Soriano still a man without a team

It’s the New Year and Rafael Soriano still finds himself without a new team.

I can’t help but wonder if his agent Scott Boras seriously misplayed his hand in encouraging Soriano to opt out of his contract with the New York Yankees and then reject a qualifying offer that would have guaranteed him another year in the Bronx. It’s been generally assumed that a team like the Detroit Tigers would swoop in and hand Soriano a rich deal to close baseball games. But with spring training quickly approaching, I’m starting to seriously doubt Soriano is going to get anything close to what Boras likely promised him.

Soriano was great for the Yankees in 2012 and he really stepped up his game when Hall of Fame-bound closer Mariano Rivera went down on that Kansas City warning track. But with Mo saying that his knee is 95% healthy and promising he will be ready for Opening Day, I don’t expect the Yankees to swoop in with a generous, late offer to save Soriano’s free agency, as they did the last time. With Mo on the mend and a very limited budget, Brian Cashman & Co simply have other pressing priorities, meaning Soriano could find himself on the outside looking in for quite some time.