All-purpose Alfonso Soriano Trade Speculation Thread

[waldo7239117]

Jon Heyman tweeted last week that Alfonso Soriano went from the most overpaid ball player to one of the most underrated players in the MLB. When Soriano signed his contract with the Cubs, it did look like a very bad contract. Back in 2007, ballplayers were not getting contracts that huge. So, Soriano's 8 year/136 million deal in 2007 did look outrageous. But in my opinion, Soriano is having one his best seasons in his career and especially as a Cub. His average in in .260's which isn't too bad, he's hitting home runs sill, driving in runs, being an anchor to the weak offense and playing great defense. Soriano can probably tell you that his defense has approved a lot thanks to Dale Sveum and the coaching staff.

Now, Soriano is the 17th highest player in the MLB. Since 2007, many players have passed Soriano in money and Soriano is still making 19 million per year. I wanted Soriano to be traded for a few years now, but if the Cubs can't trade him and don't get a good offer, I'm fine with him staying on the north side.

Going into this season ... the highest paid players in the MLB:

1) Alex Rodriguez
2) Albert Pujols
3) Vernon Wells
4) Johan Santana
5) Mark Teixeira
6) CC Sabathia
7) Joe Mauer
8) Prince Fielder
9) Adrian Gonzalez
10) Cliff Lee

Of those players, 2 have injury concerns. Rodriguez can't stay on the field and is currently on the DL right now. Santana had Tommy John Surgery and came back strong this year, but fell off the face of the earth. The New York Mets then decided to shut him down for the rest of the season.

The Los Angeles Angels were trying to trade Wells before the non-waiver trade deadline and when that failed, they tryed to trade him during the waiver deadline and then that failed too. However, the Angels did not give Wells that contract, the Toronto Blue Jays did.

The Red Sox decided to trade Adrian Gonzalez during this year's waiver deadline to the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are going in a different direction and don't want to lay that ridiculously amount of money to Gonzalez.

There was a chance Lee was going to be traded in the waiver deadline, but the Philadelphia Philles decided to retain him. Over 100 pitchers this year, recorded a win before Lee did. For a pitcher making that kind of money, that can not happen. If I was the Phillies, I would have let a team take his contract for almost nothing ... cough Dodgers cough.

An off-season of overpaid 1B ... Fielder and Pujols joined the list. Pujols is a great hitter and probably a future Hall of Famer, but not worth close to 30 million a year. By the time his contract is up, he'll be in his 40's. So, you're playing him for his worse years of his career. Fielder was signed to a cheaper contract, but not a good investment. He'll end up as a DH eventually and mid 20's million is a lot for a DH. Of whom only takes at-bats in a game and not much more. Also, don't forget ... Fielder and Pujols contracts are back-loaded and there money will go up by year.

Out of that list, Teixeria and Mauer seem like the better fits. They're good ballplayers, but don't get me wrong, they're still overpaid. I still wouldn't have signed them to those contracts, but if you want to win, you have too as teams will pay them what they want.

The MLB is not like the NFL, all the money given to the player is guranteed. So, if you lose a player to injury, you're paying the player his whole contract to sit on the bench. That's why the MLB may have to eventually change to the NFL way, so owners are not screwed out of money. If that change does happen, it won't be awhile... instant replay is number 1 on Bud Selig's agenda.

I keep mentioning this statement in a lot of my posts, but it's the best line I heard in a long time: So, teams are paying players a lot of money for their worse seasons of their career. As the players make more money a year in the later seasons of their career. By that, the players are aging and their stats are falling. Thanks to Cubs General Manager Jed Hoyer for that statement.

All in all, I'm saying most players in the league are overpaid now a days. It's just how the MLB is now and we can't do anything about it. Unless a salary cap is inserted, but I don't see that hapening (for years ... at least!).

Alfonso Soriano is not as overpaid anymore as many may think!

http://www.chicitysports.com/2012/09/02/alfonso-soriano-and-contracts-now-a-days/

 

[waldo7239117]

All I'm trying to say was contracts are ridiculos now and something needs to change.

 

[Rice Cube]

The ridiculous contracts only apply to a minority of players. Most guys get paid less than $2-3MM. Of the 750 guys who can be on a MLB roster at any given time, most of them are making league minimum or just barely more than minimum. By the time the player can get paid A-Rod money, he's proven that he's A-Rod :lol:

And then, of course, he sucks for the latter portions of that contract, but that's the price you pay to secure the player for the first part of said contract.

 

[waldo7239117]

Well that is true, but some of those players are overpaid too. I think the contracts given out now are just bad. Even the lower ones, aka Jason Bay. I think the NFL will be inserted at some time. Maybe when a new commishner is named.

 

[Rice Cube]

The contracts will probably shift towards locking up in-house players with extensions now. It's partly a matter of inflation and partly because of how much certain players are actually worth.

 

[waldo7239117]

Yeah, that's the main reason teams are locking up their young players now. They are paying themhahlf the money now, then they will if they wait.

 

[Rice Cube]

It's not quite as drastic for some of the players. You'll get paid less during the arbitration years, but being able to buy out some of the later arb years plus some free agency is definitely a good way to save money.

 

[Shawon_Dunston]

All I'm trying to say was contracts are ridiculos now and something needs to change.

The players bring the money in. They should get paid a lot. Do you buy tickets to see Ricketts? I will never be upset at a player for making "too much.". What is MLB without players? Nothing. If this was any other business, would you have a problem with a extemely successful business paying their employees their actual worth? Considering the small window the players have for their career, yes make as much money as possible.

 

[Rice Cube]

The players bring the money in. They should get paid a lot. Do you buy tickets to see Ricketts? I will never be upset at a player for making "too much.". What is MLB without players? Nothing. If this was any other business, would you have a problem with a extemely successful business paying their employees their actual worth? Considering the small window the players have for their career, yes make as much money as possible.

The thing is that the players making the most money have usually shown that they are very good at baseball. In the case of guys like Pujols, A-Rod and pitchers like CC Sabathia, they've proven that they are among the best at baseball. Those guys are few and far between. It may seem like there are tons of 9-figure contracts out there but the number is smaller than most fans think.

 

[Shawon_Dunston]

The thing is that the players making the most money have usually shown that they are very good at baseball. In the case of guys like Pujols, A-Rod and pitchers like CC Sabathia, they've proven that they are among the best at baseball. Those guys are few and far between. It may seem like there are tons of 9-figure contracts out there but the number is smaller than most fans think.

I agree. If you are the best at what you do, you should be compensated as such. That is all I am saying.

 

[Rice Cube]

I agree. If you are the best at what you do, you should be compensated as such. That is all I am saying.

...and part of the reason they get paid so damned much is because baseball economics can sustain it. It's obviously different from your run-of-the-mill 9-to-5 salary, because while most people can do the 9-to-5 job, not everyone is capable of destroying a baseball.

 

[Jntg4]

lol, the NFL will be inserted into the MLB waldo?

Think you mean the salary cap, in which case MLBPA will never allow it.

 

[nickofypres]

Fielder's contract is an albatross. Can't wait for Detroit to lose Verlander or Cabrera because of it.

 

[Bear_Assed]

still worst contract in history of basball

 

[Rice Cube]

still worst contract in history of basball

I think Vernon Wells has that beat.

 

[2SeamHeat]

I think Vernon Wells has that beat.

As has Carl Crawford.

 

[2SeamHeat]

Fielder's contract is an albatross. Can't wait for Detroit to lose Verlander or Cabrera because of it.

I doubt those would be the guys they lose due to the Fielder contract. If Dombrowski can justify dishing out hat kind of cash for Fielder, he'll do the same with Cabrera and Verlander. On top of that, they are already paying both of them $20M per plus. So, this train of thought was kind of derailed before leaving the station.

The guys they stand the biggest chance of losing due to these contracts are those like Scherzer, Fister, Smyly, Jackson, and Avilla.

 

[Jntg4]

Oh, and he makes 18 Mil not 19 Mil now, shouldn't be that hard to check BR waldo.

 

[Rice Cube]

Oh, and he makes 18 Mil not 19 Mil now, shouldn't be that hard to check BR waldo.

He probably got this from the media, who keep saying he makes $19MM.

 

[waldo7239117]

Oh, and he makes 18 Mil not 19 Mil now, shouldn't be that hard to check BR waldo.

I thought it was 18 million and 36 million, but like Rice said ... people keep saying 19 million. Since I'm not the media, I thought they will be right and I will be wrong. But I guess we can't even trust them now.