Soriano Better Than Lee

The Astros landed their big bopper this week when they signed Carlos Lee to a 6 year, $100 million contract. In my mind, Lee’s contract makes Soriano’s contract look much more reasonable.

Although Soriano and Lee are the same age, you can already see that Soriano is aging much better than Lee. Lee has lost a step and his body has become much thinker than it was just a few years ago. Soriano, on the other hand, has remained very quick and athletic. I can’t promise that Soriano will still be at the top of his game in 6-8 years, but I much prefer Soriano over Lee for the next few years.

The Astros also signed Woody Williams to join their pitching staff. Williams pitched for the Padres last year and is 40 years old. Although Williams is not a bad pitcher, he tends to give up a lot of fly balls which could be very dangerous in Minute Maid Park. What the Crawford Boxes in left field will give to Carlos Lee, they will take away from Woody Williams.

Getting back to Soriano, he has requested that the Cubs allow him to play winter ball in the Dominican Republic. The Cubs haven’t responded, but Soriano’s desire to get into shape and improve his game is refreshing. It would have been easy for Soriano to sit at home and lay on the couch. I don’t know if the Cubs will let him play, but I like his enthusiasm.

The GM Winter Meetings are just a week away. If a deal is going to get done for someone like Jake Westbrook or Jason Jennings, I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens at the Winter Meetings.