Alfonso Soriano Is A Yankee Again

Here's the scoop:

To sum up, #Cubs Theo asked Sveum to take Soriano out of lineup tonite, saying deal with Yankees close to being done

— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) July 25, 2013

As yet, we don't have a new lineup for tonight's game, but that's not the important thing. After six-and-two-thirds often maddening seasons as a Chicago Cub, Alfonso Soriano is apparently headed to the New York Yankees, for whom he played from 1999-2003. No details on the deal are yet available, either how much money the Cubs are eating, nor who they'll get in return. But Soriano, who was given time to decide whether he'd accept such a deal just yesterday, apparently gave his consent.

Soriano's suffered through injuries that curtailed his production. Through all of it he never complained, worked hard to return to play, was by all accounts a good teammate, and the criticism he got was way over the top. I'll miss him, as will the folks in the left-field bleachers with whom he was always friendly.

It's a new era in Cubs history. The longest-tenured Cub is now Jeff Samardzija, the only Cub who played on the 2008 N.L. Central title.

So we move on. I'll have more details and analysis, probably tomorrow.