As you started to say, is that right field at Wrigley is the hardest outfield position to play in all of baseball. It’s a combination of the walls, sun, and wind.

We all know Sori has had his own share of adventures in LF, so putting him in RF would only compound the situation.

He would be a poor defensive OF in either corner. His arm is definitely suited to right and his fear of the bricks and hop on the catch could cause fan nausea at any position on the field.

I’m assuming the preference in keeping him in right stems from how a position change appeared to hurt his batting. Fonz is a streaky hitter and the CF experiment seemed to hurt him at the plate and the switch to a familiar LF improved his offense.

…for putting Soriano in right field. For starters, it would make acquiring Adam Dunn all the more attractive as you could minimize his defensive shortcomings by playing him in left field. What’s more, Soriano has a strong arm and used to be a second baseman, so he should know his way around that side of the baseball field.

Unfortunately, baseball isn’t always logical. I’ve long believed that we’ll never see Alfonso in any position other than left field with the Chicago Cubs. My guess is Cubs management wouldn’t want to risk distracting Soriano at the plate, where he’s already markedly streaky (as are all hitters, but still…), by asking him to learn a new position.

In short, it’s a great idea – again, especially if Adam Dunn is in the picture. But I would be pretty shocked if it was actually on the table.

The angles are way easier, his arm would still be valuable there, it would open up options for LF, and you could platoon Kosuke/Reed in RF. And you could use any one of Pie/Gathright/Johnson as defensive subs. Or you could shift Fukudome/Johnson etc over to CF in late innings and put DeRosa/Hoffpauir etc in RF.

To me, this would make more sense as CF is the easiest OF Position to play in terms of ball angles and trajectories….they tried it briefly last year, so why not give it a real shot?

Couldn’t this help solve the LF/RF dilemma? I know this affects Dero and Fonty, but isn’t it worth considering?

but is anyone seriously considering Barry Bonds, who apparently doesn’t want to retire?

Here is my issue with Soriano. I disagree that he cannot play right or center field. I believe it is more of a case that he either won’t put in the work to do it or doesn’t have the mental toughness to play the position. My guess is that it is a combination of the two. Regardless, it is more accurate to say that he chooses not to do it.

Soriano has all the physical tools to play either position. He has speed, arm strength. What he doesn’t have is good form, good routes to the ball, a good first step. Most of these problems are based in mental desire. The fundamentals can be practiced and improved upon, if the desire to do so is there.

But when I see Soriano, I see a selfish guy coasting on his talent. He is a star player who could be a superstar player with a stronger work ethic and desire to do more. For example:

-He wants to leadoff, and pouts when he can’t.
-He initially refused to play LF (for the Nationals), even refusing to take the field. Instead of embracing the challenge of playing the OF, he whined, even though it was the best thing for the team.
-He refuses to adjust his game, swinging for the fences in all cases, regardless of the situation.

None of these are the hallmarks of a superstar or of leader. And for the amount of money he is being paid, it is disappointing.

If he plays in the WBC, he won’t have a full ST to adapt to RF. I think he would be willing to do it, but he needs a lot of reps, and he won’t get it with the chopped up ST routine.

BTW, that was a big issue in Washington with his move to LF. He played 2B for the D.R., then had only about 8 days to try to learn LF; it’s understandable that he was concerned and didn’t want to do it at that point — no one wants to be embarrassed on the field.

 Outfielders have to learn, through repitition, where a baseball will land almost immediately after its hit. It is a difficult thing to do, and some have a knack while some never learn. Going back on a baseball is harder than going in. Now right field is where your better outfielder plays (not best) because of the way the ball curves. Most hitters are right handed. When they hit the opposite way, it is very difficult to pick up. It may shoot straight, or it may tail usually to from left to right. A left handed batter’s ball can go either tail right, straight, or with the wind left so you need to able to read that. Left field for the balls hit are usually alot easier to read. So to learn to play right is not easy. I did not get into the fact that the sun sets right into the rightfielders eyes. Soriano lost a balls in the sun in left, so multiply that be ten maybe? Add in the wind and maybe you understand.

  Now your playing right, the sun is low in your eyes and the wind is blowing crossways. A ball off a right handed batter is smoked to you, and you need to read it right away. Is it gonna tail,or go over straight over your head? The sun is in your eyes and the wind is blowing crossways. So you have to sprint back but which way? Keep your eye on the ball cause if oyu don’t you’ll lose it in the glare, and the wind is probably pushing it away from you. Oh did I mention the brick wall your headed full speed at.Fu played an excellant right field except for his throws. He took away many hits that we here should at least give him credit for.

1. If Soriano is switched to RF, he’s now playing the sun field during home day games which would only exaccerbate his the lousy reads he gets on balls. Rather, having broken the wrong way on a ball, he would have even more trouble picking it up as it comes toward him out of the sun.

2. Having posted about his arm in the past, I’ve learned that some of you are absolutely convinced that Soriano has a cannon and I doubt that I can dissuade you of that opinion. Nevertheless….

From watching him, my own opinion is that Soriano has a very effective throwing arm because he releases the ball very quickly and his throws are very accurate. In terms of actual arm strength though, he’s probably below average but the first two factors, especially the quick release, more than compensate for the weakness of his throws, allowing him to pile up assists. Moving to RF, and having to make the longer throw across the diamond to third, that lack of true strength would negate much of the effectiveness that he gains from getting rid of the ball so quickly. If he was playing in RF next year, you’d see a lot more runners moving first to third or tagging up than when Dome was playing out there.

to hear Soriano say at ST he spent his offseason shaggin fly balls, don’t think we will hear that though.

moving Soriano in order to get Dunn would be a terrible decision. That would then mean we have to below average outfielders instead of one. I love Sori’s arm, I am strictly talking about going after fly balls and covering the field.