VIERA, Fla. — Rafael Soriano is looking for another season of untucked success, this time with the Nationals.
“I’m with my new family now,’’ the former Yankees closer said yesterday. “I want to win, and that’s why I came here. Things are different here. With the Yankees, everybody was a superstar. Everybody is a lot younger here. I don’t really know anyone. I’m going to take it slow. But I had a good time in New York.’’
If Soriano, who signed a two-year deal for $28 million, were with the team last October for its final playoff game against the Cardinals — when Drew Storen allowed four runs in the ninth inning of the winner-take-all Game 5 — the Nationals might have made it to the NLCS. Soriano might have been untucking his shirt in celebration of a save, something he plans to continue to do with the Nationals.
“I don’t know why some people were upset with that,’’ Soriano said of his victory celebration. “That was something I always do since 2009, pull my jersey out when I get the last out. Work’s over.’’
He saved the Yankees’ 2012 season, posting 42 saves after Mariano Rivera blew out his knee. Soriano also will bring his song “The King of the Mound’’ to Washington, and he will continue to talk to his hat before he pitches.
“But I can’t tell you what I say,’’ he noted.
After the Tigers swept the Yankees in the ALCS, Soriano said he was impressed with what manager Joe Girardi told him.
“Girardi said that he would love to have me back with the Yankees, but understood I have to do what is best for me and my family,’’ Soriano related. “He said he appreciated all I did for the Yankees. That touched my heart.’’
Said Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman of Soriano, “Our young guys can really learn from him. We’re really excited to have him on our team.”