Royals Say that Won't Trade Soria

[Phil The Thrill]

The Royals are telling teams that they aren't willing to deal closer Joakim Soria, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney.

Soria's contract is among the most friendly in baseball.

Kansas City holds a series of no-risk options through the 2014 season.

 

[Elite]

Not the best idea IMO. They could get a good package for him and then their minors would be even more loaded than it already is.

 

[MapleLeaf]

I don't see the point in keeping him...not like we're gonnna need a closer this year. The Royals have had some bad years, but this upcoming one will by far be the worst.

Look at our pitching staff.

 

[A.E]

What Maple said. Why waste this guys' max potential by holding him hostage in an organization that has no commitment to winning under it's current ownership? It's a shame, Soria will never be recognized as the top closer he is as long as he is rotting away in Kansas City.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

eventually they'll trade him, most likely around the deadline.

Either way, Soria won't block a trade to teams like NYY. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/12/soria-wouldnt-block-trade-to-yankees.html

The Royals have looked firm this offseason in their unwillingness to ship off Joakim Soria. The All-Star closer, on the other hand, appears comfortable with migrating to another market and, more specifically, to New York. In an interview with the Mexican paper Vanguard (link in Spanish), Soria told Roberto Espinoza that he doesn't give much weight to the no-trade clause in his contract, which reportedly allows him to block trades to the Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers, Phillies, Cardinals, and Cubs.

"I didn't put it there, my agent did, as a strategy," Soria said. "But if the Royals decide to trade me to New York I would gladly go to play with the Yankees or any other team... I repeat, I would not block a trade to the Yankees. I like to play baseball and I would play with any team."

The Yankees reportedly offered top catching prospect Jesus Montero in exchange for Soria last July, and the subsequent departure of Zack Greinke and David DeJesus has spawned a fresh crop of speculation about the haul Soria could bring to the already deep Royals system. The one cambio that Soria seemed eager to block, though, is a switch to the Royals' starting rotation.

"I really don't believe that could happen," Soria told Espinoza. "As I've always said, why fix something that isn't broken?... Furthermore, if they asked me if I would like to change into a starter, I would say no."

Soria emphasized in the interview that he is happy with the Royals, who have him under control through 2014 via a series of team-friendly options. And while there is a case to be made for keeping Soria right where he is while a roster's worth of elite talent inches ever-closer to the Royals' major league squad, Dayton Moore will no doubt continue to field queries about "the Mexecutioner" for as long as he remains the Royals' elite stopper.

About 18% of 11,000 MLBTR readers would convert Soria into a starter and 69% said the Royals should trade him by next July 31st.

 

[Lake Louise]

Dude needs to be on a better team, and he's being held hostage. When/If he does eventually end up going, i'd prefer to see him go to the NL, or out of the AL Central. I dread seeing him when the Tigers play them. Not that it was often, but when it was, it wasn't pretty.

 

[Elite]

I'd love to see him in NY, but not for Montero. We could get a really good SP with Montero when one becomes available.

 

[Phil The Thrill]

Riveria's days in his career are numbered, so picking up Soria would be a great pick up for the Yankees.