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Free Agent Spotlight: Alfonso Soriano

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Despite being 38 years old, Alfonso Soriano still has his power and still uses that ginormous Paul Bunyan size bat. He reminded Yankees fans why we loved him in the first place when he came back to the team in July.

He came back with a bang collecting his 2000th career hit, which was a homer off of Justin Verlander on August 11th. On August 13th he hit two home runs and had a career high six RBIs. He broke that career high the next day by driving in seven RBIs. He became one of only three players in the live ball era to drive in at least six runs in back to back games. He also became just one of seven players to record 13 RBIs in a two game span, and fell just two short of the all time record set by former Yankee Tony Lazzeri. From August 13th to 16th, Soriano batted in 18 runs over four games, tying the Major League record for most RBIs in four consecutive games. He also recorded 13 hits during this stretch, becoming the only player in MLB history with 18 RBI and at least 12 hits in a four game stretch.

On August 27th, Soriano hit two home runs, the second of which was the 400th of his career. For the rest of the 2013 season with the Yankees, he played in 58 games batting .256 with 17 home runs and 50 RBIs. Between the Cubs and Yanks he played 151 total games batting .255 with 34 home runs and 101 RBI. He provided a much needed spark to a dull and dying offense. However, things are getting pretty crowded out there in the outfield and Sori hinted at possible retirement after the 2014 season.

“It depends on how I feel” Sori told the NY Post, “If I am healthy I will play [in 2015]. If not, I will let it go. It depends how I feel.” With the signing of Beltran and Ellsbury and resigning of Gardner, Sori is left without a clear cut role in 2014 let alone 2015 if the team resigns him. He could DH but Beltran, Tex and Arod (if he’s around) all need time at DH and you definitely don’t want Sori’s bat out of the lineup. He has DHed only 35 times in his career and and he acknowledged to the Post that it would be a bit of an adjustment to take regular at bats there. “If I am the DH I will have to make adjustments. When the team is playing defense I will have to find a way to keep my body warm and ready.” In his time as a DH, Soriano has hit .289/.315/.587 with nine home runs and 27 RBIs.

Now there were rumors after the departure of Robinson Cano that Soriano could go back to his roots at second base, but the signing of Brian Roberts squashed those rumors. Plus being 10 years removed from regularly playing second it wouldn’t be a good idea.

His future with the team seems to depend on his health and whether Girardi can juggle this outfielder heavy lineup. The team knows his bat is a valuable asset. He his definitely a fan favorite and we all know the Yankees love their old men. If he retires he will go down as one of the Yankee greats for sure. And if he performs anywhere near what he did during his short time with the team last year, he will be going out on top of his game.

 

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