Out of the Frying Pan...
Losing out on the Alfonso Soriano sweepstakes is unquestionably a blessing in disguise for the Phillies to any close follower of the baseball team; eight years and $136 million is far, far too high a price to pay for even one of the top hitters on this year's market. This is why the new stories circulating that link Carlos Lee to the Phillies make me a little bit queasy - the unconfirmed rumor making the rounds tonight is that the Phillies are prepared to offer Lee a five-year contract worth roughly $62 million. The Phillies wanted Soriano, missed out on getting their man (in a very public manner), and are now desperate to use some of the money fans expected to see spent on a big name free agent...it's a recipe for disaster.
Alfonso Soriano is a good player, but his addition to the Phillies lineup would not have made sense - subtracting Pat Burrell and adding Soriano would have cost the Phillies a fortune, and the upgrade from Burrell to Soriano wouldn't have been worth the cash.
Carlos Lee is a good player, but his addition to the Phillies lineup would not have made sense...well, you get the idea - just read the previous paragraph and sub in "Lee" for "Soriano."
In a completely unrelated tangent, it was a little tough to see the New York baseball empire getting the players they wanted. Money absolutely wasn't everything in the contract decisions made by Moises Alou (Mets) and Mike Mussina (Yankees), but it still stings to see the two New York teams make sound, fiscal decisions in the face of this offseason's exploding market. Two of the Phillies biggest holes could have been filled if only they could have somehow lured Alou and Mussina away (I don't blame the Phillies for not being able to do so as both players seemed set on playing in New York) and all for just a few million dollars more combined (I'd say $9 million for Alou and $12 million for Mussina might have gotten it done) than one Soriano ($17 million per).
On the plus side, at least Pat Gillick is a better GM than Ned Colletti.
Alfonso Soriano is a good player, but his addition to the Phillies lineup would not have made sense - subtracting Pat Burrell and adding Soriano would have cost the Phillies a fortune, and the upgrade from Burrell to Soriano wouldn't have been worth the cash.
Carlos Lee is a good player, but his addition to the Phillies lineup would not have made sense...well, you get the idea - just read the previous paragraph and sub in "Lee" for "Soriano."
In a completely unrelated tangent, it was a little tough to see the New York baseball empire getting the players they wanted. Money absolutely wasn't everything in the contract decisions made by Moises Alou (Mets) and Mike Mussina (Yankees), but it still stings to see the two New York teams make sound, fiscal decisions in the face of this offseason's exploding market. Two of the Phillies biggest holes could have been filled if only they could have somehow lured Alou and Mussina away (I don't blame the Phillies for not being able to do so as both players seemed set on playing in New York) and all for just a few million dollars more combined (I'd say $9 million for Alou and $12 million for Mussina might have gotten it done) than one Soriano ($17 million per).
On the plus side, at least Pat Gillick is a better GM than Ned Colletti.
posted by XXX at 11:55 PM
4 Comments:
I whole heartedly agree with your "dodge the bullet" remark. I actually tried to convince myself that I wanted soriano but deep down knew it wasn't a wise move. Offense isn't our main issue.
This is my first visit here and I like what I have read thus far. I got my own page...it's nothing great, just for fun really.
I really thought it would have been the other way around. The Cubs signing Carlos Lee and the Phillies getting Soriano.
A) I never really knew the Cubs were making a serious run for Alfonso.
B) He was simply overpaid. Geez, how fast those 5/$75M, 6/$80M offers disappear.
C) Atleast Soriano is out of the division.
Oh yea, I'm supposed to remind you to update the link.
http://homeofthebraves.blogspot.com
BTW, That's awesome that Ryan Howard won the NL MVP. I really hope he continues to have the success he's been having. He seems to be a pretty good guy.
Adam - link is updated, thanks for the reminder
Skeeter - cool site, I'll definitely have to add that to the links on the sidebar.
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