Cu-hubs, Soriano, 8 years, $136 mil...wow

[McKain]

There are rumors swirling that the deal is oddly structured.

6 years, 90 million of it are guaranteed.
The last two years, and the other 46 million contained, are based on him reaching certain performance level bonuses.

I can't find a link to confirm it but I know there were a couple up that mentioned 6/90 as the contract. If true, I think the 6/90 method is much better for Chicago than a straight 8/136 deal... but that goes without saying.

[brewersfan19]

Cubs are definitly going to have a nice lineup!!! That sucks. Spend spend spend, and still don't have much for pitching outside of Zambrano. They are still banking on Prior to be healthy.



GO BREWERS!!!

[Slyder]

Cubs are definitly going to have a nice lineup!!! That sucks. Spend spend spend, and still don't have much for pitching outside of Zambrano. They are still banking on Prior to be healthy.



GO BREWERS!!!

Id take them on that bet. Id even give them odds that Prior doesnt make 22 starts the whole year.

[Kingdom]

Soriano will suddenly become injury prone.

[brewersfan19]

Cubs will probably still lose more than they win. They are cursed you know!

[love_that_reefer]

This deal is great for both parties if what McKain said about the oddly structured contract is true. Soriano will straight mash in Wrigley and makes people forget about the horrible deal they gave DeRosa. Soriano, Lee, Ramirez and Barrett make for a damn good lineup. They have a good bullpen but they still need some starters. This will force the Cards to something.

[DirtyKash]

McKain, Soriano has never played CF before. Why do you say that's a good thing that he plays CF? I can't wait for the Chicago media to destroy Soriano when he misplays a couple of crucial flyballs to lose games.

[rockin500]

McKain, Soriano has never played CF before. Why do you say that's a good thing that he plays CF? I can't wait for the Chicago media to destroy Soriano when he misplays a couple of crucial flyballs to lose games.

DK, you didnt watch many cubs games this year did you? The outfield is already brutal. Pierre in center was alright, but he didnt take very good routes to the ball, and Jones always made it an adventure in right and Murton has an arm that makes Damon's look like a cannon.

He certainly wouldnt play center any worse than murton and Jones.

[Slyder]

I was hoping the Cubs would use him at 2b and he could be Chuck Knoblach part duex. But If he was ever anywhere else I'm glad its CF. He might have speed but the learning curve in CF is steep.

[catman]

Chicago Tribune reports Soriano will play center and bat leadoff.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune....home-headlines

Good move on the centerfield thing, the leadoff thing should work out pretty well.

If Soriano moves to CF, what do the Cubs do with Felix Pie? He is a natural CF and lead-off hitter. He is a much better fielder than Soriano will be, IMO. I'd have no problem with Murton or Jones in RF, Pie in CF, and Soriano in LF (or DeRosa in LF with Soriano at 2B), with either Jones of Murton traded for a starter.
I could see Soriano hitting 3rd followed by Lee and Ramirez, forcing pitchers to throw him strikes. This would give Lee more fastballs to hit as well, helping his hitting a bit.
Overall, I like Pie in Center more than Soriano.

[rockin500]

except Pie isnt ready

[McKain]

1) Felix Pie isn't ready. When Jones leaves, Pie will be ready, and they can shift around the outfield to go with Murton-Pie-Soriano with Murton probably in right.
2) Soriano has all the skills necessary to play center. I was a huge doubter of moving him to left, though I accepted that he had the skillset for it, and he worked out there - he wasn't great, but he had a gun and developed as the year went on.
3) He is one of the worst defensive second basemen in major league history, and he can't be any worse at center than at second, and displacing a young potential stud like Matt Murton is idiotic, and they seem to have no desire to dump Jones, so center is the logical choice, and not necessarily a bad one.

[McKain]

A couple points of interest, coming from this article:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...ck=1&cset=true
and Rotoworld notes.

1) They may move Soriano to right and have Jacque Jones play center. This would probably be a better solution than Soriano in center and Jones in right but Jones and Johnny Damon would have to battle for the title of worst centerfielder arm in the majors.
2) The Cubs are aggressively pursuing Cliff Floyd. RETARDS. Floyd's not going to play in enough games to justify signing him, and Murton is a very good bargain in left, and it's arguable whether or not Floyd is an upgrade at this stage in his career.
3) Soriano is a ****ing dick.

"Outfield, for me, is all the same. It doesn't matter to me if I play left field, right field, center field. That's the decision of the manager."

Nice to see you got over that douchebag attitude of "I AIN'T PLAYING LEFT FIELD AND YOU CAN'T MAKE ME, PUT ME AT SECOND FRANK ROBINSON." You ****ing shit**** *****. FURY!

[Kingdom]

I say he only plays in 118 games.

[Saber]

Tribune backloaded the hell out the contract so someone else pays it when the team is sold.