SoriaNO!
Phil Rogers of the Tribune thinks the Cubs need to acquire Alfonso Soriano to save their season. Phil Rogers is on crack. Ok, that's a cheap shot and entirely unfair. Phil Rogers is misguided. How about that?
First of all, Soriano is terrible on defense. Defensive statistics are kind of sketchy, and everyone has their own system that they believe in. I'm not sure if I trust any of the systems completely, but I do know that if the three most respected systems agree that you're terrible, you're terrible. Soriano is terrible, and in fact is worse than Walker, the guy the Cubs are trying to replace because his defense is so bad.
Second, while he has decent power and lots of speed, his stats aren't quite as good as they look on the surface. His walk rate is very low, and the quantity of outs he creates is almost Patterson-like. Plus, he was aided massively by his home ballpark in Arlington the last two years. Wrigley can be good for hitters, but over the past few years it's been rather neutral if not pitcher-friendly.
Third, he's kind of a punk. Yes, Bowden is a terrible GM that should have found out if Soriano was willing to move to the outfield before trading for him. But still, if your team wants you to play outfield, you play outfield. Don't sit on the bench like a punk. You're being paid too much money to sulk.
Finally, and most importantly, he makes too much damn money. He's owed $10 million dollars this year!
Ok, you might be thinking I'm 100% against the acquisition of Alfonso Soriano. Not so. If he could be had without giving up a top 10 prospect, and Washington is willing to pick up half his salary, I'd make the deal. Despite what I said, he'd still be a marginal upgrade over Walker, Hairston, or Perez. His power and speed combo is that impressive. He's just not worth $10 million dollars. I'd rather save that money to acquire somebody who could make a bigger difference.