Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Will the Nationals trade Alphonso Soriano? Washington's not in the playoff hunt and if they don't trade him - then there is a good chance they will lose him to free agency. Soriano wants to play second base but how many teams will want to spend between $10-15 million on a second baseman this offseason? Maybe the Nats trade 2nd baseman Jose Vidro instead. Vidro becomes a 10-5 guy at the end of this season and will have veto power. My guess is that the Nats sign Soriano to a 3-year $36 million contract within the month and then trade Vidro (they won't risk losing both Vidro and Soriano so they need to make sure Soriano is signed before trading Vidro). Then again - maybe Soriano thinks he can sign with the Yankees as a free agent (taking Gary Sheffield's spot in the outfield - Robinson Cano ain't going anywhere at 2nd)... Juan Gonzalez playing for the Long Island Ducks? I wonder what their steroid testing program is like... Congratulations to Freddie Sanchez (formerly of the Pawtucket Red Sox) who has taken the batting lead in the NL with his .358 average (Miguel Cabrera is second with his .354 mark). Its nice when good people do well... Kenny Rogers always seemed like a bit of a head case. When he's out of his comfort zone he gets rattled. He always pitches better at home than on the road and with the Red Sox in Detroit to take on the Tigers - if I'm Terry Francona I consider (just consider) having the umpires check his glove for foreign substances if it looks like Rogers is getting into a groove (I'm not above a little gamesmanship)...