BREAKING NON-NEWS: Soriano Stays Put
Alfonso Soriano is still a Washington National. For this season, at least.
After what we assume were some intense negotiations with over a dozen teams, Jim Bowden failed to trade the Nats’ star left fielder. The 4 p.m. trading deadline came and went without a deal for Soriano, or any other Nationals for that matter. As a waiver-wire trade will be logistically impossible to complete, Soriano will stay with the Nationals for the remainder of this season, becoming a free agent at the season’s end.
The Nationals have announced their intent to sign Soriano to a long-term contract, and Soriano has in turn expressed his desire to stay in the city that has embraced him. However, it appears extremely unlikely that the Nationals will be able to reach such an agreement. Soriano figures to make $65 million over 5 years on the open market, well below the Nats’ offer at $50 million over 5 years. Another point of contention is president Stan Kasten’s refusal to grant no-trade clauses, a contract perk that Soriano is seeking.
Photo by Scott Abelman
Now, the most likely scenario for Soriano is that the charismatic star will sign with another team over the winter, leaving the Nats with sandwich draft picks as their only compensation. The blame for the unsavory taste in our mouths lies with GM Jim Bowden. He had the ultimate bargaining chip: a dynamic, game-changing superstar in the prime of his career who was putting up MVP-like numbers with a very reasonable salary and no long-term commitment. That he failed to parlay this asset into building blocks for the future of a rebuilding team can only be viewed as a complete and utter debacle.
How did Bowden manage to mangle this golden opportunity? As Gary Gillette of ESPN.com points out, Bowden got greedy. Fresh off his fleecing of the Reds, he was looking for a similarly one-sided deal. The problem with this is that unlike Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez, Soriano was the main attraction on the trading block. Bowden was not going to slip in under the radar with a similar steal to the one he pulled off with Cincinnati. The other GM’s knew that Bowden was looking for more than Soriano was worth, and collectively low-balled the Nats GM.
Because Bowden had so many teams on the phone at once, he was unable to develop an intimate relationship with any of them (barring his 12-hour failed negotiation with the Dodgers, dubbed “Sleepless in Los Angeles”). Because of this, he was overextended in the final hours and was unable to broker any realistic deal. Gillette later notes that Bowden’s non-action could be due to his desire to hedge his bets: “Bowden likes to deal, but he also likes to be regarded as a genius. And making lopsided deals with the one with the Reds earlier makes him look REALLY good to the new ownership.” Team President Stan Kasten knows talent when he sees it; his leadership and planning led to the Atlanta Braves’ recent dominance in the NL East. I think he’ll be able to spot an obvious lack of genius when it comes time to renew Bowden’s contract.