October 3rd, 2012 will be Alfonso Soriano’s Last Game as a member of the Chicago Cubs.

The 2012 Trade Deadline has passed and Alfonso Soriano is still a member of the Chicago Cubs. With that said, this past Trade Deadline was the first time Soriano’s name was mentioned in legitimate trade rumors since the 2006 MLB Trade Deadline when he was a member of the Washington Nationals.

So why will the Cubs trade Soriano before the start of the 2013 season?

3 Reasons:

1) Soriano has shown  that he still has something left in the tank: Quietly, Alfonso Soriano has put together a strong 2012 season on the North Side hitting .270 with 19 HR and 64 RBI on the year. For any other player, those stats would equate to a productive season however, because his first 2012 Home Run came on May 15th, it shows that had Soriano hit a few Home Runs in the month and a half of the season, he could have been in the top 10 for Home Runs on the season. To put this into perspective, Soriano has hit 19 Home Runs in his last 70 games while Home Run Leader (Adam Dunn) has 31 HR’s since Opening Day. Because of this, I feel Soriano has a few quality  year left in him as he can be a productive player to a number of lineups. With that said Soriano’s has a one problem: he struggles to playing in the field which I feel limits him to only American League team. This leads me to my second reason why I feel Alfonso Soriano will be traded…

2) A number of American League teams need to upgrade from their current DH: There’s a handful of teams that feature quality DH’s…and a number of teams that need to trade for a player of Soriano’s skill set .

Here’s a list of Teams that don’t need to upgrade from their current DH: Chicago White Sox (Adam Dunn), Detroit Tigers (Victor Martinez), Kansas City Royals (Billy Butler), Boston Red Sox (David Ortiz), and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Kendrys Morales if they decide to not trade him to a team that needs a first baseman).

So that takes 5 teams off the list, what about the other 10 AL Teams (remember Houston will be moving to the American League starting in 2013). In the past, Soriano has said he doesn’t want to play for a West Coast team which eliminates three AL Teams: Oakland, Los Angeles Angels (even though he said he would play for the Dodgers so I feel he’d add them to his list), and Seattle. In addition to that, I’m not sure the Texas Rangers or New York Yankees need him on their roster as both teams already feature strong lineups while already having a significant amount of older players on their respective rosters: Derek Jeter (38), Alex Rodriguez (37), Mark Teixeira (32) for the Yankees and Michael Young (35), Adrian Beltre (33), Nelson Cruz (32), and possibly Josh Hamilton (31) if they resign him. Lastly, a few other teams won’t be interested in acquiring Soriano as these teams would look to either rebuild (Astros) or play the younger players in their Farm System (Blue Jays). After taking 11 American League teams, there’s 4 realistic options left for Alfonso Soriano to be traded to during the offseason.

Below are the four realistic trade options for Alfonso Soriano:

Minnesota Twins: I believe there’s a realistic landing spot for Soriano because I think the Twins will look to trade Justin Morneau (if he passes his physical) during the offseason to a team that needs a quality First Baseman. In addition to that, I also feel Minnesota will look to play Joe Mauer at First which will force them to acquire an additional quality bat in their lineup… enter Soriano. Alfonso would give them the DH they’ve been looking for since deciding to let David Ortiz leave over a decade ago.

Cleveland Indians: Cleveland has a number of quality bats in their lineup: (Carlos Santana, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jason Kipnis, and Michael Brantley) but might have a hole at DH as Travis Hafner’s scheduled to be a Free Agent following the 2012 season. The Indians are a possible landing spot for Soriano as a trade here would allow for him to stay in the Midwest and would give this team an additional bat they’ve been missing.

Baltimore Orioles: Outside of the Angles (if they decided to trade Kendrys Morales), I feel the Orioles are the most likely team to trade for Soriano. Baltimore has a few key impact hitter’s on their roster in Adam Jones, Matt Wieters, and top prospect Manny Machado. That’s a nice start, but I still feel the O’s are missing at least one more additional power bat in their lineup, and that’s where Soriano would fit in. With his power bat added to their lineup, I feel the Orioles would be provided an additional dimension to their lineup.

Tampa Bay Rays: The Rays have a number of quality hitters on their roster in Evan Longoria, Desmond Jennings, and Matt Joyce. Like division rival Baltimore, Tampa Bay’s lineup’s includes three quality bats but they still need to add additional depth to fill out the rest of their lineup. Soriano sounds like a good option for the Rays but there’s one key problem with this situation… Manager Joe Maddon likes having a rotating DH so Soriano would have to play he field a few time a week. If Soriano and the Rays both feel he’s able to play the field a few times a week, then this would become a realistic option for the Rays and would provide them the bat there currently looking for.

And finally, the third reason and final reason I feel October 3rd, 2012 will be Alfonso Soriano’s last game as a Chicago Cub:

3) The Cubs will look to take on the majority of his contract: During the past week, the Cubs made it clear they want to see what’s in their Farm System by playing Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro, Brett Jackson, and Josh Vitters everyday. 

Below are the 5 most likely teams to trade for Alfonso Soriano:

1) Baltimore Orioles

2) Minnesota Twins

3) Cleveland Indians 

4) Tampa Bay Rays

5) Los Angeles Angeles 

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American League Central Spring Training Preview

Cleveland The AL Central was disappointing last year as by the middle of August, the Division race was over and the Detroit Tigers ran away with the division title. Unfortunately for baseball fans, this season seems like it has a good chance of mirroring what occurred last year as this year division race might be over by the trade deadline.

Detroit Tigers: The start of the 2011 Tigers season featured a one man rotation (at the All-Star Break the Tigers ranked 26th in team ERA) as pitcher Justin Verlander helped carry Detroit’s starting rotation throughout the first half of their season. At the all-star break, Verlander led the Majors in wins, strikeouts, and WHIP and was the early favorite to win the AL Cy Young Award. In the second half of the season, the rest of the Tigers pitching staff started to step-up, highlighted by the newly acquired Doug Fister as Detroit took off and won the AL Central by 15 games. In the playoffs, the Tigers defeated the Yankees in a 5 series however they eventually lost to the Texas Rangers in 6 game series. In the offseason, Detorit realized they a few things which included having a lot of big contracts coming off their books (Carlos Guillen, Magglio Ordonez, and Brad Penny), averaged 32,000 fans per game, and reached the American League Championship Series. With these three facts, Detroit was seen as a team that would be players on the free-agent market. Before the Tigers could make a move, Tigers Star Designated Hitter Victor Martinez tore his ACL, leaving Detroit in a difficult position and had Tigers fans unsure who would fill in for Victor Martinez. A few weeks later, the Tigers turned around and decided to sign the second best player on the free agent market, (Prince Fielder), to a 9 year deal. For the 2012 season, the Tigers once again should be offensive powerhouse led by sluggers Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera along with Jhonny Peralta, Delmon Young, Austin Jackson, Brennan Boesch, and the most underrated player in baseball, Alex Avila. Detroit also features the best pitcher in baseball in 2011 MVP and Cy Young Award Winner Justin Verlander along with one of the bullpen’s in the league highlighted by the man who didn’t have a blow save last year, Jose Valverde. The two key question surrounding the 2012 Tigers are: do they have enough starting pitching (outside of Verlander) to compete with other elite teams and will their team defense be able to hold-up throughout the season. If the Tigers defense is stable and the rest of the rotation can step up and help Verlander, the Tigers will be a threat to win their first World Series Title since the mid 1980’s; if not, this season might mirror that of the 2008 Tigers.

Cleveland Indians:The 2011 Indians showed there a team on the rise and proved they will feature a strong offense next season. The 2011 Indians also decided to upgrade their pitching staff by trading for Colorado Rockies Ace Ubaldo Jimenez and are counting on him to anchor their rotation. The 2011 offseason was quiet for Cleveland as the Indians only traded for veteran pitcher Derek Lowe and resigned fan favorite but often injured Grady Sizemore. In 2012, the Indians once again should feature a solid lineup which includes: (Sizemore, Michael Brantley, Shin-Soo Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera, Travis Hafner, along with youngsters Lonnie Chisenhall, Carlos Santana, and Jason Kipnis. The offense once again should be great, the question for Indians fans lies within their pitching rotation. Cleveland’s staff will include All-Stars Jimenez and Lowe, along with youngsters Josh Tomlin and Justin Masterson. If the Indians rotation shows they can be a reliable group, the Indians should put a little pressure on Detroit throughout the 2012 season. If the season doesn’t get off to a good start for the Indians, they should still be able to trade a few of the 2012 offseason free agents (Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore, or Derek Lowe) and continue to build their farm system.

Chicago White Sox: The White Sox slogan last year was “All In” and unfortunately for White Sox fans, it played out to be anything but. Chicago was never able to get over the .500 mark as the final time the White Sox were above .500 mark was on April 15th with a record of 7-6. The team also had two players have the worst season of their careers (Adam Dunn and Alex Rios) along with the injury plagued season of pitcher Jake Peavy and if that wasn’t enough, just before the end of the 2011 season, the Organization traded (yes, he was traded for a few prospects) Manager Ozzie Guillen to the Florida (now Miami) Marlins. A few weeks later, the White Sox decided to name former White Sox All-Star 3rd Baseman and first time manager Robin Ventura as the manager of the White Sox. With a disappointing 2011 season, people knew changes needed to be made so the team traded closer Sergio Santos (Toronto), Outfielder Carlos Quentin (San Diego), and let Pitcher Mark Buehrle leave via free agency (Miami). With Ozzie Guillen now in Miami and the Kenny-Ozzie feud over, the White Sox should not longer feature a circus like atmosphere and become a more low-profile team. If the 2012 team wants to be successful, they will need bounce-back years from a lot of players which include Jake Peavy, Alex Rios, Adam Dunn, and Gordon Beckham. If the White Sox are able to receive productive years from the players mentioned above, Dayan Viciedo and Alejandro De Aza prove they can be dependable players, and Robin Ventura shows he can become a good manager in the majors; then like the Indians, the White Sox should put pressure on the Tigers at the top of the division.

Kansas City Royals:The 2011 Kansas City Royals statistically didn’t have a great season, but this team showed that Royals fans have a great future to look forward to. Early in the season, Kansas City decided to bring up rookies Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas to give their top to prospects some experience in the majors. As the season went on, the Royals decided to also bring up a few of their other prospects along the way (Salvador Perez, Alcides Escobar, and Johnny Giavotella) and at the same time had a surprising turn of events as former top prospects Alex Gordon had a tremendous 2011 Hitting .303 while having 23 Home Runs and 87 RBI’s to go along with a Gold Glove. In the offseason, the Royals decided to make a few improvements to their roster by trading for Giants pitcher Jonathan Sanchez and signed free agent Closer Jonathan Broxton. The 2012 Royals feature a great core of young hitters highlighted by the doubles machine (44 last year), Billy Butler, and also includes Hosmer, Moustakas, Perez, Escobar, and Gordon. The Royals also feature one of the most underrated bullpens in baseball in Broxton, Aaron Crow, Tim Collins, to go along with all-star closer Joakim Soria. The problem that with the 2012 Royals problem lies within their starting rotation which includes Jonathan Sanchez, Luke Hochevar, Bruce Chen, Felipe Paulino, and Danny Duffy. Fortunately for the Royals, help is on the way as 3 of the team’s top 6 players in their farm-system are highly touted pitching prospects (Mike Montgomery, Jake Odorizzi, and John Lamb. I feel the 2012 Royals will improve a little more but not challenge the Detroit Tigers at the top of the division, however, this is a team that is one starting pitcher away from becoming a dangerous team for many year to come. I feel with the abundance of offense the Royals will feature on both their roster and in the minors (Kansas City’s top hitting prospects are outfielders Bubba Starling and Wil Myers) the Royals should look to trade one of their outfielders for a young pitcher.

Minnesota Twins: It’s rare to see a team go from Division Champions to the bottom of the division, but with the variety of injuries and a few players having down years, the Twins did indeed finish in last place in the AL Central a year after winning the AL Central Title. All of the significant players on the Twins roster went on the Disabled List at-least once last year, as Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Kevin Slowey, Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Francisco Liriano, Joe Nathan, Glen Perkins, Jose Mijares, Jim Thome, Denard Span, Jason Kubel, Alexi Casilla, Scott Baker, and Nick Blackburn made at-least on appearance on the DL last year. After the season, the Twins realized they would have to remake their roster and decided to let free agents Michael Cuddyer and Joe Nathan leave. The Twins record will be determined by the health of their roster and the success of their starting rotation. If these questions can be successfully answered, the Twins will compete with the Indians and White Sox and finish around in second or their place in the division.