Alfonso Soriano leads Cubs over Reds 5-3

[Northside Neuman]

Stratmaster wrote:

<quoted text>
I was OK with this until the last sentence. Soriano has already ahd a better career than that; and isn't every player a major injury away from those ranks?

Not every player makes $18 million dollars per year over the life of an 8 year deal.. He's already a horrible defensive outfielder and he still has 5 years left on his deal after this year! The contract is nearly impossible to move, what happens in three years, does the team dare move him to first base? Will he still have any offensive game in 3 years let alone 5???

Mike Hamptons contract saddled the Rockies for nearly a decade with a tight payroll. The Cubs are already feeling the effects of his contract at the trading deadline in year 3.

[Northside Neuman]

1965CubsFan wrote:

<quoted text>
You dont know baseball to well,so heres some avdice kid. To be an Elite team(look up elite) you should consistently make the playoffs and win your division! The Cubs are on their way to their 3rd staright div title this year and 4th in less than 7 years. The Cards have a ways to go to match the Cubs of late! You are as good as how you have played lately,not 7 years ago!! You can be an Elite team, a great team, a good team and a bad team. No Way are the Cards elite LOL!! The Cubs arent even Elite,even though we are much better. The jury is still out this year,but the Cubs have been great as of late. The Cards fall into the good category over the last 3 years or so! By the way I have followed Baseball closely for the last 44 years(Ouch I am 51 already Yikes lol).

Fans of a team that hasn't won a title in 101 years shouldn't be the judges of "eliteness", especially of a team that won a title just three years ago... I'm sorry to say but the Cardinals have been the elite team in the NL for most of the last 70 years..

I'm gonna go puke for having typed that now..

[Stratmaster]

Northside Neuman wrote:

<quoted text>
Not every player makes $18 million dollars per year over the life of an 8 year deal.. He's already a horrible defensive outfielder and he still has 5 years left on his deal after this year! The contract is nearly impossible to move, what happens in three years, does the team dare move him to first base? Will he still have any offensive game in 3 years let alone 5???
Mike Hamptons contract saddled the Rockies for nearly a decade with a tight payroll. The Cubs are already feeling the effects of his contract at the trading deadline in year 3.

The long term contract was what it took to get him in Chicago for the window of opportunity Hendry saw to win a WS. If they win one, or even get to one, then no one will be complaining. As far as how much, are you paying his salary? I could care less as long as the ticket prices continue to stay in line with other teams.

[Nada Surf]

Stratmaster wrote:

<quoted text>
The long term contract was what it took to get him in Chicago for the window of opportunity Hendry saw to win a WS. If they win one, or even get to one, then no one will be complaining. As far as how much, are you paying his salary? I could care less as long as the ticket prices continue to stay in line with other teams.

Soriano cost them DeRosa and probably Peavy or Halladay or Lee as well.
Horrible signing.
They couldn't have done any better with $118 mil?

[Stratmaster]

Nada Surf wrote:

<quoted text>Soriano cost them DeRosa and probably Peavy or Halladay or Lee as well.
Horrible signing.
They couldn't have done any better with $118 mil?

I'm not sure how you are reasoning that Soriano cost them Derosa or any of those other players. I would suggest that Bradley may have xost them DeRosa as I believe DeRosa and Soriano were both on the team last year, weren't they? Derosa is a great utility player. Are you comparing Derosa to Soriano for an impact player?

One last question. Do you EVER freaking sleep? lol

[Northside Neuman]

Stratmaster wrote:

<quoted text>
I'm not sure how you are reasoning that Soriano cost them Derosa or any of those other players. I would suggest that Bradley may have xost them DeRosa as I believe DeRosa and Soriano were both on the team last year, weren't they? Derosa is a great utility player. Are you comparing Derosa to Soriano for an impact player?

Actually it was $138 million if I'm not mistaken..

How many player in the history of the game have ever been offered an 8 year contract? Mike Hampton is the only one I can recall recently. When you're paying an athelte this kind of money its a HUGE RISK giving him a deal longer than 5 years.

His production does not merrit his contract, they way overpaid on a yearly basis and they made a massive mistake on the numer of year they gave him. They could have gotten him for 5 years I bet.

And yes I am paying his salary with my season tickets, which go up 20% every other year. I'm not sure I would call that increase reasonable..

[Nada Surf]

Stratmaster wrote:

<quoted text>
I'm not sure how you are reasoning that Soriano cost them Derosa or any of those other players. I would suggest that Bradley may have xost them DeRosa as I believe DeRosa and Soriano were both on the team last year, weren't they? Derosa is a great utility player. Are you comparing Derosa to Soriano for an impact player?
One last question. Do you EVER freaking sleep? lol

RO FL...
I sleep a lot in fact..
I'm usually out at about 3 a.m. your time until 11 a.m...
The Cubs had to cut payroll this season, apparently, so the highest and most wasteful spent on player gets my nod as the one that forced DeRosa out....

[SgtX]

Jake wrote:

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Based on what stats are the Cardinals an elite team?? You havent given any? The Cardinals are NOT an elite team. Your definition of elite is not accurate. I totally agree with the 1965cubfan,you are definitely in left field on this one LOL..

How about Wins and Losses for the past 50 years? I think that is about as accurate of a stat as you can get.

[Stratmaster]

Northside Neuman wrote:

<quoted text>
Actually it was $138 million if I'm not mistaken..
How many player in the history of the game have ever been offered an 8 year contract? Mike Hampton is the only one I can recall recently. When you're paying an athelte this kind of money its a HUGE RISK giving him a deal longer than 5 years.
His production does not merrit his contract, they way overpaid on a yearly basis and they made a massive mistake on the numer of year they gave him. They could have gotten him for 5 years I bet.
And yes I am paying his salary with my season tickets, which go up 20% every other year. I'm not sure I would call that increase reasonable..

Cubs tickets average $5 more than WhiteSox, for a product and experience easily worth $50 more (that was for you Nada). The Cubs didn;t get Soriano for 2011 and 2012. They got him to compete for a WS while they have a nucleus of talent that gives them a chance.

[Nada Surf]

Stratmaster wrote:

<quoted text>
Cubs tickets average $5 more than WhiteSox, for a product and experience easily worth $50 more (that was for you Nada). The Cubs didn;t get Soriano for 2011 and 2012. They got him to compete for a WS while they have a nucleus of talent that gives them a chance.

What on earth would make a person think that Soriano would give any team a better chance at a World Series?

[Stratmaster]

Nada Surf wrote:

<quoted text>What on earth would make a person think that Soriano would give any team a better chance at a World Series?

Maybe the 40HR/40SB season he had before the Cubs picked him up? I don't know, just guessing you know...

[Nada Surf]

Stratmaster wrote:

<quoted text>
Maybe the 40HR/40SB season he had before the Cubs picked him up? I don't know, just guessing you know...

Soriano, as I'm sure you know, is not the typical 40-homer guy...
The year prior to the Cubs signing him, he hit 46 homers on a 71-win Washington team that had absolutely no pressure on it.
He still managed to hit all those homers and failed to drive in 100 runs.
Solo homers aren't going to get it done --neither will poor defense--and yet Hendry gave this guy $18 mil over eight years.
With Soriano clogging the cap the way he has and his decline in production that wasn't all that good anyway, the Cubs have no shot of getting to the World Series as long as he's around, although they managed to put together a pretty good team last season...
This is the worst signing I've seen in baseball in years.