Alfonso Soriano remains unhappy, but seems resigned that left field is his new home.
The former Yankee was at Shea Stadium yesterday working out with his new team, the Washington Nationals. He took fly balls in left, a position he refused to play two weeks ago, and will be there today when the Nationals open their season against the Mets.
Soriano believes his unhappiness in the outfield will fade when he gets more comfortable there.
“Not yet, because I’m not 100 percent over there,” Soriano said when asked if he was happy in left. “When I’m 100 percent, maybe I can get happy out there.”
Washington dealt three players to the Texas Rangers for Soriano this winter. He initially protested when the Nationals told him they were moving him from second base to left field, and refused to play against the Dodgers on March 20 before agreeing begrudgingly to the position change two days later.
Nationals manager Frank Robinson said Soriano has done everything asked of him since then. The Hall of Famer said Soriano’s adjustment to his new position has been slow and may take all season.
“I expected that,” Robinson said. “All I want him to do is work at it. Hopefully, he won’t make the same mistake twice and learn from his mistakes. So far, he’s put the effort in. It’s going to be a slow process. It may take at least half a year, it may go all of this year.”
Today’s game will be Soriano’s first regular season game in the outfield. The Yankees experimented with putting him in left field during spring training in 2001, but moved him to second before the season began.
The most challenging part of the adjustment for Soriano has been fielding balls hit over his head and hits by left-handed hitters.
“It’s very hard,” Soriano said. “People think it’s very easy to catch fly balls and I (thought) it’s easy, too. But now I have to have concentration and work hard because they’re not easy like I thought before.”
While Soriano’s struggles with the glove will be well-chronicled this season, the Nationals did not acquire him for his fielding. They wanted to inject some offense into their lineup. The four-time All-Star has averaged 35 home runs, 97 RBIs and 31 steals over the last four seasons.
Nationals assistant general manager Tony Sigle said the team knew the risk they were taking when they made the deal for Soriano.
“He probably isn’t thrilled to be there,” Sigle said, “but he’s getting used to it and in the long run he’ll probably be a much better player . . . (it) will probably advance his value, if not with us, than with somebody else.”