Rafael Soriano: Atlanta Braves 2009 Player Preview
This player preview was written by Stephen Peele, who posts here as sdp.
The ridiculous lopsidedness of the Rafael Soriano trade took a bit of a hit last year as Soriano was down and out with arm problems for essentially the entire season. Soriano, entering the first year of an attractive two-year, $9MM deal, only pitched fourteen innings as he eventually opted for season-ending nerve-transposition elbow surgery. Soriano was just one of a slew of Braves pitchers who needed to go under the knife in 2008.
For a good portion of his first season in Atlanta, Soriano was lights out and flat out filthy. Whether fatigue set in or whether the league started to figure out the former American League reliever, Soriano hit a spell where his fastball appeared flat and it seemed like he was giving up big home runs every time he took the mound.
When disgruntled closer Bob Wickman was designated for assignment on August 24th, 2007, Soriano assumed the role for the remainder of the season and excelled. Soriano closed out the season by picking up a win and four saves over 14.1 innings while only allowing four hits, one earned run, and collecting nineteen strikeouts. All in all, Soriano ended up turning in an excellent initial season with Atlanta, pitching 72.0 innings with a nasty 0.861 WHIP and a ridiculous 4.67 K/BB ratio. The Braves acted quickly to what they saw in Soriano and bought out his first year of free agency, signing him to the aforementioned contract.
Coming into camp in 2009, Soriano has missed a couple of weeks early on due to an "upper respiratory infection" but said that his arm is "[almost] 100 percent." However, he made his first appearance in live baseball last Tuesday against the Astros in which he pitched an inning, giving up a hit and striking out one.
Truthfully, Soriano remains a big question mark because of his health history (he also had Tommy John in 2004). Can he keep his arm healthy? Will he be able to be as productive as he was in 2007? If he can stay healthy, there is no obvious reason why he won't be able to be the excellent reliever he was in 2007. However, it's going to be largely a "wait and see" game with Soriano.
Soriano is due $6.1MM this season and is a pending free agent. With guys like Stephen Marek and others coming through the system, it figures this will be Soriano's final season with Atlanta.
Thanks to Stephen for a great preview of Soriano.
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9 comments
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Comments
Not one mention of Haithcock…interesting…
by Smoltz's Beard on Mar 16, 2009 1:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Exactly. I don’t know what to make of this preview.
Your source for blind optimism.
by 10-4 on Mar 16, 2009 1:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Last season?
I sure hope not, especially if he rebounds with a very productive and healthy season. The Braves already made the mistake in not resiging Ohman (which will comeback to bite them in ’09) and instead resign Glavine.
by ChipperTeixeira89 on Mar 16, 2009 2:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
You’ve got similar arms in the waiting in the minor leagues. In addition to his risky health, the Braves usually avoid giving relievers long-term, high-salary deals and Soriano will be no different.
Oh, Bobby.
by sdp on Mar 16, 2009 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Ohman made the mistake of not accepting a generous offer when he had the chance
He will be missed in the club house, but not on the mound.
"OBP is not a production number, and should not be used as something he achieved."
by VictorW on Mar 16, 2009 4:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Agreed
He’s a good guy, but the Padres are still trying to get him to drop down to the $1 mill/yr range. You have to feed your family, but at some point, he’s going to hinder his own performance.
"He's getting better, but he's not there yet ..."
- Bobby Cox (talking about Boyer)
by FrankyWren on Mar 16, 2009 7:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
if he is healtyi sure hope this isnt his last year. just drop his contract price and re-sign him
by drumzalicious on Mar 16, 2009 8:25 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
If he's healthy and pitching well...
…he’ll have no incentive to drop his price. Just look at recent history: the Braves tend to avoid falling into free-agent relievers because of the prices they command in other markets. I’m not saying they won’t or can’t re-sign him, but recent history tells me that he’ll be in a new uniform next year.
Oh, Bobby.
by sdp on Mar 16, 2009 11:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

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