Alfonso Soriano dealt to Washington Nationals

[Fishercat]

I was so amazingly wrong on Alou, I don't know how he did it. Maybe he's like Nomar, who isn't necessarily taking advantage of a hitters' park, rather of his home park?

[love_that_reefer]

I would be lying if I thought Alou was going to hit .321. Can't wait til next year

[McKain]

Being able to bat in runs is not a valuable stat because it's not up to an individual batter if he can do that or not. It's up to everyone else around him.

He's going to hit in front of one of them because Jim Bowden has a giant Soriano hard-on, as evidenced by the fact he traded for him without realizing how terrible he'd be in RFK, and because Frank Robinson is terrible at putting together a lineup. They got soriano to make him the centerpiece of the offense; they're going to bat him in the 3-hole, more likely than not.

Moises Alouis not an appropriate comparison to Alfonso Soriano; he has always been able to draw walks at a much better rate than Soriano (in fact, he's drawing a walk at nearly double the rate of Alf), so he will always have the ability and the possibility to put up good numbers in any park. Alfonso Soriano can NOT draw walks. He has not cracked 40 walks yet; over his career, he draws one walk every five games. His batting average is the key to him having a great year; his average just declined for the third year in a row, and RFK certainly won't help matters much. If his BA falls for a 4th year in a row, and the park affects him like it is expected to, yes, he WILL put up an OPS close to what Guzman did last year.

[HuskerFan2002]

The Rangers have offense but need pitching so what do they do? Trade an offensive player for 2 outfielders and a minor league pitcher. They don't need any more outfielders!

[McKain]

The Rangers needed plenty of outfielders.

They had basically 2 DHs in the corner outfield last year, in Mench and Dellucci, and centerfield was the not-very-good Gary Matthews Jr. this lets them move one of the corners to permanent DH, fixes their CF problem (Wilkerson is a good fielder and will have a very good year), and gives them a nice bench hitter and a decent pitching prospect.

[love_that_reefer]

You missed the Alou comparison by miles dude. Nick Johnson is most likely to hit in the 3 hole and Guillen clean up with Soriano batting fifth. To say that being able to knock in runs is absolutely stupid. Yes of course it depends on people in front of you, everyone knows that. People can have men on base and do nothing with it. Being able to do something is very valuable.

[McKain]

So what makes Alfonso Soriano able to "bat in runs"?

Is it his .268 batting average in 2004?

How about we look at some stats that sure show how incompetent Soriano is at hitting
How about his .246 average with a runner on first?
.250 with a runner on second?
.188 with a runner on third?
.242 with first and second?
.154 with first and third?
.200 with second and third?
.333 with the bases loaded? (oh boy, the 5-8 times he comes up with 3 men on this season, he'll crush that ball!!!)

With runners on base, Soriano has a .240 batting average. I fail to see how that equates to "batting runs in," when batting runs in is based on:
a) runners being on base
b) the batter getting a hit

[love_that_reefer]

And look at 88 RBI with runners on. Something the Nats desperately needed.

[McKain]

and do you know why he has 88 RBIs with runners on?

Because he was fortunate enough to have runners on base when he got hits.

Soriano didn't do anything to bat in those runs that he wouldn't do in a normal at-bat. He went up, he tried to get a hit or draw a walk, and there's nothing more to it. He will not be batting in 88 runs in Washington because there won't be 88 runners on base in his few hundred ABs with runners on.

You know what the Nationals needed? A good player, who can hit for average, draw walks, and with some power. They sure didn't get that, since Soriano's only a 1/3 there.

[love_that_reefer]

Soriano got those RBI by doing his job whether its a sac fly or a fielders choice. Soriano is what the Nats needed last year and that's a guy who can knock in runs. Quit this babling bullshit that Soriano won't have guys to knock in. He will hit fifth behind Vidro, Johnson and Guillen. Vidro and Johnson get on base. How do I know he will hit fith? Because he hit 30 bombs and drove in 93 from that spot last year and will provide protection for Guillen. Even Frank Robinson can figure that out.

[McKain]

Soriano got those RBI by batting like he normally bats and being in good situations where he had runners on base. It's as simple as that.

He won't bat behind both Johnson and Guillen, and Vidro might not even be able to play again.

He hit 30 homeruns because HE WAS IN AMERIQUEST. He will not be in Ameriquest this year. If he starts the year at the 5 spot, he won't be there long, because he won't be doing his job, since last year, his job consisted of playing very poorly but getting helped tremendously by his park.

[General]

Dude, anyone can knock in 88 runs in that lineup. Betcha if Giles was there as their 2B, he would've had 120 RBI.

[love_that_reefer]

Why won't he bat behind those guys?

[Saber]

Alfonso Soriano does the one thing he's paid to do: hit.


He just doesn't do it that well.

[McKain]

Soriano was acquired with the intent to replace Jose Vidro with him; as such, he will be taking Vidro's spot at 3 in the lineup.