Alfonso Soriano: The Most Overrated Player in Baseball

In his rookie season of 2001, Alfonso Soriano showed flashes of brilliance when he hit .268 with 18 home runs and 43 steals, all while playing a solid second base and helping the Yankees to the World Series.

By the next year, he batted .300 and just missed becoming the fourth member of the 40-homer-40 steal club. With his incredible combination of power and speed, he finished third in the A.L. MVP voting and was thought to be the next Joe Morgan, and one of the top players in baseball that every general manager would build their team around. Since then, he’s joined the 40-40 club and made seven straight All-Star teams.

Yet, looking closely at his numbers, it’s a shock that Soriano is considered to be such a talented player. He does have a rare combination of power and speed, but his peripheral numbers are dreadful.

He’s averaged fewer than 40 walks per season, yet he strikes out over 120 times per year. He’s bounced from the Yankees to the Rangers to the Nationals to the Cubs. What kind of a franchise player, with such an astonishing combination of power and speed, plays on four teams by the time he’s 31?

With the Nationals, he practically refused to play left field, even though he didn’t have the skill to play second anymore. The Cubs tried him in center, but he hasn’t done anything to secure a spot there. If he was in the A.L. again, he’d be a DH.

He can't play defense to save his life. He played second base for five seasons (2001-'05) and led the entire major leagues in errors every single year. In 2006, he moved to left field and still finished with the second-most errors at his position in all of baseball.

He’s also moody, an inconsistent hitter, and a terrible clubhouse guy. He can't stay healthy, no matter where he plays on the field. He's not a clutch player, with a .255 career batting average with runners in scoring position, a mark nearly 30 points below his career average.

He's been to the postseason five times but has never played well. In nine postseason series, he's hit under .250 seven times and under .150 five times. For the Cubs in the 2007 playoffs, he went 2-for-14 at the plate. This year, he was 1-for-14. He's a .213 career hitter in October baseball.

Yeah, he might hit 30 homers and steal 35 bases, but he doesn’t walk, strikes out way too much, and won’t play to help the team. And he commands $17 million per year. He's Manny Ramirez all over again. An overpaid, good offensive guy, who can't—and won't—play defense.

Except Manny is better at the plate, more disciplined, an incredible postseason performer, and an MVP candidate every season. Oh, and Manny has two World Series rings. Soriano has none and could very well end his career without ever winning a championship. I know if I were a GM, I'd save my money and start looking for a guy who plays for the team—and not for himself.