Saturday, July 9, 2011

WHY YANKS ARE EYEING A SORIANO REUNION

If you had an opportunity to bring back Alfonso Soriano’s bat, would you? The Yankees are looking at a few options coming out of Chicago, the Chi-town connection that always seems to run deep between Joe Girardi and the Cubs (Read THE CHI-TOWN CONNECTION.) This time, it's not talk about Carlos Zambrano. Instead, there is talk about former Yankee Alfonso Soriano coming back to the New York Yankees to help out with some hitting help in the DH slot for their run at the playoffs. I have mixed feelings about this, money being part of it.

Alfonso Soriano has enormous power and plays a good outfield but the Chicago Cubs still owe him about $65 million on his contract through 2014. To me, I can’t imagine the Yankees paying that full amount and even if the Cubs pay say $40 million of it, that’s $24 million still owed on a home run hitter that also strikes out an awful lot.

That being said, the reunion could be fun and be truly effective if the Yankees want to make a serious run and bury the Red Sox in their division after the All Star break.

Soriano was loved during his time in pinstripes and after the 2003 playoffs, Soriano immediately was on Steinbrenner’s radar. Next thing you know, Soriano went to the Texas Rangers for none other than Alex Rodriguez. I remember it well, I was on my way home from a signing with Bucky Dent and Mike Torrez and heard it on the radio. It was a bittersweet day. Clearly I loved Alex on the Yankees, but seeing Soriano go was hard. The next few years Soriano went from the Rangers to the Nationals and then to the Chicago Cubs where he signed that monster deal.

Clearly the talent is there, and clearly Soriano is not the only player in baseball that strikes out a lot, yet delivers great numbers each year. If the Yankees can be smart about it, and still pick up some lefty relief and maybe even an extra starter too, I have no problem with this. The other part of this is the big question; Would Soriano go back to the Yankees? He doesn’t have to, he can veto the move, but I would imagine he would rather be with a contender than a loser. But look, this is all just talk at this point, I don't want to get ahead of myself.

The Yankees are looking at 2 other Cubs as well, Aramis Ramirez and lefty reliever John Grabow according to SB Nation. I’d be curious if they can snag someone like Soriano and Grabow. Again though, Soriano has a lot of money owed to him, that will be tricky. I know one thing, as a New York Yankees fan, I ‘ve seen it time and time again... when they need a bat, or a pitcher, they go out and get it. Why? Because they can, they’re the God damn New York Yankees, so while this might just be talk... it fun to think about the reality of this. Stay tuned.

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