You might have noticed no Alfonso Soriano in the Yankees lineup tonight.
There were early reports that the Yankees and Cubs were close to a Soriano trade this morning, but things have been fairly quite since then. A source told me this afternoon that the Yankees were not close to a deal. A few hours ago, MLB Trade Rumors linked to
a radio interview of Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer who said the same thing.
“That’s very premature,” Hoyer said. “We’ve had some discussions with different teams about Sori. There’s nothing close at all. That’s one of those rumors you wake up to and you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s interesting. I didn’t know we had done that.’ That’s not nearly as advanced as those reports make it seem.”
The Yankees reason for interest in Soriano is pretty easy to understand. The team needs a right-handed hitter in the worst way, and Soriano would seem to be readily available. He might not be what he once was, but he’s shown he can still be a dangerous hitter.
“I don’t see any reason why (he can’t be a productive hitter),” Derek Jeter said. “I also don’t watch the Cubs games. I’ve barely watched our games, so I haven’t watched the Cubs. Everybody knows how I feel about Sori. I’ve said it when we traded for Al, he’s someone that you develop a relationship with guys and you miss them when they leave. We had a great relationship. … I enjoyed playing with Sori, but I don’t know what our team is doing or not doing.”