Alfonso Soriano drives in seven, Yanks win fourth straight

By Drew SilvaAug 14, 2013, 10:25 PM EDT
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Veteran outfielder Alfonso Soriano got off to a sluggish start in his immediate reunion with the Yankees, batting .193/.220/.368 with three home runs and 19 strikeouts over his first 15 games.

But he’s been a hero now two nights in a row.

Soriano singled and went deep twice in Tuesday’s 14-7 stomping of the visiting Angels and then came back with a 3-for-3, two-homer night in Wednesday’s 11-3 rout. The 37-year-old has tallied four homers, six runs scored and 13 RBI in his last two games and the fourth-place Yanks have won four straight.

Funny stat from MLB.com’s Andrew Simon:

Astros talking to Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole about extensions

Justin Verlander
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By Craig CalcaterraMar 22, 2019, 10:52 AM EDT
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It’s extension season and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Astros — who already agreed to an extension with Alex Bregman — are discussing contract extensions with Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole.

Funny thing about Verlander, by the way: when he got his current $180 million deal, most people fell into the “oh, there’s an overpay!” column. What’s more, this past winter, when everyone was talking about how bad it is to give guys big long term deals, Verlander’s name was notably absent in the conversation despite the fact that his deal has turned out to be quite good. I suppose that says something about how good the anti-long-term deal folks are at cherrypicking.

That being said, Rosenthal says “it would be an upset” if either Verlander or Cole signed extensions. I can see that. Verlander is locked up this year and has a vesting option for 2020, and a lot can happen in a year or two. Cole is a Scott Boras client and Boras clients tend to hit the market rather than sign extensions. Perhaps their former teammate, Dallas Keuchel‘s, terrible experience on the free agent market this winter will alter that calculus. Hard to say.