Oscar Suarez, the agent for Joakim Soria, has received calls from eight contending teams expressing interest in his client, writes Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York. Suarez has yet to hear from Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, but says that Soria would be more than willing to pitch in a setup role for his idol, Mariano Rivera:
"If the Yankees call, we will be all ears," Soria's agent, Oscar Suarez, said by phone Monday. "If there is a fit, Joakim would be elated to work with Mo. He would close everywhere except there."
Suarez tells Marchand that Soria is "not a greedy individual," and he could envision his client signing quickly if the right situation arises. Soria's preference is to sign with a contending team. According to Suarez, Soria will be able to participate in Spring Training but is unlikely to pitch in a Major League game until May next season.
The 28-year-old Soria underwent Tommy John surgery prior to Opening Day 2012. He stumbled to a 4.03 ERA in 2011 but still owns a career 2.40 mark with a 9.7 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 315 1/3 innings with the Royals. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes ranked Soria as the 37th-best free agent this offseason and predicted that he'll re-sign with the Royals. You can predict Soria's destination yourself in MLBTR's Free Agent Prediction Contest.
I read about this earlier today. Soria in 2 years would probably still make less than Soriano in 1 year. I’d all be in favor of this.
I do think there will be higher offers for him though from other teams that could use a closer and don’t want to overspend on one like the one Soriano wants
Potential dominant, or DL list BP headed into the 2013 season you think? Aardsma and Soria just coming back from TJ, BOTH former dominant closers and neither old by any means. Rivera, old, but coming back from a severe injury himself and the best closer in at least 30 years?
**if** All 3 are healthy and they could break camp with them their normal selves and keep them that way all season? WOW..
Why do you say best closer in 30 years? I just wanna hear your opinion because you seem older & you’ve seen more baseball than most of us on here
I consider Rollie Fingers the best closer have ever seen myself. Is he? Debateable of course. fingers was a reliever from another era when closers went more than 1IP. He would commonly go2, even 3IP as his records clearly show.
Fingers didn’t pitch less than a 100innings for one 10 year stretch and even averaged 3IP one year as the Athletics closer. He was from another Era (as said) and kind of hard to judge, but my pick as an all time best from the early 60’s to date.
Another who was dominant for a 15Y period and NEVER gets any justice as far as HOF nomination is Lee Arthur Smith. As far as closers go? He was better than bruce Sutter, who was good as well, but for a far shorter period than Lee Arthur and IMO? The nasty ‘race” thing may have come into play there.
I would rate, over the course of the early 60’s to date for a longevity period and dominance combined?
1) Fingers
2) Rivera
3) Smith
problem is I dont think he sets up for us, its Drobs job
They will not sign Soria to pitch the 7th inning. Robertson would pitch the 7th, occasionally the 8th I guess if off days were needed.
Adding Soria would really lengthen the Yankees bullpen with Rafael Soriano out the door. Like his agent said, Joakim is only 28 so there is reason to believe he will bounce back. If he is willing to set up for the Yankees, Cashman needs to jump on this opportunity. Anything short of bringing Soria aboard will be a failure on Cashman’s part, given Soria’s interest to be under Rivera’s wing. Having David Robertson, Joakim Soria, Joba Chamberlain and Mark Montogmery makes for a nice, young bullpen core.
If I”m not mistaken, at the beginning of last year, or maybe a couple of months in the season (2011 that is), Cashman was thinking of trading Montero for Soria. Sure Soria has not been the same since, but I can see it being a low risk/high reward, so long as they don’t give out another Soriano type contract for a setup man. Yes Soriano was the closer last year, but we all know why.
I don’t think you can call it a failure on Cashman’s part if he signs with another team for a higher contract (say 3 year/$30 million)
He is coming off surgery so that should diminish his value a bit.
Yes it probably will, but I can still see other teams (Tigers for instance) to sign this guy as a closer, who for the most part make more money than setup men.and get more years on their contracts.
But it depends, if he can reestablish himself as an elite pitcher again on a 1 year deal he could get more money. signing 3 year deal he might get under $10M a year, whereas if he reestablishes himself he could get maybe $12M aav.
If you’re Cashman, how much do you offer and how many years? 2 years/$14 mil? Assuming he took that kind of offer or one similar to it, I’d pay him more in his first year and less in his 2nd year even though his first year he’d be a set-up guy. You don’t know what to expect from him right away, but I think by his 2nd year he will be back to who he was, if not close to it, 2014 is also the year they want to get under the cap,
Edit – I forgot the cap goes by AAV , so it won’t make a difference what year he makes more if he was to make more in 1 year than another
I heard: he is asking for 6 mill a year. Now, don’t trust me 100% but thats what has been talked about, and from what I understand, he’ll take a two year deal: he’ll use 2013 to re-stablish himself and regain his form, and to make himself ready to step up as the Yankees closer in 2014 if Mariano retires. IF Rivera keeps pitching… I don’t know LOL, the chat with him and some colleagues didn’t went as far as asking “what ifs” for after 2014.
If he wants to be a Yankee, you make him a Yankee. No ifs ands or buts. Don’t let any other team get a talent like Soria on a discount if he WANTS to join you. And he does. He and his agent have said he wants to learn under Mariano Rivera, so make it happen and have him be the closer of the future if he succeeds. It’s such a perfect fit.
Give me a break….learn under Rivera? This is agent code for: we’ll set up for a year It two until Mariano retires but we want closer money to do it.
Yeah Cashman was considering it but Dayton wasn’t.
That would have been a bad trade for both teams.
Absolutely would have been a bad trade for both teams.
Not sure how you can claim this without knowing what Soria is asking. Sure he will set up, but he is likely going to want closer money to do it.
You’re exactly right. Agent never said he’d take “non-closer” type MONEY…..just an eighth inning role.
I really wish the Dodgers had thrown all that money at him instead of League. Good luck to whomever gets him.
The thing is the Dodgers want a closer for opening night, and Soria has said he is almost ready, his strenght is at 80-90% and even when he thinks he could be ready for April, he has told teams to wait until may to avoid forcing his recuperation. Or at least thats what has been spoken inside our circle of writers who have had the chance to talk with Joakim.
Huh? The Dodgers already have a “closer for opening night”. Name: Kenley Jansen.
The circle of writers forgot
I bet he ends up back in KC!!!
I’m a big Soria fan. Would love to see him in the old English D
for sure, he’d be a much cheaper option than rafael soriano. makes sure we get anibal sanchez back. n maybe grab melky cabrera
I agree… except sub Victorino in for Melky
I wouldn’t mind either id rather have Madson though
I think Soria, who is younger, comes cheaper than Madson… Tho I wouldn’t be too disappointed if it was Madson instead of Soria.
He knows MO ‘ll be retiring after next season.. $$$$$$
A new variation of “So-Ro-Mo”… I like it.
You left out Lo and Jo
All we need is curly.
And Shemp
Meh. Closer quality pitchers only :)
Get it done. I would love for Soria to pitch for the Yankees. D-Rob and Soria as the setup men, and soria possible closer next year if healthy.
well, that sounds like my hopes of having him down here in Miami are done.
This just in: Yankees don’t sign bums who just had tommy john surgery to set up Rivera…thats what Robertson is for.
Not to mention he has had TJ surgery TWICE now.
Nope, low risk high reward signings have been made in recent history by Cashman.
And how many World Series has the Yanks won since then?
Soria has always been a fan not only of Mariano but of the Yankees, in the past his agent asked for a no trade clause to avoid going to the Yankees because he knew Mariano would be the closer and he would be relegated to a set-up role, same with the Bosox (because of Papelbon), he blocked a couple of trades two or three years ago but here in México he said he was thrilled with the idea of pitching alongside Rivera.
JoakÃm faced the same thing Soriano is facing right now: sign with the yankees to be a set up man and in 2013’s offseason seek a deal receiving “set up pitcher” money, or ask for closer money right now. Had Joakim agreed to a trade with the NYY, by now he would be asking let alone set-up money, set-up pitcher coming off Tommy John surgery, which would greatly reduce his value.
the yankees have david aardsma, robertson, joba, etc. adding Soria makes them pretty deep. damn
Add Montgomery, who looked pretty sharp in the Rising Stars game of the Arizona Fall League.
good point. forgot about him for a minute. his slider is just plain dirty. damn. I hate the Yankees, but they have some players that I really like. Cano, Granderson, Mariano, Robertson, david phelps, michael pineda, CC, Phil Hughes, and a couple more. They are definitely going to have a good bullpen next year, regardless of what happens
Soria-no!
It’s really disgusting that people who post well written responses are get thumbed down left and right by haters and trolls. A lot of good posts on this website lately have been getting way to many negative responses ( v ). It’s seriously gotta stop. Thumb this comment down for all I care, I frankly don’t. People with true insight look at the value of the comment.
Yup, it happened to me in the past and decided to post just occasionally while i decided to move to Axisa’s webpage, at least there the people are not as thin-skinned when it comes to criticize somebody’s post.
lol that’s cause Axisa’s page is a Yankees blog
Yup, but you can criticize everything, worst thing that can happen is Axisa “yelling” that bunting doesn’t work… =P OH yeah, and that time he threatened to ban whomever posted something about how Montero’s trade was not a good move hahahaha.
Lol obviously it’s Yankee haters for the most part
I think you know very well that’s an over generalized statement. A pro-Red Sox comment will get thumbs down from some yanks fans and a pro-Yankee comment will get some thumbs down from some Red Sox fans. A pro-Giants comment will get thumbs down from some Dodger fans and a pro-Dodger comment will get thumbs down from some Giants fans. Etc. Then of course there’s people who simply press the thumbs down button simply because they’re on the page.
You’re absolutely right (and you got a thumbs up from me on that one). I usually thumbs up funny or well written posts and thumbs down the silly transactions that some people come up with
Lets be frank here SWP.. There is a “good batch” of NYY and Boston fans here. Both have a decent and level headed core and there is the “others”..
Most of us know who the decent and level headed ones are without going into details.
Yeah, I would have mentioned that but I felt I was already getting wound up for a long speech and figured it would just end up a rambling statement.
Not sure why you actually care.
Well this gives away one of those who gave a thumbs down to his comment
This gives away one who gave you a thumbs up to yours :-)
His username is his downfall.
I used to feel the same way, but then I realized that I just don’t care.
Since Cashman has been in quasi-control he’s paranoid about the Yankees being used as a bargaining chip in negotiations. Usually the team is pretty clear cut about who they’re going after in the off season. I don’t think Cash is ponying up the dough to get Soria, when he has Robertson, Chamberlain, and others who can step in as a setup man. It would have to be a very team friendly deal. Remember Cash didn’t want Soriano, and wanted to develop his own options.
That’s cause Soriano was a Boras client who was asking for a lot of money like he is now. Soria is low risk/high reward.
Yea perfect for the phillies setup role
Sounds like the exact same plan Soriano’s agents set up for him a couple years back…..let their client work in the set up role for a year or two probably with some option at the end. If he proves he’s healthy and good to go…..decline the option. If he’s average…..he gets his couple of years and a buy out.
Only difference is Soria needs to prove he’s healthy. He’ll ask for slightly less than Soriano type money for next two years with an option if the team plans on using him in a set up role and they’ll want closer money to pitch the ninth inning.
If he went to the Yankees, Soria will not get slightly less. He will get A LOT less.
Then he won’t go to the Yankees……it’s always about the dollar…..no matter what Soria’s agent’s are trying to peddle….
I wouldn’t say its about the dollar with Soria. He signed a VERY team friendly contract with the Royals. I think you’ll find he’s not like most players in that regard.
Some people here are suggesting that Soria would eventually slide into the closer’s role. I beg to differ. I say that Robertson is eventually being groomed to slide into the role upon Mo’s departure. It would only make sense to replace Mo with a homegrown product as his permanent successor rather than use a mercenary like Soria as anything other than a stopgap
From the language of this, “8 contending teams have called, the Yankees
haven’t, but Soria really wants to go there” it suggests his agent is using the
Yankees to drive up the price for his client.
I’d welcome him to the Yankees if he came cheap, incentive based, with an out for the team if he’s hurt again or underperforms. I think he’ll get better offers than that from teams willing to gamble on getting a top closer for under market value.
Also, even if the Yankees did sign him, he wouldn’t be pitching the eighth inning. That’s D-Rob’s job, and a guy coming off his 2nd TJ surgery isn’t going to displace him
“He would close everywhere except there.”
Yeah, aside from Atlanta, Philadelphia, Texas, Tampa(until Rodney likely implodes, anyway), San Diego, Washington, and San Francisco. Cincy too if they’re keeping Chapman in the pen.