Alfonso Soriano Is Mad At Himself

This week has been filled with entertaining comments from various players on the Cubs’ roster as well as manager Mike Quade. Third baseman Aramis Ramirez feels that the Cubs mislead him in contract negotiations and does not anticipate returning to the Cubs next season. Meanwhile, Quade believes that he is going to return as Cubs’ manager for the 2012 season. Despite Quade’s comments, the current manager will likely join Ramirez in leaving the Cubs’ organization this winter. Alfonso Soriano is another player that could be playing in his final games with the Cubs’ organization, and like Ramirez and Quade, Soriano had some rather baffling comments.

The common controversy that has been re-occurring over Soriano’s time with the Cubs has been where the left fielder is placed in the lineup. In Soriano’s first two seasons with the Cubs under Lou Piniella, Soriano was embedded as the team’s leadoff hitter. However, for most of the 2009 season and all of the 2010 season Soriano has been moved down to the middle of the order. Despite being the stereotypical power hitter, Soriano was originally against the notion but eventually conceded to Piniella. This season has been no different from 2009 or 2010, as Soriano has batted out of the seventh position in the lineup. But as the season concludes, a frustrated Soriano emerges.

"“I’m not a guy that fights with people,” Soriano told ESPNChicago.com. “The way they treat me this year, I don’t like it. The way they have me hit in the No. 7, 5 and 6 spots, I have trouble concentrating on the job hitting in those different spots. But (Mike) Quade is the manager and does his best to try to make the team better.”Going into Saturday’s game, Soriano has 203 at-bats in the seventh spot — the most for any spot in the order — and is batting .258 with 13 home runs and 40 RBIs in the position. He also has 172 at-bats in the sixth spot (.233, 9, 26) and 76 in the fifth spot (.224, 3, 17). ESPN Chicago"

Seriously? Soriano feels that the Cubs “mistreated” him because Quade has penciled him in the seventh spot in the lineup for most of the season. Soriano has never seemed to fully comprehend the fundamentals of the game, and he clearly does not know what happens when a player’s production begins to decrease. While Soriano does have 25 home runs and 85 RBIs, his line of .244/.288/.466 does not warrant him to be higher in the lineup. In fact, this may be the only thing that Quade has done right this season. It was Soriano’s selfishness and “diva” mentality that kept him in the leadoff spot for as long as he was, and at least Quade has enough knowledge to realize that a .244 hitting Soriano should not be hitting higher than seventh in the lineup.

But the fact that Soriano feels like the Cubs have mistreated him this season is ridiculous. Soriano must have forgot that he still is one of the most highest paid athletes in the game, and is the highest paid athlete on the Cubs. Instead of blaming the Cubs, Soriano needs to look in the mirror and realize that at this point he is a one-dimensional player–if that–and he is finally being treated like one, instead of the superstar that he perceives himself as. Soriano has always been willing to say what is on his mind, which is okay if he had the production to back it up. But at this point in Soriano’s career, it would be best for all parties if Soriano kept his head down and mouth quiet. Because eventually, Soriano’s manager will realize that the veteran is no better than a platoon player.