Alfonso Soriano turned 35 in January. He managed to play 147 games last year, but he missed 125 games combined the three previous seasons. He was once considered an elite fantasy outfielder, but those days are over.
While his 24 HRs put him in a tie for 15th among outfielders, the rest of his numbers fall way short of upper echelon outfielders. His 67 runs were tied for 49th. His 79 RBIs ranked 24th. He was once a stolen base threat, but his five SBs were worse than 75 other outfielders. His .258 batting average was tied for 41st. Those simply aren’t the numbers we’ve come to expect from Soriano…or are they?
Granted, he missed 98 games in 2008 and 2009, but his average line from 2008-2010 is .259, 69 runs, 24.3 HRs, 69.7 RBIs and 11 SBs. He’s simply not the same player that averaged 106.2 runs, 36.7 HRs, 92.2 RBIs and 30.7 SBs from 2002-2007.
Soriano started the season strong, hitting .301 with 29 runs, nine HRs, 27 RBIs and three SBs in the first two months. The rest of the way he hit .237 with 38 runs, 15 HRs, 52 RBIs and two SBs.
So what should you do with a 35-year-old outfielder that is in a decline? One that offers a little bit of power and little else. One that used to be much better than he is now.
The answer is quite simple. Let somebody else draft him while you select someone with more upside.
Do you agree or do you think he still has good fantasy value?
Also check out:
- 2011 Fantasy Baseball Profiles
- 2011 Fantasy First Basemen Rankings
- 2011 Fantasy Second Basemen Rankings
- 2011 Fantasy Third Basemen Rankings
- 2011 Fantasy Shortstop Rankings
- 2011 Fantasy Catcher Rankings
- 2011 Fantasy Outfielder Rankings
- 2011 Fantasy Starting Pitcher Rankings
- 2011 Fantasy Closer Rankings
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