We all knew that Alfonso Soriano had timed his historic 40-40 season well. On last season’s form, he was the big free agent on the market and you knew somebody would overpay to get him, but the reported deal the Cubs have agreed to seems crazy at best.
In the current market place I can see why Soriano would get a deal worth $17 million a year. It seems astonishing to most of us, but there’s a valid argument that he “deserves” that level of pay right now. It’s the eight year part that I cannot understand. Soriano is 30, which is past his peak years generally seen as being 26-29. Now players do age differently and some can retain their value longer than others, but he certainly doesn’t bring much to the table defensively. His speed is a big asset on the bases and that can drop-off more quickly than someone who uses nous to grab an extra bag 20 odd times a season.
Hitting 46 homers when your home park is RFK is no mean feat and I’m not sitting here trying to make you believe he is a bad player. The stats tell you he was one of the best in the league last season. Yet I can’t help but think that this is a bit of desperation on the Cubs’ part. I’m sure lots of people will be ready to congratulate GM Jim Hendry for taking the bull by the horns and trying to turn the franchise around, not least Lou Piniella.
It seems like a great P.R. move, one that will undoubtedly help the team in the short term, but the Cubs have been in a complete mess recently and it’s akin to buying a shiny new helmet when the air raid sirens are filling the sky. It will look nice and raise a few envious glances at first, it might even save you from injury a few times, but it’s not going to stop the bomb from blowing you to bits.
The same can be said for the Ramirez deal, where the Cubs essentially paid for what they might lose rather than what they would gain. Ramirez won’t be worth his money in three year’s time and Soriano certainly won’t be worth $17 million in 2011-2013. Is this showing ambition or compounding previous mistakes? History will be the judge.
The Cubs will be a lot better next season, it just depends whether that’s worth the pay-off or not.
