Don't really know what to think about this. I'm certainly haven't been of the mind that the Cubs haven't had success because they haven't spent enough, so I'm not all that impressed by their newfound willingness to spend the NL into submission. And eight years? Not being a fan of long-term contracts to begin with, hearing that makes my ears hurt very badly.

That said, I would disagree, kind of, with David's assessment that the Cubs have "signed a Manny Ramirez like contract without being anywhere near as good as Manny." It would be accurate to say that Soriano is nowhere near as good of a hitter as Manny, but if Soriano runs the bases well and plays good outfield defense, he may be as valuable as Manny. Soriano has three years in the last 5 with a WARP3 over 10; Manny only has one in his career.

Of course, in his two years in Texas, Soriano was definitely not as good as Manny. His first year here, he hit .280/.324/.484. The second, he put up a .268/.309/.512. If the Cubs get the Soriano that spent two years here in the Metroplex, this will end up being the worst free agent signing of all time.

So, that scares me. I guess on the whole, this strikes me as an enormously high-risk kind of deal. Soriano is probably a better player than I've given him credit for in the past, but ... well, a lot depends on what happens. If he can maintain something close to his 2005 offensive production, and play a decent center, he'll probably be one of the best players in the game. That would go a long way towards justifying this.

And if he can't, then this is the second deal in a week that makes the task facing Hendry's successor much more difficult.

On the bright side, I'm glad that the Cubs have continued to aggressively try to address their biggest weaknesses. In 2005 middle relief and lead-off hitter were lacking, so they spend a bunch of money on Eyre, Pierre, and another reliever.

Now they think they need some pop in the lineup and a lead-off hitter to replace Pierre, so they get the best power hitter available and one who could lead off.

Getting Soriano is a great move, especially if you believe he can play CF (I have some doubts). But the contract -- yuck and double yuck. At 4/$68 there's a chance he could be worth it if he propels the Cubs into the playoffs or there's so much money going around that $17M isn't as bad as it looks today. But the last 4/$68 is a disaster; from ages 35-38, there's no way he's worth $8.5M/year much less the $17M he's getting. And it's worse if the contract is backloaded. Basically you're hoping that Soriano keeps up his 2006 career year level of play for 2 or 3 years then his career goes downhill so fast that he retires and you can get out of paying the last 2 or 3 years. And that's one h*ll of a gamble to take.

That said, I don't cut the paychecks and adding Soriano will make the Cubs more fun to watch in the short term.

It strikes me that one hidden reason for the Cubs organization's uncharacteristic willingness to throw big bucks into the market for a long period is that the people making the deals will not likely be around to have to pay up during the majority of the time the contracts are in force. They will leave them to be paid by a new owner (whom they figure is likely to cashier them anyway.) Or maybe they have secret instructions from management to start creating what, in business merger terms, would be called "poison pills", i.e. conditions that are hard for a would-be acquirer to swallow?

All that somewhat cynically and unfairly said, I am pleased the Cubs are really doing something. Soriano is the kind of player they truly need given where they are starting from: "great all around". The length of the contract was conceivably needed to sew up the deal, since Soriano now knows where he can expect to retire, and a shorter term would have left him with less future bargaining power as he aged. (He could even wind up at his old love: second base, with De Rosa being such an all-around fielder.)

Respectfully,
FEARLESS BEAR

Let's hear it for FearlessBear!! The New York Times picked up on the thought that there is no way the Tribune Company would spend $136 Million Dollars without intending to sell the Team. [url=http:///]See link[/url].
Murray Chass, the sportswriter says in his article: "If Tribune intended to hold onto the Chicago Cubs, the Cubs would not be signing Alfonso Soriano to an eight-year contract for $136 million."

Respectfully,
FEARLESS BEAR

"They originally spoke of Soriano as a centerfielder to replace Juan Pierre, but sources said they may move him to right field to take advantage of his strong arm," reports the Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan. "Right-fielder Jacques Jones could move to center if the Cubs don't feel Felix Pie is ready to be called up from Triple-A Iowa, or to left to platoon with Matt Murton."

Well, Pie isn't ready. Jones did patrol CF well for Minnesota . . . back in 1999 and 2000. So that doesn't seem like much of an option either. Jones and Matt Murton would make a nice platoon in either rightfield or leftfield, which means the Cubs still need one more regular outfielder.

This is nice to see, from the Chicago Tribune:

Asked where he'd prefer to play, Soriano said to ask manager Lou Piniella.

"Outfield, for me, is all the same," he replied. "It doesn't matter to me if I play left field, right field, center field. That's the decision of the manager."

Quote and photo from another bb...

Here's Alfonso Soriano's first ever AB in a Cubs uniform!....courtesy of a preview screenshot from the upcoming MLB 2K7 videogame for Xbox 360 (due March 5th).

From another Cubs bb and Gamespot.

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Photos from Ryne Sandberg's Chicago Cubs jersey number retirement ceremony at Wrigley Field