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Surprise bidder

Mets, Yankees won't be only teams chasing Soriano

Posted: Tuesday June 13, 2006 12:00PM; Updated: Tuesday June 13, 2006 12:17PM
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Some thoughts from around the league....

It makes little sense for the Nationals to keep Alfonso Soriano past the trade deadline.
It makes little sense for the Nationals to keep Alfonso Soriano past the trade deadline.
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• When I talked to Alfonso Soriano in D.C. in April, he had grudgingly accepted his fate: After throwing a fit in spring training, the transplanted second baseman had resigned to play out the '06 season in the outfield. "After that, who knows?" he said, eyeing offseason free agency. But Soriano's stock has never been higher than it is now -- the preposterously athletic 30-year-old has a shot to become baseball's first 50-50 man -- and Soriano may soon be back playing second base, somewhere outside the Beltway.

Many execs think it is a virtual certainty that the Nats under Stan Kasten, who wants to rebuild from the ground up, will deal their best hitter by the deadline -- but to where? Yes, the Mets and the Yankees will be at the center of the bidding, but look out for GM Walt Jocketty of the Cardinals. Jocketty has a brilliant summertime trade record, and he knows that he can't count on Albert Pujols being the same hitter when he returns from his strained right oblique and that Jim Edmonds' abdominal injury is still a problem. In Jocketty's Tuesday-morning paper Soriano had 23 home runs, only two fewer than Pujols. More impressive, 11 of his dingers have come at cavernous RFK Stadium.

• There's a lot of terrible TV on the tube (thank goodness for Entourage), and the A's are starting to get hot: It must be June. In four of the past five years Oakland has performed vastly better after June 15; last year they were a sub-.400 team before the marker, then played plus-.620 ball afterward. This year? "The word is that Rich Harden may not be back for the rest of the year, but I still wouldn't be worried about their pitching because Joe Blanton and Esteban Loiaza should be better from here on out," says a scout. "Right now they're near the bottom of the league in runs scored, and they're not going to win the division if that continues. So it all comes down to Bobby Crosby and Dan Johnson. They've given the team nothing so far, but if they turn it around, watch out. The A's could run away from the pack."

• Chad Billingsley is about to make a big impact on the NL West. Most scouts agree that he's the best pitching prospect in the minors right now, and the Dodgers are close to promoting him from Double A Las Vegas. The right-hander features a mid-90s fastball and a dazzling curve. Another phenom on his way to the Show: the Mets' Mike Pelfry, whose rocky May prevented him from an early call-up. But now New York's top pick from '05 is on a roll at Double A Binghamton: Over his last three starts he's allowed three runs in 19 innings while fanning 22 and walking four.

• The biggest disappointment of the season? Easy: the Indians. A big reason for their subpar play: shockingly sloppy defense. Last year the Tribe were a top defensive team, second only to the White Sox in defensive efficiency (converting balls in play into outs). This year? Thanks to the departure of Coco Crisp and shoddy fielding from Aaron Boone and Ron Belliard, they're 18th in the majors.

• Toronto's Alex Rios explains why he's putting it all together this season. "I had zero confidence last year. None," he says. "I was trying a lot of things with my swing, and getting real frustrated. I'm an emotional guy, and that didn't help last year. So this fall [at Puerto Rican winter league] I focused on controlling myself, not letting my emotions take over what I'm doing. That's a good thing, because I know I'm not going to do good all year. I'm going to go through bad times, and in those bad times I want to be able to control my emotions." Rios is batting .344 with 14 home runs.

• The top overall pick from last week's draft, Luke Hochevar, says he's confident that he and the Royals will come to an agreement by July -- though with Scott Boras in the picture, you never know. After holding out last year, Hochevar is clearly ready to compete. "There is a sense of urgency to get something done," says Hochevar's father, Brian. Boras called Hochevar on the morning of the draft to tell him that the Royals had made their decision. Hochevar was genuinely stunned -- he was speechless on the phone and broke into tears. "All these emotions came to me in that moment," Luke says. "All that time I spent working out alone, getting up every morning and putting in all those hours. It all paid off." New K.C. general manager and John Schuerholz protégé Dayton Moore was not involved in the Royals' draft, but he says that Hochevar was atop the Braves' draft board as well.

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