Alfonso Soriano to the New York Yankees rumors seemingly started not five minutes after Curtis Granderson winced and grabbed his arm. The Yankee outfielder broke his forearm in his first Spring Training at bat.
Right after the announcement that Granderson would be out for a little over a month, a sort of convergence of truth and rumors occurred that has picked up steam over the last few days.
Alfonso Soriano is the Chicago Cubs left fielder, and the Cubs have been looking to deal the highly paid power hitter for about three years now. Soriano also has a no-trade clause that allows him to veto a trade to any team he doesn’t want to go to.
Soriano actually turned down a trade to the San Francisco Giants at the end of last season, but AM New York reports that Soriano said he would be open to a trade to the Yankees if approached.’
Soriano has played for the Yankees before. Back there and back then, he was their starting second baseman; now he could fill another position of need.
Soriano also recently talked to Yahoo! and explained how he would like to win a championship in Chicago. At the same time, he made it clear he understood that the team was trying to trade him while he still has trade value.
The mercurial left fielder hasn’t always had a great relationship with the Cubs. Two years ago, he went to the papers talking about how he felt mistreated.
It seems that the new regime has managed to patch that relationship to the point where Alfonso Soriano seems to just do whatever he can to help the team win.
The window to trade a player who used to be a threat on the basepaths as well as a threat to leave the yard might be closing. His speed is gone, and his power numbers have been declining for years now.
If the Cubs can get a trade with the Yankees involving Soriano done, they will likely pull the trigger.
Is an Alfonso Soriano to Yankees scenario likely?