Rangers trade Soriano to Nationals for three players

[Keith7]

I don't really get this trade at all.. but its hard to understand anything the rangers do lately.. (besides win the title, Champions of Texas)

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Rangers trade Soriano to Nationals for three players
ESPN.com news services

Despite an uncertain ownership situation, the Washington Nationals have made a splash at baseball's Winter Meetings.

The Nationals have acquired Texas Rangers' second baseman Alfonso Soriano in exchange for Brad Wilkerson, Terrmel Sledge and a minor-leaguer to be named later, ESPN's Peter Gammons reports.

The deal is pending physicals.

Soriano hit .268 with 36 home runs, 104 RBI and recorded 30 stolen bases last season. During his seven-year career, Soriano has a .280 average with 162 home runs, 465 RBI and 169 stolen bases.

With Jose Vidro already entrenched at second base, it's believed that the Nationals would move Soriano to left field.

[turbostud]

Soriano is a good player. :confused:

[Whsdogs]

yes soriano is a GREAT player...he was kinda lazy in the infield...but hey great trade cause now we have Mark DeRosa in the infield with his .170 batting average and 2 homeruns compared to sorianos stats..great move

[big daddy russ]

What are they planning on doing with Wilkerson? They could've moved Soriano to OF and got more production than the other two combined. Were they trying to cut payroll?

[Keith7]

Originally posted by Whsdogs
yes soriano is a GREAT player...he was kinda lazy in the infield...but hey great trade cause now we have Mark DeRosa in the infield with his .170 batting average and 2 homeruns compared to sorianos stats..great move

nah they will prolly bring up Ian Kinsler who has been tearing it up in the minor leagues.. He had 23 homeruns and 93 RBIs in 131 games at Triple A Oklahoma.. He nearly batted .400 the year before last, so the Rangers have someone that will be fun to watch to fill soriano's spot

[Whsdogs]

Originally posted by Keith7
nah they will prolly bring up Ian Kinsler who has been tearing it up in the minor leagues.. He had 23 homeruns and 93 RBIs in 131 games at Triple A Oklahoma.. He nearly batted .400 the year before last, so the Rangers have someone that will be fun to watch to fill soriano's spot

awesome i cant wait to go to some more rangers game i love them rangers...soriano didnt fit the mold of a ranger cause he was to lazy as a fielder but man he was fun to watch still

[eagles_victory]

dumb trade

[Keith7]

Originally posted by big daddy russ
What are they planning on doing with Wilkerson? They could've moved Soriano to OF and got more production than the other two combined. Were they trying to cut payroll?

On the texas ranger's website, it says that they did it to clear up some money to go after free agent pitchers matt morris, brett tomko, kevin millwood, or jeff weaver.. Also, every offseason the rangers seem to worry about thier right fielder too much, the past 2 seasons they have spent alot of money on free agent flops (Brian Jordan, and Richard Hidalgo), and now they believe that Wilkerson will be the answer for them for years to come..

[LewP]

Originally posted by Keith7
On the texas ranger's website, it says that they did it to clear up some money to go after free agent pitchers matt morris, brett tomko, kevin millwood, or jeff weaver.. Also, every offseason the rangers seem to worry about thier right fielder too much, the past 2 seasons they have spent alot of money on free agent flops (Brian Jordan, and Richard Hidalgo), and now they believe that Wilkerson will be the answer for them for years to come..

The Rangers put 2.5 million people in the stands last year...and this is all we get???? Stupid trade.

[Mustangpride09]

great. We trade the only good player we will have after next year. YES!

[TexasHSFootball]

Wilkerson is a player who split time in Centerfield and at First last season. Pretty good player.. he could hit but with all Nationals hitters, RFK was almost an impossible place to hit in. He is one of the better fielding centerfielder/first basemen in the game. His offense will probably benefit him better in Ameriquest than it did in RFK, but again, what hitter would want to be in RFK anyway.

Tremel Sledge, was an early fan favorite in Washington when the team moved to the city from Montreal. Sledge is primarilly average outfield back up and split time in the bullpen warming pitchers up since the Nationals didnt have an emergency catcher and did wander back and forth between the minors and majors. Sledge is likely to end up in Oklahoma City at the start of the season.

As far as why the Nationals opted to take Soriano, its crapshoot on why they did this. I am assuming that Soriano will likely take over at second and moving Jose Vidro to shortstop. The Nationals already have an established third baseman in Ryan Zimmerman and a left fielder in Ryan Church. Any move the Nationals make to upgrade the shortstop position is what I am thinking the direction they are going with this.

The Rangers needed to clear up some salary and Soriano was expendable. With a promising farm system, the Rangers have, Kinsler may be able to make the smooth transition into majors but look for DeRosa to split time with Kinsler in the process.

[LewP]

I still think it was a stupid trade. Soriano is/was a good hitter, and he was part of the trade that sent alex rodriquez (an AL MVP by the way) to the Yanks...bottom line this is all we got after paying the tab for the highest paid player in MLB history? It stinks.

And by the way, how's business on YOUR website?

[3afan]

Originally posted by Whsdogs
yes soriano is a GREAT player...he was kinda lazy in the infield...but hey great trade cause now we have Mark DeRosa in the infield with his .170 batting average and 2 homeruns compared to sorianos stats..great move

hardly GREAT ... good offensive numbers but thats about it

[Whsdogs]

guess ur intitled to you own opinion...and for the comment by mustang09(not takin a shot at you or anything) but the rangers had a good offense and defense...pitching has been the downfall of recent years...gotta remember rangers bring back michael young(my fav. player and prob the most disciplined player in the league imo) hank blalock(highest fielding %for any thirdbase in the league) mark texiera(all start firstbase and can drop some bombs) Kevin Mench(clutch...but he does have a huge head lol) Laynce Nix will be back in the lineup and i think he could possibly the rangers best players in years to come he just has soooo much potential...i think the rangers should get a new catcher im not to thrilled with barajas...and ohh did i mention pitchers:confused: lol...nah but next season could be interesting!!

[SintonFan_inAustin]

lol cant believe this, they also trying to trade or willing to trade Hank and wheres the pitching if they make a trade like that. Another season wasted before it even begins.:mad: and the pitching there going after is bunch of no. 5 pitchers from other clubs :(

[jmcgee]

The Rangers Always Trade good players for alright players and minor leaguers. They need new managment.

[Hupernikomen]

Originally posted by Keith7
I don't really get this trade at all.. but its hard to understand anything the rangers do lately.. (besides win the title, Champions of Texas)



Don't discourage. This reminds me of what the Marlins did after winning their title. So the Champion Rangers are following suit..dumping talent, big salaries etc..they will retool and win that Silver boot again before you know it. This is not uncommon for champs to do this..kinda like taking profit in the market:D

[sWaterislife]

Dont Sweat it Ranger Fans... the A's Will still be one up on you guys... Die Hard A's Fan for almost 80% of my life... SInce 87..

But to stay on topic... The Rangers Traded Soriano they should have got some Great pitching out of this trade to make a Good one... Whether they cleared up money or not... Soriano is Superstar talent.. Pitching does win games but what im afraid is going to happen is they're goign to give up alot of Good players to bring in So-so talent at pitching and this year not even make a run...

This could be alittle nieve..lol.. But what the rangers need to do is get some big bats for the first half of the season and then trade them away for pitchers at the second.. Seems like they can out score folks consistently at the start of the season but they have this fade tendency and that's wherre they need pitchers...

oh well.. as a texan You always wish the clubs from here could represent every year...

[Rabbit'93]

My eight year old is going to be mad. Soriano is/was his favorite player.

[rockdale80]

Originally posted by Keith7
I don't really get this trade at all.. but its hard to understand anything the rangers do lately.. (besides win the title, Champions of Texas)


How did they do in the playoffs? :confused:

[football4life]

Well, whether or not this was a good move ( it really doesn't appear so ) my hopes are high for this to be our breakthrough year! So go get those pitchers, our offense has carried us to what wins we have gotten, so maybe some solid pitching can get us over the top. You just never know.

[GreenMonster]

Originally posted by Keith7
On the texas ranger's website, it says that they did it to clear up some money to go after free agent pitchers matt morris, brett tomko, kevin millwood, or jeff weaver.. Also, every offseason the rangers seem to worry about thier right fielder too much, the past 2 seasons they have spent alot of money on free agent flops (Brian Jordan, and Richard Hidalgo), and now they believe that Wilkerson will be the answer for them for years to come..

??????????? Didn't they clear up like 100 million $ by trading away AROD 2 years ago? Rangers management = morons.

[LewP]

Originally posted by GreenMonster
??????????? Didn't they clear up like 100 million $ by trading away AROD 2 years ago? Rangers management = morons.

Funny thing about that Clint is they had to pay A-Rod the remaining amount of that 167 Mill contract and got Soriano out of the deal...now they traded Soriano...we basically got nothing for him...so in essence...we gave away 167 million....There were 2.5 million Ranger fans paid last year...the owner just wants to run it like a business...doesn't care about winning.

[GreenMonster]

Originally posted by LewP
..the owner just wants to run it like a business...doesn't care about winning.

I will remember that next summer when I'm looking for wholesome entertainment for my family. The $100 bucks I would have spent on tickets and parking alone will be much better spent elsewhere.

[LewP]

Originally posted by GreenMonster
I will remember that next summer when I'm looking for wholesome entertainment for my family. The $100 bucks I would have spent on tickets and parking alone will be much better spent elsewhere.

I agree dude.

[Bearkat]

Originally posted by Keith7
On the texas ranger's website, it says that they did it to clear up some money to go after free agent pitchers matt morris, brett tomko, kevin millwood, or jeff weaver.. Also, every offseason the rangers seem to worry about thier right fielder too much, the past 2 seasons they have spent alot of money on free agent flops (Brian Jordan, and Richard Hidalgo), and now they believe that Wilkerson will be the answer for them for years to come..


I've heard that Wilkerson is trade bait for pitcher Kris Benson. That would be wonderful if Clemens wants to pitch for the RANGERS next season. Pretty good 1-2 punch.

[SintonFan_inAustin]

Originally posted by Bearkat
I've heard that Wilkerson is trade bait for pitcher Kris Benson. That would be wonderful if Clemens wants to pitch for the RANGERS next season. Pretty good 1-2 punch.

if thats true then its a much better trade if rangers at least get a pitcher out of it thats no.2 or no.3 pitcher

[VWG]

I don't mind this trade. Move Ian Kinsler up to 2nd base or shortstop, because they might move Michael Young back to his original position of 2nd base.
Rangers will now look to use Wilkerson or Mench.... or even both of them to trade for pitching. Toronto has inquired about Mench and has some pitching depth, and they (Toronto) need a bat.

[hubbardjack]

do the rangers enjoy losing?

[its_n_ D_water]

Soriano was a great 2nd baseman.....IS the doing of that young GM they just hired???.......boooo....:mad:

[formermbcouns]

One word for the Rangers....PITCHING!