One Soriano leads me thinking of another

With the latest news of Braves reliever Rafael Soriano being traded to the division foe Tampa Bay Rays, I thought of another Soriano the Yankees were connected to. Alfonso Soriano.

Soriano was a second baseman with excellent power and speed. He just missed a 40-40 season (HR & SB) in 2002 (39-41), but still, everyone knew this guy was going to be something special, including the Rangers.

They thought wrong.

MLBTR hit on this same subject a couple weeks ago in light of the trading season’s arrival. The trade was simply A-Rod for Soriano and a PTBNL (eventually  named Joaquin Arias).

Since the trade, Soriano has averaged .275 BA, 32 HRs and 82 RBIs while  playing second base for the Rangers (two seasons) and left field for the National League (four seasons). A-Rod has averaged .300 BA, 40 HRs and 119 RBIs while playing just eight innings at shortstop and the rest at third base and DH.

Money and PEDs aside, I’ll take the guy with the superior numbers and who has missed nearly twice as less time. Oh, and A-Rod has two MVPs and a World Series ring.

When the Yankees swooped in at the last second to trade for Alex Rodriguez — stealing him away from the Red Sox — back in February, 2004, it may have been the biggest transaction in all of sports.