Great News for the Nats....

ToppsCo1lector

Vive Soriano!

I was hoping he stayed put, and now I hope they get around to signing him to a contract before the offseason.

80sToyguy

They have to sign this guy, otherwise this was a disaster. I still think Wilkerson's going to be a great major leaguer.
Jay

ToppsCo1lector

I watched Wilkerson come up through the minors; I am still a fan of his. I really hope they do sign him, and from the talk around town he's more than just their #1 priority.


Expos fan? I got to see Orlando Cabrera, Javier Vasquez, and Micheal Barrett play in the minors.

80sToyguy

Hey Topps.
Yep, a tried and true Spos fan, very sad to see them go.
You got to see some great talent at an early age, very cool. I live in Toronto so I've actually been to Montreal 3 times to see games (about a 5-6 hour drive), and got to see the 2 best in my opinion, The BIG Cat and Vladdy. The same year I saw Andres Tim Wallach led the league in total bases ( I believe it was either 91 or 92, the same year Gruber had a huge year for the Jays). Got to see Oil Can pitch for the Spos as well but the best performance was a game by Javy, that boy can pitch, something wrong with his head though as he's never put it together consistently.
I loved Raines too, but I still think the best Spo of them all was Vlad, still love watching the guy.
Jay

bri2327

Here is my take on Soriano.

The guy is a monster and amazing talent. However, he is much better suited to a smaller market team who isnt under the constant miscroscope. What I mean by that is this, if he plays in Washington he will put up huge numbers, get massive exposure and props, but it wont neccessarily be the same as playing in say, NY.

When he was with the Yankees he was great, but after the post season failure all anyone talked about was his weaknesses. Suddenly his regular season numbers didnt mean as much. Now, Im not saying they lost because of him, or that everyone doesnt have a bad postseason or two eventually, but the expectations for someone with his talent was SO high in NY that it wasnt going to pan out for him had he stayed. In Washington he can put up 40 HRS, and do all the rest without constant pressure to win it all.

ToppsCo1lector

80sguy-I've always been a huge fan of Vladdy(No batting gloves) Guerrero and Galaragga. That talent that the Expos had over the past 15-20 years amazes most non baseball fans. They would've literally had an all star team had somehow the right managerial personel and the right owner seen the light. I remember Cabrera the most(the main reason I collect him), because he wasn't a highly touted guy when he came up but I remember seeing him pulloff plays that I remember telling my Pops and Grandpa that guys gonna make it to the majors one day(I saw all of them in Single A btw). Needless to say I didn't see a guy like that with his speed as a middle infielder til I saw Willie Harris maybe 5 seasons down the road. Luckily for them the baseball gods have shined on them, as they have both been a part of World Series Champions.


Bri-I remember the public ouster of Sori even though us fans loved the guy. But, I'd still do that trade as 90% of the real Yankee fans would. No place is like playing in NY. Nowhere. But he has a chance to become a cornerstone of a budding franchise. Nowhere near the pressure, and the fans around here have already embraced him. I really hope the ownership realizes that he's worth the money for this young franchise to keep a key star in this city.