Alfonso Soriano is heading to Chicago and taking the U.S. Treasury with him.
The Washington Nationals knew they would lose their best player to free agency. Incoming manager Manny Acta practically conceded it last week when taking the job. The Nats gave Soriano an honest offer of $70 million over eight years, but Washington was smart not to invest a king’s ransom in a middle-aged player whose best days are probably past.
Dan Snyder, are you taking notes?
Instead, the Cubs went to Al Capone’s vault for $136 million over eight years. Yowsir — even Snyder wasn’t that nuts over Deion Sanders. The owner did throw in a nice burgundy suit that was probably donated to a Salvation Army somewhere, though.
You knew Soriano was gone in the final days of the season when saying he would return to Washington if it was up to him. Up to him? Who else would it be up to? Oh wait, he left it in the hands of Benjamin Franklinand his pals.
Let this be lesson No. 1,087,042 that players only care about money. They say the right things, but greed is good and players don’t care about rivalries or our town. They’re usually not from here, not staying here and only passing through. And you know what? That’s fine. Just play hard while you’re here and Soriano certainly did.
Soriano’s new $17 million average salary is third only to Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. The $136 million would pay for all the prune juice Nancy Pelosi seems to be drinking nowadays.
The Nats are losing a great player and a great guy. Getting the end of the first round and a second-rounder as compensation picks is a joke. Soriano would have been an MVP candidate if the Nats were in first and they get a couple 30-something picks that may never see the majors?
The real laugher of the deal is Soriano agreeing to play center field. This from the guy who balked over playing left field instead of second base for the Nats. Guess Soriano should thank Frank Robinson for his increased marketability. That’s worth a fruit basket.
So how will the Nats front office be graded over trading two fair players for Soriano, then not swapping the latter at midseason to a playoff contender for a handful of prospects or a starting pitcher? Ask in three years when we see whether the two players taken in the coming draft as compensation picks show anything.
It was worth trading two players for one season with Soriano given he was the big reason for watching Nats games. But should Trader Jim Bowden have dealt Soriano before the deadline to a contender? If those coming picks don’t pan out, then it was a big miss. Really, it’s a long shot either of the picks does anything so Bowden gets dinged for holding out for too much there. Overall, the Nats traded two veterans for two draft picks plus Soriano for one year. That’s a passable trade to me.
Despite losing Soriano, the clock on the Nats improvement starts now. The team has a front office and owner and enters free agency with some cash given the fan base. It’s time for some moves to get Washington into the playoffs by 2008.
Soriano will never see the postseason in Chicago. But at least he’ll retire with more money than a K Street lawyer.
Rick Snider has covered local sports for 28 years. Contact him at [email protected].
