Soriano

I find the whole Alfonso Soriano/Nationals imbroglio to be quite amusing. Soriano, in case you didn’t know, has been primarily a second baseman in his career. He’s got unusual power for a second baseman. He’s quick, he’s athletic… and his admitted mental lapses lead to dozens of errors each season. Yes he’s been an All Star, but not because he’s a terrific fielder; it’s because he hits home runs.



So the Rangers traded him to the Nationals for Brad Wilkerson (among others), who planned to make Soriano an outfielder. He’s got the physical skills, and I’d imagine they liked the idea of putting him in a position where he’d have a few more seconds to react on most plays.



He is REFUSING to do it.



***



Now, Soriano just “lost” an arbitration case with the Nationals this winter. Arbitration, if I understand correctly, is where a player with a certain amount of service time is granted the right to have his contract re-evaluated by his team. Many teams avoid this process, as an attempt at prevailing means sitting down with a player face-to-face and trotting out a list of their weaknesses in order to convince an independent arbitrator not to give the player a huge raise. This often leads to bad feelings between the player and the team. Many teams make a pre-emptive strike and try to come to new contract terms with a player before their arbitration comes up. They can often save some money and avoid bruising a player’s ego.



So this winter Soriano was eligible for arbitration, and ended up at the table with the Nationals, for whom he hadn’t yet played a game. He asked for a record $12mil a year on the basis of his aforementioned power stroke, stolen base totals, and All Star status, presumably. He “lost,” which means the arbitrator “only” awarded him a $10mil salary.



Boo hoo, right?



***



Now he’s literally refusing to play when the Nationals tell him to patrol left field. Keep in mind that he HAS played the outfield professionally before in Japan.



So for $10mil a year this man will not respect the wishes of his employer.



For that, he stands to be placed on the disqualified list, which means no playing time and no salary.



He’s supposed to be a free agent next year. Before any of this started he told the media he’d re-sign with an American League team next season. Yet another bad move on his part, as it sent a clear message to the Nationals: I’m marking time here for one season and will leave the first moment I can.



Thing is, free agency is dependent upon service time, just like arbitration eligibility. If he is on the disqualified list, not only will he receive no money, but he won’t put in the necessary service time to become a free agent. He’ll be in limbo, a Nationals property with no salary and no freedom to go anywhere else.



And I say he freakin’ deserves it.