i'm a philly phan and i say it is NOT worth it! Burrell, along w/ howard and utley all ranked in the top 20 in strikeouts for all of MLB last year. adding a hack machine who performs best only in his walk year will not help. trading burrell is one issue, and wouldn't be terrible, but adding soriano (and his gigantic price tag) is another.

if pat gillick insists on tying up 15mil/yr for the next 5-6 yrs on one single player, please let it be a pitcher. i don't think it's a good idea either way, but innings pitched are more valuable for this team.

I would lov eto have Soriano here, but as long as Burrell is gone. Burrell showed no life the last 2 months of the season. it's amazing how he ended up near the 100 rbi mark this year. he killed many rallies this year. moves slower than a sloth in left field, and generally looks like he doesnt have fun on the field. time to get rid of him.

Soriano is not going somewhere to play left field. He still views himself as an infielder. He will sign somewhere to play second base.

soriano to the reds would be the best move

soriano to the reds would be the best move

re: soriano & the phils

(1) the comment above re: Burrell being ineffective because he is a "hack machine" because he has a lot of strikeouts is silly. Ryan Howard struck out nearly 170 times last year, but he led the league in home runs, in RBIS, had @31 Win Shares and an On Base Average which was second in the league, drawin well over 100 walks. The reason sluggers like Burrell and Howard draw more than 100 Ks a year (Abreu too) is that they take pitches deep into the count including two strike pitches and are unafraid of going deep into the count, ergo they walk more and strikeout more, and they also will get hanging curves to bash out of the park with two strikes more. Mike Schmidt once struck out more than 180 times in a season, by the way, and Reggie Jackson and Babe Ruth also struck out plenty. Pat Burrell had 15 win shares last year, walked nearly 100 times, hit more than 25 homes, knocked in nearly 100 runs, and while there are attitude issues with him, he is still one of the more effective left fielders in the national league.

(2) combinging soriano with burrell may not be the best idea. Right field would be a new position for Soriano. One likes the idea better of putting Soriano in Left field, where he has played, than in Right Field, where he has not played, which would be his third position in as many years. Second, Shane Victorino is a fine right fielder who adds speed and offense and on base percentage in the #2 hole. He has a great arm.

(3) One option if the club were to sign both Burrell and soriano would be to play Burrell a bit less against tought right handers and play Victorino in Rightfield, Soriano in leftfield, and have a lineup like this;

Rollins
Victorino
Utley
Howard
Soriano
Rowand
Catcher
3dbaseman

(4) If the phils play both Burell and Soriano, one has to think that Rowand might sit once in a while against righties and let Victorino play;

Rollins
Victorino
Utley
Howard
Soriano
Burrell
3d Baseman
Catcher

(5) If the phils got aramis ramirez, then their lineup would be more powerful;

Rollins
Victorino or Rowand
Utley
Howard
Soriano
Burrell
Ramirez
Catcher

or:

Rollins
Utley
Howard
Soriano
Burrell
Ramirez
Rowand or Victorino
Catcher

This lineup has advantages and disadvantages. Soriano, Ramirez and Rowand do not have high on base averages but high slugging averages (Rowand in the .400s, Soriano and Ramirez often in the .500s).

Utley and Howard get on base very, very often, though, and so does Burrell, so Soriano, Ramirez and Rowand would have the chance to bat with men on base quite frequently. Victorino has good slugging average numbers as well as being another rollins type speedster so he'd be effective in the 7 hole to re-start rallies later in the lineup, while Utley is fast, can get on base, has power, can hit to the right side behind Rollins, has bat control to play hit and run, and can flat out hit a two run homer behind Rollins.

Also, with this lineup, you can rest regulars and play a rested lineup that can still beat the other team so that in september and pennant stretch time, you still have gas in the tank. There is no reason to play Howard, Utley, Soriano, Rowand, Ramirez, Burrell more than 140-145 games unless you have to play them that many. The Phils should try and rest these guys and win early in april and may, rest them in the dog days after getting an early lead, then get them back playing in September.

(6) On the pitching side, Wolf is a good idea. As for the bullpen, the retreads they're thinking about are not the answer. The answer is what Detroit and St. Louis had, young guns who can throw flame--Zumaya, Rodney, Wainwright. guys who can throw 95 and up and can come in and shut down the opposition with outstanding speed and deception.

The 30 plus crowd isn't going to do that. The Phils should be looking for young guns with speed, maybe too many walks, to convert into relievers. Once upon a time they were willing to trade for guys like Tommy Greene and Curt Schilling--flamethrowers from other organizations--and a guy named Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams. Those deals led to a pennant in 1993.

They should traverse the halls of history and repeat that path again. Power pitching wins pennants and also wins playoffs and World Series. Those weren't knuckleballs Suppan and Weaver were throwing out there. Detroit led all of major league baseball in ERA this past season. Leyland put together a bullpen by putting Zumaya, a starter with bad control, into the bullpen, where he became a relief ace, a la Smoltz. There, with Rodney, they shut down ballclubs from the 7th on. St. Louis had Isringhausen and Mulder, but survived their loss by bringing up young guns like Wainwright.

The Phils cannot patch a bullpen; they need to build a bullpen.

by the way, this is one area manuel is weak in.

--art kyriazis, philly

Art, great comment. i like your thinking.

The one thing i dont like is Rowand. his offense is too stale. "maybe" because he got hurt, i dont know, but if Victorino is even CLOSE to Rowand in the defensive department, then it's a risk we must take; trade Rowand for a decent starter, or very good middle relief (which is what i think he is worth).

If Burrell and Soriano are both on this team then Rowand won't be. They will want to move atleast 1 contract and play a younger cheaper guy like Victorino in CF. He will make around 5mil less than Rowand. This all depends on who they find for 3B as well. A burrell for Beltre trade isn't out of the question since they are both viewed as over paid.

The Phils could absorb 1 maybe 2 large contracts of approx. $8 - 15 mil or so. They need 1 SP, a 3B, and 1 OF along with all of the spare parts. So the question is where do they spend it at, especially if you could add a top player at 2 of the 3 positions available. Pitching and 3B are the likely areas of spending.

Uhh...Art? Unless Philly's payroll is skyrocketing this year...how the hell could they afford to sign Soriano and Ramirez, and keep Burrell?

And not to sound like a prick...but if it were that easy to just go out and find power arms...every team would be doing it. I don't know a whole lot about the Philly farm system, but when was the last time any team traded a top power pitching prospect? The Beckett deal is the only recent trade like that I can think of, and Boston was getting a 25 year old power arm in return. (Incidentally, as optimistic as I am about Beckett's future in Boston...I think the FO might regret that decision.)

You didn't make any propositions about who they should go after...but I don't think it's very realistic to suggest that Philadelphia can afford to sign 2 of the highest paid offensive free agents on the market while hanging onto a bloated contract AND shoring up the staff with young power arms, all in one offseason. Kind of pie in the sky.

"Babe Ruth also struck out plenty."

The most times Babe Ruth ever struck out was 93 (in 1923) That year he also drew 170 walks and posted a line of .393/.545/.764. Not that 93 isn't a lot, but there's a huge difference between Soriano's output and Ruth's.

As a Mets fan, all I can say is that anything that gets Burrell out of the NL East is good news.

I agree with Art from above. The Phillies need to stop looking at bullpen retreads who are 34, 35 and 36 yrs old and start building a young hard throwing bullpen. They have been patching a bad bullpen for years now and should realize by now that it doesnt work.y

Can anyone explain to me why the Phillies aren't more interested in Aramis Ramirez (who fills a position of need, 3rd base) rather than Soriano??