Alfonso Soriano

he has bad plate discipline. He can’t lay off pitches out of the strike zone. He hasn’t ever tried to get “better” at that aspect of his game…and it’s the only thing really holding him back.

just not as a lead off hitter.

His arm, he has a cannon and its usually acurate.. causing runners to think twice of running on a ball hit to left.

we seem to forget that Soriano was signed as a free agent after posting a 40/40 season in Washington. He has yet to put up those kind of numbers for the Cubs, and with his leg injuries the past two years I doubt that he will ever again. YES, when he is hot he is the hottest hitter on the planet, but those three stretches a year don’t make up for his cold, cold streaks (which seem to last about twice as long), and his poor defense in left. Yes, he does have a good arm, but i’d rather not see him botch routine fly balls and have an average arm.

That being said, Soriano is NOT the end-all-be-all problem with the Cubs. It’s just his stubborness to only want to hit lead-off, and his refusal to adjust to breaking balls, gets unnerving sometimes. It’s also frustrating to some fans, I’m sure, that he really isn’t producing up to his huge contract that Hendry gave him.

think there is any reason we should ship him out of town. As its been stated how many times; just move him down the order. He’s still an offensive threat. Just not a leadoff hitter. I think people wouldn’t feel quite has poorly toward him if he didn’t hit lead off. I would have no problem with a lineup consisting of Aram 4, Soriano 5, and Lee 6.

There’s no doubt in my mind. But people don’t like him because he’s a showboat, doesn’t hustle, and plays a horrible left field. He also doesn’t try to get better at the aspects of the game that he’s bad at. But if he’s producing, I don’t care what else he does.

I used to frequent this place, alot, along time ago. Occasionally I peak in to see what’s become of the place. I don’t like what I see. People here seriously blame Soriano? Are you folks kidding me? What does he need to do to prove himself? Become short white, scrappy and have a neato nickname like “The Riot”? The group think over here sickens me. Where are the original thinkers, the critical thinkers? Few and far between anymore, I fear. This team collectively soiled the bed. Everyone including fan fave Theriot. But let’s pick out Soriano, Ramirez, or any other guy who isn’t a fan friendly fella.
Where is the bile for Theriot’s play, or Soto, or lackluster pitching? How about a little fair criticism? I’m sure I’ll get flamed for this, I half expect KOW to jump all over me for being “nasty”. I don’t care. It needed to be said.
Al, are you really proud of what has transpired here? The level of intelligent discourse has dropped significantly over the past year. Any dissenting voice is shouted down and berated, if not ultimately banned outright, shame on you, shame on well most of you.

Thats always been my position….hes a dynamic player, but a liability come playoff time b/c of his wild ways.

IF SORIANO OPENS UP 2009 AS THE LEAD OFF HITTER… I QUIT

really think that he lost his leverage? I sort of thought that with this debacle, Lou is going to take charge and say “This is my barbecue. You’ll do as I say”. I honestly think he won’t lead off next year.

He’s a player with limitations, such that he falls below the level that most would call “Great”. It would be wonderful if he became a great player by becoming a disciplined hitter. Absent that, he’s pretty much the player the Cubs’ signed. I don’t think any player is untouchable but I wouldn’t advocate shopping him unless you were getting a great deal because it’s a lot of production to lose, but in reality I don’t think many teams want that contract given the length.

Maybe next year we will tweak our lineup some and bat Soriano somewhere in the 3-5 spots, but even this tweak isn’t going to get us to the WS.

Okay, here’s some 2009 Cubs kool aid, picture a Pie with an OBP around .365 and a Fukudome with an OBP around .390, each batting ahead of Soriano, with Lee dropped to 5. It’s a better lineup primarily because of the addition of the other 2 productive players.

understatement of the year. Yeah, the limitation is that he can’t hit good pitching to save his life. He’s a mistake hitter, plain and simple, and there’s no reason why anyone with good command should let Soriano hurt them. Throw him the off speed crap in the dirt, and he’ll swing at it, again and again and again. Against 1,2, and 3 starters in the playoffs, Soriano always has been and always will be exposed for what he is: the biggest 136 million dollar sham in history.
Sorry for the rant- but I just can’t take anymore of his unreliability. Stats are not the whole story- oh sure, gaudy numbers at year’s end, but completely unpredictable and unreliable come crunch time. He can’t hit anywhere in the top 4 spots in the lineup as he can’t move a runner over, can’t hit a sac fly, and can’t be counted on with men on base. Unless he’s on one of his summer hot streaks, beating up bad pitching, he’s nothing. If they make the playoffs next year, I would expect nothing but more of the last two years from Soriano.

If he’s hot, look out. If he’s cold, he’s useless. Combine that with his defensive play, not the guy you want to make the keystone of your ballclub.

Soriano should never be a leadoff hitter. He has zero patience and is better suited to hit lower in the order. He can not be traded because he is still owed $106 millon till 2014! This has to be the worst Jim Hendry singing in his tenure as GM. Soriano is no better than Sosa was before he got hot late in his career. Both are free swingers and are not team players.

They play with so much confidence. You just feel like they are always going to win.

Hendry went out in the market and outbid himself for a player that no other high grade team in baseball wanted. We are stuck with the p.o.s. for the duration. Unfortunately our manager katows to Soriano and won’t stand up to his insistence of batting at the top of the order. So don’t expect much to change with Soriano in 2009. He’ll go on his patented hot streaks and his personal statistics will be nice and shiny all over again. And the debate will start all over again on why Soriano is a major strength of the Cubs while coming up with another basket full of excuses on why he can’t hit good pitching and vaporizes during crunch time.

Soriano is the type of player who should play on a dog team. A team where he can put up ungoldly personal numbers like he did with Washington in 2007 or in Texas the few years preceding. A team that has no chance of winning and where there is therefore no pressure on the p.o.s. A team where he doesn’t have to be a team player.

This is exactly why GMs should never ever listen to the fans.

Yes Soriano horrible player. IMportant part of a team that is 41 over 500 over the last 2 seasons.

Not saying he’s a great player or worth the money but the idea we should trade him just to trade him is ridiculous.

And the idiotic he doesn’t care thing. Right he played on one leg down the stretch in 07 because he doesn’t care.

And we trade him just to get rid of him would cost us more because we’d have to eat his salary and pay whoever to replace him.

And it’s a lie he has refused to leave the leadoff slot. In 07 and 08 he has been our best option.

And yes we did play decently without him but we played much better with him in the lineup.