I'm sure you've all read that Carlos Lee was traded earlier today to the Marlins for Matt Dominguez and Rob Rasmussen. The Astros are reportedly going to pay a majority of Lee's salary.

Kevin Goldstein reports that Dominguez and Rasmussen might reach Houston soon, but that they won't be stars. Dominguez is projected as a defensive replacement and Rasmussen is a bullpen guy.

Is this similar to what the Cubs can expect in return for a Soriano trade (even if the Cubs pay most of his salary)? Would it be worth it to unload Soriano for prospects similar to Dominguez and Rasmussen?

No, because Soriano's remaining salary is much bigger than Lee's. We should get better prospects from Soriano deal; otherwise, just let him have his knee surgery and return next year healthy. My guess is that if he's healthy, he can hit 25 HRs a seaon, which is not bad. In other words we should get future 25HR worth players.

Lee has zero homers on the road this year. He hasn't put up good numbers, he can't run or field, etc. I think we could get considerably more for Soriano, but in any scenario, we're going to have to eat the vast majority of his salary.

I wouldn't expect a whole lot in return for Soriano.

Soriano is having a better year than Lee by far!

Soriano has nearly twice as many home runs the last season and a half as Lee. I don't think they'll get the farm by any means for Soriano, but I would expect a slightly better return for a player who can still do more for his team.

Soriano is having a decent year. Lee's career is pretty much toast.

If Sori stays healthy and productive, I think he's with the Cubs thru all or most of 2014.

His contract is too high to trade him, especially at his age.

And because of his contract, age and knees, no team will want to trade anybody of significance.

But he's productive, his defense is better and you gotta pay him.

So he's a Cub at least the next 2 years.

To me ........no.

They project as a utility guy and a bullpen arm.

My only issue with Soriano before was his defense, which is now solid.
No reason to trade him and pay most of his salary unless what they get in return fills a real need.

There is nobody right now knocking on the door in the minors to take over an OF spot and he's far from a problem in the club house.

Hi Batman,

I like your post & concur w/ your thoughts on Soriano!! :o)

You're high if you think the Cubs are going to get "future 25 homer guys".

If the Cubs trade Soriano they'll eat the majority of the salary and get a piece or two in return - but no one that projects to be an everyday player in a contending lineup.

The key would be to get his salary off the books which I'm all for - and to let someone young start to take those at bats.

I guess you missed him gunning down Chipper on a laser beam throw on the fly at the plate and his all around play in the OF this year has been above average.
He still has his moments at times but I'd take him over most of the LF's in the league on D.

Carlos Lee is a rent-a-player because his contract expires this season.

In a trade of Soriano the goal would either be to get the other team to take some substantial part of his contract or get prospects in trade.

The only way the Cubs get decent prospect (s) in return is to eat almost all of his contract.

If we wiped the slate clean starting tomorrow and award Soriano a new 2.5 year contract based on his production this year, he's probably worth something like 4 million for the 2nd half of this season, 5 million for 2013, and 3 million for 2014. This is sort of the way I think I would view his value if I were shopping him -- like as if he had this sort of contract and to see what kind of player we could get in return for an .800 OPS guy with 25HR potential but with high injury risk and old-man gimp factor.

If other teams can buy into this, I think we could end up saving something like 10-12 million off the remainder of his contract plus a mid-level prospect or a couple low-mid level ones.

He is going to hit more than 25 HR this year even on a bad leg. He also is likely to lead us in RBI's and his defense has improved significantly. Rather than give him away and pay his salary I say keep him and let him hit 30 HR next year or even possible this year. What is the worst thing about doing this? We have no one better to even come close to replacing his numbers. Our future young stars are 2-3 years away and he will be gone by then. Getting rid of him just to get rid of him is not an improvement. It is likely a downgrade for the next two years.

Soriano is having a great year and he is playing very good, but here is the problem, I seriously doubt he will be able to be an everyday LFer for the next 2 and a half years. Even if Soriano gets knee surgery and is able to be healthy for a little while, I don't think his knees hold up that long. I am not a medical expert, but knee surgeries, especially for athletes, seem to be on borrowed time before needing another or being completely shot.

While Soriano's offense is nice to have around and he doesn't have a real replacement possibly until Soler comes up(which should be right around the time his contract expires), I think it is in the Cubs best interest to trade him while he can still play LF and has some value.

As a DH for an AL team, I think he can remain healthy for a longer period of time and be a very productive player. The Cubs will still have to eat alot of his salary, but with how he is playing I still think it's possible to get another team to pay 6-7 million a year for him. IMO, that is much better than what it could be if they wait for another year, where he could be physically unable to play LF.

Soriano is better than Lee, and Soriano hustles most of the team. Lee never hustles.

If the Astros get a decent bullpen pitcher in the deal that's terrific. If the Cubs get anyone who can play - a defensive replacement, a pinch hitter, a bullpen arm - that's good.

I'd guess that if Sori continues to play well we could get a pretty nice offer from an AL team.

His fielding has been much better, but he's not young anymore, so if his legs get worse he's still a nifty DH. I'd think the return will be contingent on how much the Cubs pay towards his salary. If they pick up a big piece we could land a very nice prospect or two, IMO, particularly as the trade deadline approaches.

The biggest question as to what we acquire is going to be how much salary we eat. There very well could be a team that would rather pay him 7 mil and give up junk then pay him 2 mil and give up a good prospect.

I think they needed to move Lee because they didn't want to risk any fall out from him nixing the trade to LA and took him for the best(possibly only) offer on the table at time from a team he couldn't veto. Personally I would rather take 1 B prospect over 2 C prospects. At this point I am looking for quality instead of quantity