There was a great deal of head-shaking following the Yankees offseason signing of Rafael Soriano to a three year, $35 million contract. There was nothing strange about a team paying almost $12 million per season for a pitcher of Soriano’s caliber, especially since he was coming off a season in which he led the American League in saves (45). Feel free to debate the merits of making a significant investment in any closer, but Soriano’s deal is in line with other top-flight closers of the day. Joe Nathan, recovering nicely from Tommy John surgery is scheduled to make $11.25 million and Mariano Rivera, the king of kings (in terms of closers), will make a cool $15 million. So, the precedent exists to pay top-dollar for an elite bullpen arm.
However, the Yankees already had a closer (the closer) in Mariano Rivera, meaning the team was going to pay a hefty sum for Soriano to be a middle reliever. There was no precedent for paying a middle reliever over $10 million per season—none whatsoever. It’s simply not the kind of things well-managed baseball teams do. Yankee supporters rationalized the deal away by convincing themselves that having two of the game’s best closers pitching successively and successfully would effectively limit each game to a seven inning affair, with innings eight and nine theoretically “in the bag”.
And then, the season happened. Soriano was the unquestioned goat in the April 5 5-4 loss to Minnesota, a game in which the Yankees led 4-0 after seven innings. When Soriano entered the game, a great many viewers likely assumed the game was, at that point, as good as won. Soriano was lights-out as a reliever last year, and Rivera was looming for the ninth. Game over, right? Wrong! Soriano finished the night surrendering 4 earned runs in just 0.2 innings of work, allowing the Twins to tie the game, and eventually win it in extras (Soriano was pulled by then). Clearly, Soriano was not his usual self, missing location on almost every pitch and eventually walking three Twins batters. This is a pitcher with a career 2.74 BB/9 (2.02 in 2010). Simply stated, Soriano just doesn’t do that. And yet he did.
What went wrong? Without being able to credibly speak to Soriano’s health and well-being, it can only be assumed that it was an “off night”. It may sound like a cop out, but that’s just something that happens from time to time. Players aren’t always at their best, and with pitchers, the consequences can be dire. Soriano did pitch in three of the Yankees first five games, so it’s possible that fatigue could have played a role. It could be that that Twins, even with their collectively slumping offense, had a favorable scouting report on Soriano, one that allowed them to gain an advantage at the plate. Whatever the case, Soriano found himself on the mound without his best stuff, and he ended up paying the price.
In a fantasy context this means almost nothing. Here too, bad outings happen. The real bad news for Soriano owners came during the cold months of winter, when Soriano’s signing all but obliterated his fantasy value (at least in standard leagues). Sure, there are leagues in which middle relievers have value (holds, anyone?), but those leagues are still the exception and not the rule. The real crime is that Soriano will likely rot behind the immortal Mariano Rivera for at least the next two full seasons, basically assuring that he’ll only be a legitimate fantasy asset in the occasional HLDs-league. On the bright side, his lack of ownership will make it easier to stomach his occasional bullpen blow-up. Right?
Damian Schaab is a senior writer for SportsGrumblings.com, and member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association. You can hear his fantasy reflections on XM147/Sirius211 between 8 and 11 PM, EST every Saturday evening at a satellite radio near you. Also, do feel obligated to follow his misanthropic musings via Twitter @jsjournalism and, of course, right here at http://jockstrapjournalism.blogspot.com/
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