Rafael Soriano came here on a bribe. No other team would pay him high-end dollars to be a closer, so he took the closer-esque payday offered by the Yankees to serve as Mariano Rivera’s setup man.
Soriano said he was fine with the arrangement; and, really, what else could he say? A cover story was created that Rivera had been instrumental in the recruitment, when that was a fabrication. And there was this lovely Hallmark strategy espoused that putting the mature, graceful Rivera side-by-side with Soriano would help soften the rougher edges Soriano was known to have in his previous stops.
At best then, we will call this still a work in progress.
Because on those rare occasions through the years when Rivera has been a major culprit in a loss, his accountability never has been in doubt. He always faced the media, explained his outing, never broke the imperturbable poker face. He was as good at accountability as throwing a cutter.
After his first meltdown as a Yankee, which led to a 5-4 Minnesota triumph in 10 innings last night, Soriano vanished. He never came to his locker. A flustered Yankees media relations official conceded Soriano probably dressed quickly and departed, leaving others to explain his ineffectiveness.
This would not be quite as big a deal if Soriano’s reputation were closer to pristine. But in previous stops in Atlanta and Tampa Bay, he was known for being prickly, reclusive, determined not to be used in any way, but how he thought fit. Last year he expected, for example, to be deployed only for a full inning in save situations.
There were members of the Rays who felt, for example, that Soriano did not invest fully when asked to pitch the ninth inning of a 3-1 deficit of Game 3 of last year’s Division Series against the Rangers. That was an elimination game.
Thus, when his attention and fastball seem off, there is natural wonder if Soriano does not think 4-0 in the eighth inning is worth his full attention. That would have been among the questions asked had he handled last night with professionalism. Instead, he fled, leaving uncertainty if this was a singular poor effort for a talented pitcher or a bad omen for a bad actor.
“I think he was there mentally,” said Russell Martin, among those answering questions in Soriano’s absence. “He was throwing the ball with conviction, I think.”
CC Sabathia had retired 17 straight and the Yankees led 4-0 heading to the eighth, and since they had won 31 of the previous 37 games in The Bronx against the Twins, this felt decidedly in the Yankees’ control.
But surprisingly, manager Joe Girardi turned to Soriano, who had thrown 19 pitches the previous night. Girardi declared it is “because he’s our eighth-inning guy.” But what does that mean? If it is 5-0 in the eighth, does Soriano pitch? 6-0? 10-0?
Girardi said if Soriano pitched a scoreless frame, David Robertson would have pitched the ninth. So why not just have Robertson pitch the eighth? Then if the Yankees score in the eighth, neither Soriano nor Rivera has to pitch and — if not — Soriano is able to pitch the ninth, an inning with which he has comfort.
Instead, in the eighth, Soriano lacked his good fastball or best control. He had never walked as many as three batters in any of his previous 336 relief appearances. Here he walked three Twins in a six-batter span. He was lifted with one run in and the bases loaded, “the eighth-inning man” not finishing the eighth. Robertson allowed a bases-clearing, bloop double to Delmon Young to tie the score.
In the 10th, Boone Logan yielded the go-ahead run and the Yankees offense completed an eighth straight inning without even getting a runner to scoring position.
But really, this game was lost in the eighth. Was it because of the cold that Soriano faltered? Pitching the day before? Unfamiliarity with the role? Or anger at being asked to take the ball at 4-0 in the eighth? Soriano played to the worst of his reputation and was not around to answer.
He took a bribe to come here for a role he did not really want. Maybe money really can’t buy happiness.