No surprise: Rafael Soriano won’t opt out of Yankees contract
Oct 19, 2011, 10:47 AM EDT
Getty Images Rafael Soriano‘s contract with the Yankees allows him to opt out after this season, but coming off a mediocre, injury marred campaign there’s little chance of that happening and Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York talked to a source who confirmed Soriano will be staying put.
Soriano followed a poor start with a disabled list stint for elbow problems, but was much more like his usual self upon returning with a 3.33 ERA and 26/7 K/BB ratio in 33 innings during the final two months.
However, the two years and $25 million remaining on his contract is significantly more than Soriano could get on the open market this offseason. He’ll earn $11 million in 2012 and $14 million in 2014 as part of a deal general manager Brian Cashman had pushed on him by ownership.
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- bigleagues - Oct 19, 2011 at 10:49 AM
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Huh. I could have sworn he’d opt out and take a shot at getting a reverse raise.
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- phukyouk - Oct 19, 2011 at 11:00 AM
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I’m not shocked or surprised but i am 1000% sure that his agent spoke to the Sox, Muts, Phils and anyone else thats looking for a closer to see if he could get similar money
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- uyf1950 - Oct 19, 2011 at 11:09 AM
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…is the “source” Andrew Marchand talked to the same unidentified source that said they saw Beckett, Lackey and Lester drinking beer in the dugout?
I only have one other question. Why has Soriano made up his mind so early? He still has about 10 days before he has to make a final decision. Maybe he’ll have a change of heart, we can only hope.
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- djpostl - Oct 19, 2011 at 2:02 PM
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Because there are about a dozen guys who are closers or served as closers for multiple seasons hitting the market. It’s flooded. He won’t ever get more $$ (esp with his horrid first half).
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- yankeesgameday - Oct 19, 2011 at 11:12 AM
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I just hope he doesn’t have a no trade clause.
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- phukyouk - Oct 19, 2011 at 11:23 AM
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11 mil this yr and 14 Mil the next one = no trade clause
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- Kyle - Oct 19, 2011 at 11:18 AM
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Smart man.
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- southpaw2k - Oct 19, 2011 at 12:01 PM
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Right now he’s probably thinking, “Hee hee hee hee hee hee!” as he runs to the bank to deposit his paycheck.
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- phukyouk - Oct 19, 2011 at 12:04 PM
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so you are saying hes an overpaid, overrated, underachieving Pitcher that doesn’t even have Direct Deposit?
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- southpaw2k - Oct 19, 2011 at 12:17 PM
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Comment of the Day. I tip my hat to you, sir.
And yes, I am insinuating he doesn’t even have direct deposit.
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- djpostl - Oct 19, 2011 at 12:52 PM
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Not surprised he didn’t opt out. Have you seen how many closers or guys with significant closing experience are hitting the market this season?
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- phukyouk - Oct 19, 2011 at 1:00 PM
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To the Steinbrenner boys
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- djpostl - Oct 19, 2011 at 2:05 PM
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I love how you clowns think an average of $12 mil a year is much of anything to the Yankees. The bad contract is the one on Arod, and that will probably end up restructured into a decade long payout with deferred interest.
This is a deal that Cash didn’t want, and it is probably worth twice the players value. So, in essence they are out about $11-12 mil over two season. Chump change for them.
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- legacybroken - Oct 19, 2011 at 2:05 PM
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Maybe its just society.
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- abtystl - Oct 19, 2011 at 6:58 PM
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This is just another example of how the Yankees have single handedly ruined the economics of all of baseball. They sign a guy for at least twice his true value (at least twice) when no one else was bidding for him. Then when some schmuck of a pitcher has a half decent year and is a free agent the next, his starting point is directly affected by irresponsible signings like Soriano’s. Or when a younger pitcher goes to arbitration, his agent points to Soriano’s contract and says his guy had a much better year and that’s why he deserves his raise. So now every team in both leagues are held to the economic standard of the Yankees when in reality only a couple of other teams are capable of standing toe to toe payrollwise.
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- Kevin S. - Oct 19, 2011 at 8:31 PM
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1. The Yankees were hardly the first team to overpay for relief pitching, and as horrid as the Soriano contract was, the man did have a history of elite performance. That was nowhere close to market re-defining.
2. Arbitration cases compare to other players in the same arbitration class, not free agents. Next.
