WHY YANKS ARE EYEING A SORIANO REUNION

If you had an opportunity to bring back Alfonso Soriano’s bat, would you? The Yankees are looking at a few options coming out of Chicago, the Chi-town connection that always seems to run deep between Joe Girardi and the Cubs (Read THE CHI-TOWN CONNECTION.) This time, it's not talk about Carlos Zambrano. Instead, there is talk about former Yankee Alfonso Soriano coming back to the New York Yankees to help out with some hitting help in the DH slot for their run at the playoffs. I have mixed feelings about this, money being part of it.

Alfonso Soriano has enormous power and plays a good outfield but the Chicago Cubs still owe him about $65 million on his contract through 2014. To me, I can’t imagine the Yankees paying that full amount and even if the Cubs pay say $40 million of it, that’s $24 million still owed on a home run hitter that also strikes out an awful lot.

That being said, the reunion could be fun and be truly effective if the Yankees want to make a serious run and bury the Red Sox in their division after the All Star break.

Soriano was loved during his time in pinstripes and after the 2003 playoffs, Soriano immediately was on Steinbrenner’s radar. Next thing you know, Soriano went to the Texas Rangers for none other than Alex Rodriguez. I remember it well, I was on my way home from a signing with Bucky Dent and Mike Torrez and heard it on the radio. It was a bittersweet day. Clearly I loved Alex on the Yankees, but seeing Soriano go was hard. The next few years Soriano went from the Rangers to the Nationals and then to the Chicago Cubs where he signed that monster deal.

Clearly the talent is there, and clearly Soriano is not the only player in baseball that strikes out a lot, yet delivers great numbers each year. If the Yankees can be smart about it, and still pick up some lefty relief and maybe even an extra starter too, I have no problem with this. The other part of this is the big question; Would Soriano go back to the Yankees? He doesn’t have to, he can veto the move, but I would imagine he would rather be with a contender than a loser. But look, this is all just talk at this point, I don't want to get ahead of myself.

The Yankees are looking at 2 other Cubs as well, Aramis Ramirez and lefty reliever John Grabow according to SB Nation. I’d be curious if they can snag someone like Soriano and Grabow. Again though, Soriano has a lot of money owed to him, that will be tricky. I know one thing, as a New York Yankees fan, I ‘ve seen it time and time again... when they need a bat, or a pitcher, they go out and get it. Why? Because they can, they’re the God damn New York Yankees, so while this might just be talk... it fun to think about the reality of this. Stay tuned.

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WHY IT WAS SWISHALICIOUS

(Photo: Reuters)
The last couple games seemed evenly matched and this game is no different until the 8th. Playing in Chicago is no walk in the park and right now I'd say the Yanks really had a challenging weekend.

It was a back and forth battle tonight for sure. Both teams scored a run each in the first, then Chicago pulled ahead with 3 more in the third with a three run homer by former Yankee Alfonso Soriano. The Yankees got 2 back in the 4th and then they tied it 4-4 with another run in the 6th on Martin's sac fly. But luckily in the 8th, a big thing happened for New York, and that thing was Nick Swisher.

But let me back up and talk about another important man last night. Gardner led off and had a home run and a single last night. While it doesn't sound too exciting, it is. He's been on fire lately and like I said all winter, having him leading off consistently would be an asset to the Yankees. Maybe now that he's in a rhythm it will pay off.

Swisher is hitting .306 with a .453 OBP and 5 homers in his last 22 games, and I'd say his slump is over. He blasted A-Rod and Cano home on his homer in the 8th inning making it 7-4 at that point.

The Yanks then scored 3 more runs in the 9th inning and the Yankees were on their way at that point.Great news for CC Monster who received his 9th victory. He wasn't stellar, but he grinded it out again. A win's a win, but I want to see him in CC form, not Ivan Nova form. I'd really love to see him wipe up the competition next game.

Final Score: Yankees 10 - Cubs 4. the Reds are next and to tell you the truth, I picked the Yankees and Reds for the World Series this year, so for me, personally, I'm looking forward to this. I wonder if Paul O'Neill will be in the booth for these games? I hope so.

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2000's MOST EXCITING PLAYER: CANO OR SORIANO?

When most of us see how great Robinson Cano is for us, we tend to forget that the Yankees had a player who was a 30/30 player every year, just missed the 40/40 mark and was always a threat for the lone member of the 50/50 club. His name is Alfonso Soriano.
(In Photo: Alfonso Soriano)
Soriano played second base for the Bombers regularly in 2001 until the end of the 2003 season. His best year was in 2002 where he had 209 hits, 39 homers, 41 steals, 102 RBI, and an even had a .300 average. That's pretty damn great! Soriano missed out on the 40/40 club that year by 1 home run, and later achieved that feat in 2006 with the Nationals as he recorded 46 Home Runs and 41 stolen bases.

Soriano had a huge future ahead of him in the Bronx and was only 26 in 2002 during his monster season. He was one of the most sought after players in baseball for his great display of speed and power. He was traded along with a player to be named later, which became Joaquin Arias, and cash for our current 3rd baseman, Alex Rodriguez.

For 2 seasons the Yankees were without an everyday second baseman, shuffling between Tony Womack, and Miguel Cairo while trying to find a permanent solution.(In Photo: Tony Womack/Getty)
The solution was in their own farm system. His name was Robinson Cano. Cano came in 3rd place in the AL MVP voting last year, and is a staple in the current Yankees lineup much like Alfonso was about 10 years ago.Now, let's compare Cano and Soriano.

• Soriano definitely wins the battle in speed as Cano has never stolen more than 5 bases in a season and Soriano's lowest single season steals is 9.

• Soriano also wins the power category, as he averaged 31 home runs per year as a Yankee, and Cano's most home runs in a season is 29.
  

• Cano does own the 2 most categories for a second baseman though and Cano is also by far a better fielder as Soriano committed countless errors. Cano also wins the batting average battle, as Soriano's highest averaged in 1 season is just .300, and Cano's has batted over .300 4 times between 2005 and now.

Finally know this. This comparison was done calculating Cano's stats from the beginning of his Yankee career in 2005. Alfonso Soriano's stats were pulled from 2000 when he was a Yankee to 2006 with the Nationals. We did this to keep it relatively equal. So, now you know, if you were to choose between Soriano or Cano, who would you choose and why?

Let me know by emailing me, will.cohen.bleedingyankeeblue@gmail.com, hitting me on Twitter, @Wccohen11 or adding me on Facebook. I will respond.



--Will Cohen, BYB Staff Writer

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