Soriano Weighs More Than Wilkerson

The hand of fate weighs even more heavily on Soriano's side of the scales as Brad Wilkerson is now talking ever more seriously about shoulder surgery after Buck Showalter admitted that the injury "possibly" has affected Wilk's performance. I find it hard to believe that they could be in denial about it at this juncture.

The 2006 fall-off is not dramatic, but it is noticeable when considering that the guy's shoulder is hurting. He has missed 19 of the Rangers' 110 games this season.

       G   AB   HR  OBP  SLG  AVG
2006   91  315  15 .310 .429 .225
Career 745 2580 98 .359 .449 .252

(Curiously, MLB.com states "No Major League Stats Available" for Wilk's 2005 season with the Nats.)

Wilkerson showed signs of tailing off last season with the Nationals and has struggled both at the plate and in the field this season with the Texas Rangers. Obviously, something was causing his numbers to decline, and it wasn't pure stinkage.

So with Soriano having won over even the skeptical Nats fans and slated to stick around through the end of the season, and now with Wilkerson's season looking even more bleak, could it be that Jim Bowden was prescient? Or well-informed? Or just lucky?

We report, you deride.

See also:

Dodger Math - "Let’s Take A Moment To Laugh At Jim Bowden"

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Note: Brad Wilkerson and other players were traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Alfonso Soriano during the Winter of 2005-2006.