Alfonso Soriano – first year on ballot
Four players have hit at least 40 homers and stolen at least 40 bases in the same season. Alfonso Soriano was the last player to do so, accomplishing the feat in 2006.
Perhaps because Soriano accomplished that feat in his only season with the Nationals, or because he was considered a disappointment when he signed with the Cubs, that season tends to be overlooked. It is also possible that Soriano ends up with the lowest percentage of votes for the MLB Hall of Fame of any of the four members of that club.
Soriano may not have continued his Hall of Fame trajectory after that 2006 campaign, but he still had a solid career. The seven time All Star produced a .270/.319/.500 batting line, hitting 481 doubles and 412 homers. Soriano also stole 289 bases, coming just short of being the ninth player in the 300-300 club.
While Soriano will always have his place in baseball history, he is not likely to be enshrined in Cooperstown. That is not to say that he was not a great player in his own right, as he compares favorably to the likes of Dale Murphy and Jim Edmonds. However, his defensive issues, decline after signing in Chicago, and being named in the Mitchell Report, will all work against his candidacy.
Alfonso Soriano probably deserves to get enough votes to stay on the ballot for a year or two. He may not even get that.