Let me preface this by saying I copied my post in another thread; I feel this might merit its own thread.

Has anyone thought about Soriano in centerfield?

I know it's been said (mostly by Michael Kay) that Soriano refuses to play centerfield - but since it's Michael Kay whose said it, I don't know how set in stone that may be. Now, I don't know that Soriano would want to play center or would be good in center - but I do think it is a possibility worth exploring. Here is my reasoning:

*The Rangers are known to want to unload Sori and Sori did love playing in The Bronx. We could probably get him for Aaron Small and a good minor league pitching prospect or perhaps Chin Meing Wang (since it looks like the Yankee FO is trying to move away from the "Let's Overpay Them Out Of The Goodness Of Our Hearts" mentality of the last several years.

*He will make a lot of money next year ($10 million I think) but that is the last year of his contract. If it doesn't work out - we are not tied into this arrangement long term.

*He did play the outfield (left field I think) for The Yanks in Spring Training in 2001 and did fairly well; whether that will translate to center, I don't know, but again, it is worth exploring.

*Soriano is a very good hitter with some weaknesses. He should continue to be good in our lineup which is almost as strong as the Texas' line-up. Although he did not steal many bases last year due to lingering leg problems, Soriano would inject much needed speed to our line-up.

*Soriano is still very popular in NY and would ad to the team's marketing efforts.

*Again, if it doesn't work out, Soriano's contract is up at the end of the 2006 season and we could look at other options. If it does work out we have a viable, popular, offensive centerfield for at least 4 or 5 years.

Again, I think it at least merits consideration.