wash. But Soriano blows Pierre out of the water in the slugging department. That's the big positive in this move.
Overall, I think Soriano is a plus for the Cubs. He's not an ideal leadoff hitter (L-Pin should think about sticking Orange Guy at the top of the lineup and Soriano fourth or fifth...), but I think he's enough of an offensive upgrade over Pierre to make up for the lowered defense. Or perhaps I should say I hope he is...
The contract is another thing altogether. I don't like contracts longer than one year, usually. Anything longer than two years and an option and you're begging for heartache. So eight year deals really set my teeth on edge. And sinking that much dough into one guy is never a good thing.
But flags fly forever, right? If things work out, Hendry will look like a genius.
Oh, who the hell am I kidding? Even if things work out perfectly, anything that happens this year will be long-forgotten seven years after. It's part of that famous media bias we keep hearing about...
posted by Bob at
8:32 AM
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