February 18, 2004
Older Alfonso
Avkash Patel sends me this link to a NY Daily News story on Alfonso Soriano's age.
The Rangers revealed yesterday that Soriano is 28 - not, as originally believed, 26. The Yankees had his birth date listed as Jan. 7, 1978, in their 2003 media guide, but he was born two years earlier.
The Yankees knew about the age discrepancy and GM Brian Cashman told Texas GM John Hart about it as they discussed the trade for A-Rod. The Rangers, obviously, were not put off.
Cashman said he did not know the details, but Soriano and his agent came to him last year and admitted he had once lied about his age.
"Sori's a good guy and it was something on his mind," Cashman said. "He wanted us to know first, before it got out. It would've been updated in our media guide this year.
I guess A-Rod's not the only one who is lying. :-) This story also
makes me much more confident of this post. The difference between 26 and 28 is huge. You're approaching the peak of your career at 26. At 28, you're likely starting downhill. Another plus on the Yankees side of the ledger for this trade.
Posted by David Pinto at
12:03 PM
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The more I look at this deal, the more I wonder if Tom Hicks has some serious cash-flow problems, not only in the Rangers franchise but throughout his business enterprises. I heard a rumor that he lost a huge amount of money when the equity markets tanked in 2001-02, and although the markets shot back up last year, if he was hedging with currency derivatives he may have taken another bath with a rapidly depreciating US$.
He could be under considerable pressure from his commercial lenders to cut costs across the board. The A-Rod contract was the most visible expense item for the Rangers, so it was targeted for elimination or at least major reduction. It's the only way I can understand why Hicks would have accepted such a crummy deal. I may have to do some business research and see how Mr. Hicks' empire has been performing over the last 3 years.
I don't think the difference between 26 and 28 is all that big a deal. If it was 20 versus 22, it would be a lot more significant.
Improvement is commonplace from a major league player's age 26 season through his age 28 season. Improvement is much rarer after a player is 28. Individual players, of course, vary, but I'd sure be willing to bet that Soriano's best years are behind him now that I know he's 28.
28 is the beginning of your Baseball prime. The learning curve extends to about 28 and when you hit 29-32 those are supposed to be your best years.
In baseball 20-22 is still a baby. See you in the minors. All Soriano has to improve is his pitch selection and patience.
One more thing....
If you think about it... The deal makes sense for Hicks. No longer is 30% of his payroll going to one player... He gets a player who's #'s actually stack up well against A-Rods. Soriano is a 30-30/40-40 guy. A threat at the plate AND on the basepaths. So while A-Rod gets more HR and RBI... Soriano isn't far behind. Soriano's numbers didn't even come in an RBI position in the lineup.
Rangers go out and get some pitching... Re-up Soriano at 5-10 mil per and still have money left over.
Fin.
I think he is one of the greatest players ever, besides the alltime greats like Babe Ruth, and the others.
