Nationals need a spot for Soriano

Tuesday December 13, 2005
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Washington Nationals completed the first major move of their challenging offseason Tuesday when the Alfonso Soriano trade became official. The next challenge? Figuring out where he's going to play.
The Nationals obtained the four-time All-Star second baseman from Texas for outfielders Brad Wilkerson and Terrmel Sledge and minor league pitcher Armando Galarraga. The teams agreed to the deal last week during baseball's winter meetings in Dallas.
Washington already has an All-Star second baseman, Jose Vidro, and Soriano has resisted previous attempts to move to the outfield. General manager Jim Bowden said he had yet to speak to Soriano about his role with the Nationals and that the only thing that has been determined is that he will bat in the heart of the lineup.
"He's such a great athlete that he's able to play other positions," Bowden said. "He could play center, he could play left. Winning players always care about the name on the front of the jersey more than the name on the back of the jersey. I've had instances before in my career where star players have had to change positions. Players normally like the position that they're playing, and that's understandable. If we decided to move him, it'll be because it's in the best interest of the name on the front of the jersey."
Bowden said he's already had inquiries from several teams about Soriano, but he said his ideal lineup contains both Soriano and Vidro, assuming Vidro can fully recover from a knee injury. The Nationals desperately need starting pitching, but Bowden said he would rather achieve that goal through free agency rather than trade a good hitter.
"We're trying to score more runs," Bowden said. "Last year we were last in runs scored, last in home runs in baseball, so we're trying to make that better."
Soriano hit .268 with 36 homers, a career-best 104 RBIs and 30 steals last season. He's averaged 35 homers, 97 RBIs and 31 steals over the past four seasons.
Bowden announced several other moves. Reliever Joey Eischen signed a one-year, $1.1 million contract, and utilityman Robert Fick signed an $850,000 deal. Catchers Wiki Gonzalez, Mike DiFelice, Alberto Castillo and Brandon Harper were signed to minor league contracts and will compete to replace last year's backup, Gary Bennett, who left as a free agent and signed with St. Louis.
The search for quality pitching is reaching crisis proportions. The Nationals have lost Esteban Loaiza and Hector Carrasco via free agency and were outbid for A.J. Burnett and Matt Morris. Bowden said the "market is such that it became a runway train" and that he's not confident of landing a top-notch starter.
"I'm not confident at all," Bowden said. "We're trying, but it's a very, very difficult market. You watched St. Louis walk away from Matt Morris. Matt Morris has been one of their best pitchers for a long time and they walked away because of the money. ... As a fan, you want to get these guys, but that's a lot of money that teams are investing. If it doesn't work out, you're stuck. We're going to keep trying to get pitching. That's been our goal, and it hasn't changed since."
Bowden said some players are reluctant to sign with the Nationals because the team has yet to be sold. The sale has been delayed while baseball and the city work on a lease for a new ballpark.
"We can't overcome the fact that we don't have an owner yet," Bowden said. "All we can promise them is by the beginning of spring training we'll have one -- at least I think we can promise that."
Fick hit .265 with three homers and 30 RBIs in 93 games with San Diego last season. He has played first base, catcher and in the outfield, and joins earlier free-agent additions Damian Jackson and Marlon Anderson to give Washington a versatile bench.
Eischen, the only left-hander on Washington's pitching staff for stretches of 2005, was 2-1 with a 3.22 ERA in 57 relief appearances. He stranded 40 of 48 inherited runners, an 83.3 percentage that ranked fifth in the NL.
Bowden also said he has spoken to manager Frank Robinson about a contract for the 2006 season.
"We're working on it," Bowden said.

Source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/