Earlier this week there was a discussion regarding the possibility of Alfonso Soriano being traded from the Washington Nationals to the Detroit Tigers prior to the upcoming trade deadline. It was noted that it would more than likely take a top prospect in the Tigers system to pry Soriano away from Washington, including last year's first round draft pick Cameron Maybin or the young hurler Humberto Sanchez, who has been tearing up minor league lineups thus far.
Now, I do not know how reliable this is, but Ken Rosenthal of FOX sports feels that the Soriano to Detroit rumors are extremely accurate. Every Saturday during the FOX weekly baseball broadcasts Rosenthal is seen spouting one rumor or bit of inside information after another, with yesterday's top rumor apparently being the one involving Soriano. When asked by Joe Buck which team Alfonso Soriano would be playing for come the trade deadline, Rosenthal said "Detroit."
Rosenthal has said some pretty crazy stuff before. He's stated that it would have taken Curtis Granderson and Justin Verlander to receive Beckett and Lowell, and has even said it would have taken something similar to acquire Danys Baez from the Devil Rays last season. Overall I think Rosenthal fails at coming across as very credible during these FOX broadcasts, but what do I know? He's the one that is getting paid to get this inside information, so he knows more than me.
Obviously I would much rather have another scenario unfold: Bobby Abreu coming to Detroit. Abreu is left-handed and gets on base at a much more frequent pace than Soriano. Here are the two possibilities side by side:
Abreu: .289/.443/.459/.902, 8 HR, 60 RBI, 85 BB, 74 K
Soriano: .278/.351/.568/.919, 28 HR, 58 RBI, 40 BB, 83 K
Soriano may be the more exciting pick just because he hits a lot of homeruns. Fans like homeruns. But in reality I would much rather have Bobby Abreu, who would more than likely come at a similar price as Soriano. Abreu's OBP is amazing, he doesn't strike as much, walks more and of course is the oh so great left handed bat at the plate. Plus Abreu is a better fielder.
If either of these turn out true, it would be exciting for the second half. But for the best of the Detroit Tigers, I say go after Bobby Abreu.