Wisch: A Soriano Solution? I Still Might Have One
By Dave Wischnowsky –
(CBS) By ridding the Chicago Cubs of Carlos Zambrano, Theo Epstein did the impossible this week.
He found a cure for cancer.
But now there's a new question everyone's asking about the Cubs' organizational health: Can Epstein, MD, pull off an even bigger medical miracle and find a way to amputate an outfielder?
Namely, Alfonso Soriano.
This week, the word around Chicago is that the Cubs have received some inquiries this winter about their longtime left fielder, but have found no matches for a trade. Meanwhile, down on the South Side of town, the White Sox are still pondering the plague that was Adam Dunn in 2011 and have to be wondering if there's a way to inoculate against another outbreak of his "Black Death" in 2012.
Last June, I wrote a column entitled, "Dunn For Soriano? It's Not That Crazy," in which I examined the notion of the Cubs and White Sox killing two birds – albatrosses, of course – with just one stone by swapping their high-priced underachievers.
Six months later, I'm wondering once again if that could work and whether Chicago baseball fans would be in favor such a deal.
As a refresher about the sticky situations involving Soriano and Dunn, let's first examine each player's contract numbers. Dunn, who signed a four-year, $56 million deal last winter, is set to earn $14 million in 2012 and $15 million in both '13 and '14. Meanwhile, the Cubs are scheduled to pay Soriano $19 million each of the next three seasons.
Add that up and Dunn is still owed $41 million by the Sox, while Soriano has $57 million coming from the Cubs. Now, considering that Theo & Co. were willing to eat $15 million just to send Zambrano packing to South Beach, it's worth asking if they'd swallow another $16 million to send Soriano on his way to the South Side.
And, of course, the other questions are would the White Sox even want him and would the Cubs actually want to take Dunn?
Unlike Dunn, the biggest concern about Soriano isn't if he can hit. While Alfonso will never be worth $19 million a year, the .244 average, 26 homers and 88 RBI he hit in 2011 wasn't atrocious.
Rather, the multi-million dollar question looming over Soriano like a high pop fly is what will the ham-handed outfielder look like defensively in the outfield when he's 36 years old this season? And, even more disturbing, what will he look like when he's 37 and 38?
Dunn, meanwhile, could not have looked less comfortable as a designated hitter last season. The American League role clearly was not one that the slugger wanted to play, and with his .159 average, 11 home runs and 42 RBI, it certainly showed.
Dunn is no defensive gem himself, of course, which is a huge reason why he ended up as a DH in the first place. However, the big guy can play first base as well as the outfield – and last time I checked, the Cubs still didn't have any clear candidate to play at first next season.
Dunn only turned 32 in November, so it's not unreasonable to think that he might be rejuvenated by a return to the National League. He might also be reborn by merely returning to Wrigley Field, where Dunn has hit more home runs (25) than any place except for Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark (125 homers), where he played his home games for eight full seasons.
By trading for Soriano, the White Sox would be able to dump Dunn, who last season cemented himself as one of the worst free-agent signings in Chicago history and completely lost the support of the fans. Additionally, the South Siders also would get a usable piece in Soriano, who should still be a decent DH and occasional outfielder for the remainder of career.
Fact is, there's no easy solution for the Cubs to get rid of Soriano – not with his age and three years left on a monster deal. He's a far tougher trade than Zambrano and to do so, the team will have to take on a bad contract in return. So, perhaps taking on Dunn's would make the best of a bad situation.
For both teams in town.
If nothing else, Dave Wischnowsky is an Illinois boy. Raised in Bourbonnais, educated at the University of Illinois and bred on sports in the Land of Lincoln, he now resides on Chicago's North Side, just blocks from Wrigley Field. Formerly a reporter and blogger for the Chicago Tribune, Dave currently writes a syndicated column, The Wisch List, which you can check out via his blog at http://www.wischlist.com. Follow him on Twitter @wischlist and read more of his CBS Chicago blog entries here.
