The Nationals rewrote Major League history on Sunday in yet another sign that the beleaguered franchise has turned the proverbial corner. Bryce Harper and Steve Lombardozzi became the first rookies to hit back-to-back home runs to lead off a game in the modern era. Here's the latest odds and ends from around the league as we look forward to Monday's amateur draft…
- Alfonso Soriano is open to being traded to a contender as he concedes his career is winding down at 36, reports Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Soriano has made himself an attractive trade candidate with a 2012 slash line of .267/.311/.460, but remains unlikely to be moved thanks to his hefty contract. The Cubs owe Soriano the remainder of his $18MM salary for this year and $36MM over the next two seasons.
- Cubs manager Dale Sveum hasn't seen team president Theo Epstein or scouting chief Jason McLeod in days and that's because they are in lockdown mode for Monday's amateur draft, says Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. "Theo and Jason and Jed (Hoyer), they've had a whole different system in the draft, and obviously it's worked pretty well," Sveum said. "The high picks they had in Boston panned out pretty good." Equipped with the sixth pick in the draft, the Cubs are expected to take high school center fielder Albert Almora or Puerto Rican shortstop Carlos Correa based upon projections from Baseball America.
- Look for the Mets to consider making minor moves at the trade deadline rather than taking on salary to acquire an expensive veteran, writes Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog.com. Cerrone points to Buster Olney's comments on Sunday night in which he stated that the team is focused on the big picture when Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler arrive in Queens in as soon as 14 months.
soriano can stills hit but he es over thee hill,,,, dh at bestest nowadays,, i looks forward to viewings cubs next series
Well he has been a 7 UZR player this season. Just saying.
His knees are starting to give him issues again. While that 7 UZR is nice, it will most likely start going down because he can’t run out there.
He might be able to be serviceable, especially with some DL time. It seems like he actually put some work in and got better there. He doesn’t hop around like a jumping bean whenever he catches the ball now.
Soriano should just retire. While he has improved defensively, you can tell he’s in pain trying to run out there. I guess if an AL club wants a DH he could be an option baring the Cubs eat his contract.
He’s been battling knee problems lately which explains why he looks like he’s in pain while running. Plus The Cubs are going to demand some sort of blue chip prospect that can hit a ball past the infield.
Player to be Named Later has too much upside for Soriano.
I disagree, Sam. If they could find a trade partner who would pay even 1/4th (and probably even less) of Soriano’s remaining deal, they would jump on it no matter what they got in return. He has the ability to carry a team with his power bat which has been red hot of late but odds say he stays a Cub, at least for the rest of 2012.
retire and leave all that money on the table? not likely
While it’s uncommon, it’s been done. I’m not saying retire this season, but possibly next. He’s not going to be able to walk by the time his 45.
Its really rare, I know Meche did it. but soriano is owed 38 mill over the next 2 seasons, that’s a lot of coin.
he actually needs surgery on his knee
I hope the Mets acquire another starter or bullpen arm. The bullpen is not good and Jeremy Hefner is a starter.
no trade for starter,,,, harvey, wheeler es waiting in thee wings
… To head to Chicago for Garza 😀
Okay but the bullpen needs fixing.
For the Cubs to get any team to take on some of Soriano’s salary would require Reagins to get a job as a GM again.
Meh. Soriano’s bat has value, and with the numbers that have been floating around about what the Cubs are willing to eat the salary would be the lesser of the obstacles to a trade.
Unless the Cubs are offering an unconditional release, my bet is most suitors could still find a better in house option. Especially when you consider the simple fact that Soriano is one of the worst postseason hitters in the MLB with more than 100 ABs.
Yankees should get Soriano back, he would hit alot of homers at Yankee Stadium
Yankees already have Ibanez to do that and he’s 99% cheaper.
Honestly guys, the amount of money that Soriano makes is completely irrelevant. The Cubs will likely cover all but 1 million a year of it.
Through 2014? I doubt it, unless a team hands over a trove of prospects.
The cubs will cover $40 of the $48 million owed. That is about the max.
UZR be damned, he is not covering any range in the SF series.
I think the most logical targets for Soriano to be traded to at the moment is Cleveland and maybe the Tigers if Eldred doesn’t work out.
If Andruw Jones of the Yankees went down, that could be a possibility, and the O’s are a possibility as well.
If the Rangers could find room I bet Soriano could plug at their new ballpark. The Angels outfielders haven’t been too productive either.
Lots of places Soriano could still fit in.
Trout and Trumbo have not been productive? Here I thought they have been the reason the Angels have been riding such a hot streak.
Yes, but Bourjous, Wells, and Hunter have not, of which, leaves an opening.
I see the Indians being a target if the Cubs paid Soriano’s full salary this year and paid 28 out of the 36 million owed him over the next two years.
Hafner’s still out (as usual) and his contract is up after this year, Brantley can slide over to CF if Soriano’s playing left, and the team has a shortage of right-handed power. Some low-upside arm would do the trick in terms of return compensation.
He should DH! Anyone watching Giants/Cubs this weekend…..he has completely embarrassed himself with his Defense in every game!
Soriano’s defense is more of a product of bad knees than anything.
We had a runner score from first on a SINGLE because he threw to 2nd instead of 3rd…lol
Cubs fans like to hype this guy as an “attractive trade candidate”. An OPS+ of 104 last year and again 104 this year. He’s ok as a DH making 3 million. But hardly attractive. If the Cubs are willing to pick up over 30 million of his remaining money they probably could trade him for nothing in return.
Soriano definitely has value if most of his contract is taken care of. He’s already matched his WAR from last year, he can still hit home runs in mass and drive in runs. The knees are definitely an issue but if put in a DH/limited LF role he can be very productive for a contending team. You can tell he can’t wait to get out of Chicago so maybe a change of scenery would do him some good.
baseball-reference.com has him at 0.7 WAR last season and 0.2 WAR this season. Not quite 1 win above replacement level in more than 1-1/4 seasons? That’s not much value.
Too much.
Olney makes something up, Cerrone post it, and it is here.
Unreal comedy.