On the contrary, I think this is an excellent idea for the Marlins. As Jon Heyman noted in his blog today on CBSSports:

Since the middle of May he’s hit 14 home runs (that’s all the ones he’s hit this year), making him one of the most productive sluggers in the big leagues over the past month and a half. Yet, it seems no one is ever showing interest.

Alfonso Soriano would actually be a perfect fit on the Marlins team right now. The Marlins have had virtual black holes on offense from left field, center field, first base, and catcher. Soriano could possibly provide the Marlins a way to fill two of those needs with just one move.

The Miami Marlins would be wise to make a trade for Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano (Image: Rob Grabowski-US PRESSWIRE)

According to Fangraphs, Soriano would be the Marlins second most productive player in 2012, he would be tied for the third most productive according to Baseball Reference. It all depends on which defensive metric you trust more. Either way, Soriano’s offense would instantly boost the Marlins offense.

Soriano has posted a 2.1 WAR so far this season, according to Fangraphs. Soriano currently has 14 home runs this season and a line of .270/.330/.486. His wOBA of .246 would actually be a huge boost for the Marlins offense. Fangraphs projects Soriano to hit .252/.306/.469 the rest of the season with 13 home runs. Compare that with the .258/.330/.408 that Gaby Sanchez is projected to hit the rest of the way, Soriano provides a bit more for the Marlins offensively going forward with his wOBA projected to be .329 the rest of the season compared to Gaby’s .325 wOBA.

The Marlins could acquire Soriano, put him in left, place Emilio Bonifacio in center field when he returns from injury, and move Logan Morrison back to first base.

I know, what you guys are thinking, the defense that Soriano will play in left field will more then allow Gaby Sanchez to make up whatever edge Soriano has on him on offense. Well, that premise would actually be false. Soriano would be an upgrade over Morrison in left field, and just by moving Morrison to first base, the Marlins defense would improve.

According to Fangraphs, Logan Morrison has already cost the Miami Marlins four runs on defense in 2012, in left field. LoMo is projected to cost the Marlins another four runs defensively over the rest of the season. With the Marlins in the hole that they have dug themselves into, every run will count as they try to make a post season run.

On the flip side, Fangraphs has Soriano with a positive 8.1 UZR, which is backed up by an above average UZR each of the past three seasons. Sure, Soriano is not half the player that he was before the Cubs signed him to that ludicrous  $136-million, eight-year contract that runs through 2014, in 2006, but he can still be a valuable contributor.

Soriano’s contract still remains as a major hurdle in any trade for the Marlins, but it is not crazy to believe that the Cubs would not eat the majority of his contract. The Marlins have already seen the Cubs eat a major portion of Carlos Zambrano‘s contract in order to get rid of him.

Heyman pointed out that “the Cubs are willing to pay a very substantial portion of Soriano’s deal or take back comparably ‘bad’ contracts to make a deal. yet, it never seems there are any takers.”

Soriano has never been a problem in the clubhouse. While he does have a no-trade clause, he’s likely willing to waive it to play for a contender. While the Marlins are not currently contenders with their June swoons, a move for Soriano and a hot week could get them right back in the middle of things in the NL East as well as in the Wild Card.

Alfonso Soriano would help boost the Marlins not only offensively, but defensively as well. (Image: David Banks-US PRESSWIRE)

If the Marlins can get the Cubs to take on a majority of Soriano’s contract, then the trade would be well worth it. If the Marlins want to match bad contracts, they could entice the Cubs to take on Ricky Nolasco and/or John Buck, freeing the Marlins the burden of both players and their struggles.

The better option for the Marlins would probably be the Cubs eating the majority of Soriano’s salary. The Marlins could send him one of their pitching prospects in Triple-A in Alex Sanabia, Sean West, or Wade LeBlanc. Or the Marlins could send them one of their outfield bats in Bryan Petersen or former Rookie of the Year, Chris Coghlan.

Either move would benefit the Marlins for the rest of the season, and depending on how much salary the Cubs are willing to pay, through the rest of Soriano’s contract, which expires in 2014. If the Cubs eat a good portion of the salary, the Marlins would then have no issues with flipping his bat to an American League team to play DH or just outright releasing him. It would be a low-risk, high-reward situation for the Fish.

The Cubs got a much needed jolt recently with the promotion of slugging first baseman Anthony Rizzo, whose prmotion forced Bryan LaHair into the outfield. The Cubs also have another top prospect in outfielder Brett Jackson they would like to call up at some point this season. Moving Soriano would do the Cubs a lot of good right now.

The Marlins need an offensive boost of any kind right now. Alfonso Soriano could provide the Marlins with that. At the right price, Soriano makes a lot of sense for the Marlins. If they can work out a perfect deal, there is no reason why the Marlins should not work out a deal with their trade partners of many times, Theo Epstien.

Adding Soriano would improve the Marlins both offensively and surprisingly, defensively. If the Cubs eat the majority of his contract, the Marlins have nothing to lose here. The Marlins would then have the luxury of moving Gaby Sanchez and Matt Dominguez in a separate deal to fill another void on the roster.

Do you think that Alfonso Soriano is a logical trade idea for the Miami Marlins? Answer in the poll below:

Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen is back after serving his five-game suspension. (Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE)

Pregame, all the media attention was on Ozzie Guillen. The media surrounded him to see what the outspoken manager would have to say. Ozzie passed his first test. He did not say anything regretful and now we can start to move on.

Source: FanGraphs

The game itself was a very interesting one. Josh Johnson and Ryan Dempster were mixed in a pitchers dual. What ever had been wrong for Johnson in his first two starts, seemed to be corrected on this night. Geoff Parkins will have more on that later today.

The first run of the game was scored in the fourth inning. After back-to-back singles to open the inning by Darwin Barney and Starlin Castro, the Cubs were set up with runners on the corners and nobody out. Castro then stole second base. This is however when Josh Johnson was able to settle down.

Johnson induced a ground ball out by Alfonso Soriano. That plated Barney and gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead. JJ was then able to strike Ian Stewart out on a nasty slider and got Steve Clevenger to ground out to end the inning. Johnson did a nice job of limiting the damage.

The Marlins finally got to Dempster in the fifth via two unearned runs. After a Gaby Sanchez double, Dempster airmailed a Josh Johnson grounder into the crowd. This allowed Gaby to score easily from second and Johnson took second base on the play. Emilio Bonifacio then came through with an RBI single to give the Marlins a 2-1 lead.

In the seventh, Johnson allowed an RBI single to Bryan LaHair to tie the game at two a piece. Johnson was allowed to finish the seventh inning. On the night, JJ went seven innings allowing seven hits, two runs, walking three, and striking out three. Unfortunately, the Marlins were unable to score in the bottom half of the seventh, which gave JJ a no-decision.

After delivering his best start of the 2012 season, JJ was unable to pick up a Win) (Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE)

Steve Cishek pitched the eight inning for the Marlins and he was effective once again. After striking out Reed Johnson, Cishek hit David DeJesus. Cishek was able to bounce back and induce the Marlins fourth double play of the game to get out of the inning.

This set up a heroic inning for the Marlins third baseman, Hanley Ramirez. After Jose Reyes reached on a Barney error and Emilio Bonifacio walked for the second time in the game, the stage was set for Ramirez. Hanley hit a laser shot to deep left and just missed hitting the home run structure. The “Thing” went off anyways as Hanley had belted a three-run homer to give the Marlins a 5-2 lead.

It was the second straight game where Ramirez had delivered the game winning hit for the Marlins. Only this time, it was not a walk-off hit. The Marlins had to send their struggling closer to the mound once more.

And Heath Bell came through for the Marlins. On just eight pitches (seven for strikes), Bell was able to get Starlin Castro to fly out, strike out Alfonso Soriano, and get Ian Stewart to fly out.

The Marlins have now won two straight games and are looking to win the series against the Cubs tonight. Mark Buehrle will take on Matt Garza.

Prediction: The Cubs win the ball game 4-1. Buehrle will continue to be left without any run support, as Matt Garza will hurl a gem for the Cubs.

The Chicago Cubs have had a nice off-season, although it has been relatively quiet. They are under new leadership this off-season. The Cubs have certainly improved their roster, but that will not necessarily show in the win/loss column in the 2012 season. Cubs fans should be excited about the direction that the Cubs are headed in.

Today I am doing an off-season outlook with Jordan Campbell. Jordan is one of the best writers that FanSided has to offer. Over at Cubbies Crib, Jordan is the Senior Editor, and has always put a lot of great posts out there. Jordan answered some questions that I had on the Cubs, Theo Epstein, Anthony Rizzo, and Matt Garza‘s future.

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