Soriano is No. 1 free agent available; who wants him?
Closer Rafael Soriano is the No. 1 free agent left on the market.
And yet, it’s unclear which teams are prepared to give him a contract that meets his salary demands.
Soriano earned a base salary of $7.25 million and picked up another $125,000 in performance bonuses while pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays last year. He led the American League with 45 saves and maintained a 1.73 ERA. He won the Rolaids Relief Award, too. He did all of that while pitching in the majors’ best division.
So, as a free agent, he could reasonably request $10 million per year. He certainly deserves better than setup-man money. But who is going to pay him?
The Los Angeles Angels seem to be a natural fit, despite their light-spending offseason. Fernando Rodney is the Angels’ best internal option at closer, and he blew four saves in September with a 5.65 ERA.
Other than that ...
The Texas Rangers are not pursuing Soriano. And the Baltimore Orioles apparently satisfied their need for a closer by signing Kevin Gregg.
There are conflicting reports about the New York Yankees’ interest in signing Soriano as a setup man to Mariano Rivera.
And while the Chicago White Sox are frequently mentioned as a possible suitor, two major-league sources said this week that the White Sox are unlikely to sign a free-agent reliever for more money than the contract they gave Jesse Crain: three years, $13 million.
Scott Boras is Soriano’s agent. The Great Negotiator of Newport has had an excellent offseason, signing Jayson Werth, Adrian Beltre and Carlos Pena to contracts that surpassed many estimates. But if Soriano signs for huge dollars, Boras will have made his biggest save of the winter.
— Jon Paul Morosi
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I see Scott Boras continues to fleece all the sucker owners out there and continue to drive the ticket and hot dog prices thru the roof. Thanks alot you guy's for making a day at the park with our familys such an expensive ordeal! Just how much money is enough Borass?
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JUST THINK ABOUT THIS. THE " COMMON FAN " WAS
ALL BENT OUT OF SHAPE ABOUT PAYING STAN THE MAN OR
TED - THE SPLENDID SPITTER A $100,000 A YEAR. TODAY
A BUM THAT HIT AROUND .200 LAST YR GETS $10 MIL A YEAR
FROM THE DUMB CUBS. EVERYONE IS TO BLAME. I'D RATHER
WATCH PICKUP GAMES IN A NEIGHBORHOOD SAND LOT. -
would you two just settle down please.if you are upset what the players make and that the ticket prices are too high, just go get another job or work harder and make more money for yourself so you can afford tickets.dont complain because youre jealous
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I thought your comment was clearly inappropriate as there are some folks out there who cannot afford to take their families to a game and probably already have two jobs...then I read your comment below and saw you were a Yankees fan and the light bulb went off.
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it's not inappropiate, it's reality. 4 tickets $124, 4 sodas- 16.00, 4 hot dogs, 16.00- parking 15.00- that's 171.00. left field 18 rows from field, citizens bank. it's expensive but reasonable comparied to other things like going to see a live show. the place is sold out, always. so if you can't afford, stay home and watch. but don't whine, it's unbecoming.
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yankees are going to be world champions in 2011.
i will put $5000 on them. anybody want action -
I'm a Sox fan and usually very realistic/accuarate when it comes to predicting the AL East. Make it 10k and your on. I will also place another separate 5k on the Sox winning the East by more than 7 games.
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That's some pretty big talk for a team that has done nothing to improve on last year, but get older. I would like that action if I knew for certain you would pay up. like how about we put the money into an escrow account with the terms written into a contract.
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go yankees
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Im a diehard Yankee fan i dont even think they will win the series this year i wish i had the money so i could take that from you
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I'd love the Angels to take advantage of the diminished market and land Soriano for a reasonable price. It would shut up most of the "Arte Moreno doesn't sign anybody" whiners, give the team the closer it needs, and ruin Boras' "perfect storm" of an off season. The bulk of this winter's free agents have been tremendously overpaid, and as usual when that happens, Boras is at the center of it. When will owners realize this, and stop getting played by this guy? Moreno has, and all he gets for his awakening is grief from Angel fans and sports columnists that he's cheap. He's not... he's just not willing to get financially raped by Boras.
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You find a team with a few Scott Boras "rip off deals" by the sucker owners and you won't be paying no $171.00 for some cheap seats in left field. Boston and New York are so "HARD UP IN BEATING EACH OTHER", They play right into Scott Boras play book. Whatever happened to developing your own through the farm system? Instead of overpaying other teams super stars?
