The New York Yankees are coming back home after a nice little road trip and they will have a familiar face in tow, as Alfonso Soriano is joining the team after being traded from the Chicago Cubs and as the Yankees wait on word from Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter, they will get some extra pop in the lineup finally in the outfield and while he is older, many hope that Soriano can send some bombs out of the stadium in the Bronx as the team plays the Rays on Friday night.
The Rays have been playing fantastic and are less than a game out of the American League East and the Yankees have played themselves back into striking distance by winning some games over the past week and now with Soriano in the fold, New York feels that it can battle with the Red Sox for the division lead and tonight's game will be an important step as they try to gain ground in the division. The team is playing the Rays through the weekend that will give them the chance to stop them cold in their tracks and the Yankees need to play consistently, as a few losses here and there to division rivals could greatly hamper their playoff chances.
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Soriano is owed $24.5 million through next season and the Cubs wanted to get him off their books, so they are paying $17.7 million and the Yankees will cover the remaining $6.8 million and they are happy to do so, as the team greatly needs some power. The team is sending a middling prospect in the deal and both sides are happy with the result and now Soriano will be back with the team he started his career with before he was traded in the Alex Rodriguez deal with the Texas Rangers.
The Yankees have been dealing with a ridiculous amount of injuries this season and now Soriano gets to come back and play with his former teammates and friends in Jeter and Mariano Rivera and the Yankees are hoping he is a bit of a throwback to his days in pinstripes, as he was a great power hitter and RBI man and the Yankees need that again badly. Soriano was with the team from 1999 to 2003 and coming back to the Bronx is a happy destination for Soriano.
The Cubs are way out of it and are sellers at the deadline and Soriano comes over after hitting .254 with 17 home runs and 51 RBIs this season and the Yankees are getting him at a hot time, as he has been going strong in July with eight homers and 16 RBIs and New York is hoping he can keep up that style of play. Soriano is old at 37, but the pop in his bat is enough for the Yankees and they basically need him in there just to get some more offense.
The Cubs had him on an eight-year, $136 million contract and now the Yankees will help finish that off and after winning 2-0 behind a strong game from Hiroki Kuroda on Thursday, they have a chance to end some hot play from the Rays with CC Sabathia on the mound on Friday night against Jeremy Hellickson. The Yankees are six games behind the Rays and a sweep over the weekend would give them a clear shot of getting back in the division race.
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