Is Soriano going to have a better year than A-Rod?

[ondeckb]

I think it's possible. Hear me out....A-Rod is leaving one of the better hitter's parks in baseball, Soriano is going to one. Yankee Stadium is not kind to right handed batters...I think A-Rod's numbers are going down. Two years ago when he hit 57 jacks, 34 of them were in Arlington. Over the last 3 seasons at Texas he hit for a .333 average and a .666 slugging percentage while on the road he only hit .278, .564 slugging pct. Clearly he enjoyed the Arlington advantage. On the other hand, Soriano last year hit .306 with 23 homers and 49 RBI's AWAY from NY. Double those numbers and you have a reasonable facsimile of.......A-Rod. Add to that the challenge of a new position and a hostile press (wait til he goes 0-4 and the New York Post has an A-FLOP headline) .......I think Soriano's going to outperform him this year.

[SHOCKandAWE]

I have been saying this all day today. I have no DOUBT that when this season is over that Soriano will be ranked as having a better season than A-ROD

[swingaway]

i believe finally sorinao will be 40/40 this year i know for almost certain he will hit over 40 homeruns this year.

[ajgnydc722]

Ok, well if you think Sori will outplay A-Rod then who do you see as the #1 fantasy player this year?

Sori? Or Pujols again?? I'm interested to see everyone's thoughts (see my other post "What Draft Pick Do I Take")

I'd greatly appreciate if you helped me out on that post. Thanks .

[dladue]

Here's what Fantistics had to say about the deal in their free player profiles:

Here's what a trade could mean to each fantasy wise,
Ball Park Factor: The Ballpark in Arlington is ranked as the top HR ballpark in the American League over the last 2 years, providing it's inhabitants with close to a 10% increase in output over the average ballpark, while Yankee Stadium is 3% below the American League Average. - Advantage ALFONSO SORIANO Managerial Effect: Buck Showalter ranked 12th out of 14 managers in stolen base attempts last year (90) - Can you blame him with that pitching staff? While Joe Torre ranked 8th out of 14 managers in SB attempts (131) - Advantage ALEX RODRIGUEZ, although Rodriguez really doesn't steal many bases (12-18)...so maybe we should say Disadvantage ALFONSO SORIANO Both are expected to be placed in prominent positions within the batting order (1-3) Team Effect: While the Rangers do have a competitive offensive team, the new Yankees will look like an all star team with Rodriguez playing 3rd base. Fantistics projects the 2004 Rangers to have a 106 Team production factor (6% above the average team), while the Yankees have a 116 team production factor (16% above the average team). More offensive production means more ABs and more RBI and Runs scored opportunities...including better pitch selections. This is a clear Advantage ALEX RODRIGUEZ
In summation, I think we will see a slight reduction in the HR output by Rodriguez (which may be mitigated by more ABs in the Yankee lineup), but a climb in RBI, Runs, and Batting Average. While Soriano may gain power numbers in the friendly confines of Arlington, his average, RBI, Runs, and SB numbers may suffer without the proper protection and managerial philosophy...this includes less ABs. Clearly ALEX RODRIGUEZ value would climb, while that of ALFONSO SORIANO would drop. If there was ever any question based on our position scarcity model (VAM), who the top Fantasy Player for your 2004 draft should be, this trade would certainly answer it. - Anthony A. Perri - http://www.Insiderbaseball.com

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[BGbootha]

From a purely fantasy stand point i would agree Sori could easily have a better numbers year than Arod. NY has never been friendly to right handed hitters, and Arlington is a hitters wet dream.

It will be interesting to see what sori can do down there if they really just let him loose out there.

[lesgrant]

In fantasy terms, I like Sori's upside.

I've always felt that Texas got more of what they wanted out of the deal than the Yankees. Arod and Sori are a lot closer statistically last year than most people realize. Sori is more player for the money.

[GSes]

Last week we were all doubting Soriano's first round value and how much he would steal. Now that he is out of NY and in Texas we all believe he will have his best season yet.

40/40 is VERY POSSIBLE.

Soriano IS #3 after Arod and Pujols. Maybe he should be #2.

But I still don't think he will have a better year then arod. I mean thats why the Yankee's traded Sori for Arod.

[ajgnydc722]

i know i asked for others opinions on who will be better to help my draft strategy but i like that article that was posted.

while arods hrs may decrease his rbis and runs should skyrocket more than they were....not to mention his 3b eligibility. lots of protection and huge numbers once again in my opinion. sori will be sick but i still cant take him above arod...

[BGbootha]

But I still don't think he will have a better year then arod. I mean thats why the Yankee's traded Sori for Arod.

I think Arods real life baseball value is much greater than Sori's, but it becomes a different game when you start talking about Fantasy. You get no extra points for winning a championship. Look at Ichiro, the game is pure gold to a real baseball owner. But sadly doesn't have much a fantasy value.